May 9, 2026
In Minor Keys: The 2026 Venice Biennale Honours a Lost Visionary
The 61st Venice Biennale opened in May 2026 under the theme 'In Minor Keys' — realised in tribute to its curator, Koyo Kouoh, who died before she could see it.
The world's most important art exhibition returned in 2026 carrying a poignant story. The 61st Venice Biennale, 'In Minor Keys', was conceived by the pioneering Cameroonian-Swiss curator Koyo Kouoh — the first African woman to lead the Biennale — who died suddenly in May 2025, a year before it opened.
Rather than start again, La Biennale chose to realise her fully developed vision with the team she had chosen. Her theme, drawn from music, calls for an art attuned to quieter frequencies — to intimacy, improvisation and 'soul', drawing on jazz and the image of the Creole garden where many species thrive together.
Running across the Giardini and Arsenale from May to November 2026, it stands as both a global survey of contemporary art and a moving memorial to one of its most original minds.
Image: “Viva Arte Viva - La Biennale di Venezia 2017” — Fred Romero, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.