The Venice Biennale remains the art world’s most visible stage – a place where artists are elevated, reputations are cemented and nations frame their cultural narratives.
With the 61st event set to begin in May, several Arab countries have begun unveiling their selections. Here is what has been confirmed so far.
UAE
The National Pavilion UAE will present Washwasha, a six-artist exhibition curated by Bana Kattan, with Tala Nassar as assistant curator. Opening to the public on May 9 and running until November 22, the show brings together Mays Albaik, Jawad Al Malhi, Farah Al Qasimi, Alaa Edris, Lamya Gargash and Taus Makhacheva.
The title takes its name from the Arabic onomatopoeic word for whispering. According to the National Pavilion UAE, the exhibition examines contemporary soundscapes in the UAE and the ways they carry memory, movement and rapid transformation. The project draws on oral histories, technology, as well as the relationship between language, body and identity.
The artists were selected by Kattan for their engagement with sound, memory, language and movement. The group is intentionally multi-generational and reflects a range of lived ties to the UAE.
Egypt
Egypt will be represented by Armen Agop with Silence Pavilion: Between the Intangible and the Tangible. According to the official pavilion website, the exhibition is conceived as “an invitation to slowness and to listen”, asking viewers to attend to silence, gesture and material presence.
Agop, who was born in Cairo in 1969, is known for contemplative sculptures and paintings that explore stillness, essential form and the relationship between the physical and spiritual. He studied at Helwan University in Cairo and has exhibited internationally.
The Egypt Pavilion is one of the Biennale’s longest-standing national participations, having taken part since 1938. Its Giardini building was designed in 1932 by Italian architect Brenno Del Giudice and has served as Egypt’s permanent home since 1952. Egypt won the Golden Lion for Best National Pavilion in 1995.
Palestine
While not a national pavilion, Palestine will have an official collateral event at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Gaza - No Words - See the Exhibit, organised by Palestine Museum US, will run at Palazzo Mora from May 9 to November 22.
According to the organisers, the exhibition will feature 100 pieces of Palestinian tatreez created by women in refugee camps and villages in Lebanon, Jordan and the West Bank. Each embroidered work measures 50cm by 80cm and consists of about 55,000 stitches.
Tatreez is the Arabic word for embroidery, but it has also come to refer specifically to the Palestinian cross-stitch tradition, whose motifs and patterns have long carried markers of regional identity and cultural memory. In the project statement, the museum says the works document the effects of war in Gaza.
Lebanon
Lebanon will be represented by Nabil Nahas.
The project, titled Don’t Get Me Wrong, is described as an immersive installation composed of acrylic-on-canvas panels forming a large-scale frieze. The pavilion is curated by Dr Nada Ghandour and organised by the Lebanese Visual Art Association in collaboration with Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture.
Nahas is known for richly textured canvases that reference botanical and marine forms, often incorporating recurring motifs such as the cedar.
Lebanon’s Minister of Culture, Dr Ghassan Salame, said the selection reflected “an appreciation of Lebanese creators who move between inside and outside the country, while their attachment to their homeland remains steadfast,” adding that he was proud of Lebanon’s presence at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Ghandour told The Beiruter: “In 2026, the Pavilion of Lebanon will stand as a celebration of creativity and fraternity … art has the ability to create bonds that transcend geographical, cultural, historical and ideological boundaries.”
Morocco
Morocco has announced Amina Agueznay as its representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale.
The project, titled Asetta, is curated by Meriem Berrada and commissioned by Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication.
Agueznay’s practice frequently incorporates weaving, metal and other craft-based materials, engaging with questions of heritage, labour and collective memory.
Syria
Syria will present work by Sara Shamma in a project titled The Tower Tomb of Palmyra. The pavilion will be curated by Yuko Hasegawa, director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.
Combining painting, architecture, light, sound and scent, the exhibition will take the form of a large-scale immersive installation inspired by the ancient funerary towers of Palmyra. Built between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, the tower tombs were monumental family mausoleums that rose above the desert landscape. Many were destroyed during the war, and numerous funerary portraits were looted and sold abroad, transforming the site into a symbol of cultural loss.
Shamma said: “Through The Tower Tomb of Palmyra, I aim to honour Syria’s cultural heritage and the resilience of its people. Palmyra’s towers, though destroyed, continue to speak to the strength and diversity of our history. This exhibition is not only a reflection on loss, but a message of hope, unity, and the importance of protecting and restoring our shared heritage.”
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has selected Dana Awartani to represent the Kingdom at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Awartani’s practice engages with geometry, architectural pattern and material processes, often drawing from historical craft traditions.
In a statement, Awartani said: “I am deeply honoured to be representing Saudi Arabia and its diverse cultural voices and communities at the Venice Biennale 2026.
“My practice is rooted in foregrounding Middle Eastern cultural histories through the revival of craft practices and the preservation of the region’s globally important material heritage. I am thrilled to have the chance to develop a major new work for the Saudi pavilion.”
Qatar
Qatar’s national presentation is listed as Untitled (a gathering of remarkable people) and brings together Rirkrit Tiravanija, Sophia Al Maria, Tarek Atoui, Alia Farid and Fadi Kattan. The exhibition was commissioned by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and curated by Tom Eccles and Ruba Katrib.
Still to be announced
Several Arab countries that have participated in previous iterations of the Venice Biennale – including Kuwait and Jordan – have not yet publicly confirmed their participation.
