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What will India take to the Venice Biennale? A look at the 2026 national pavilion

Curated by Amin Jaffer, India’s National pavilion will bring together five artists to reflect on distance and belonging

5 min readNew DelhiFeb 3, 2026 05:03 PM IST

The Venice Biennale is centered on the theme “In Minor Key” and will run from May 9 to November 22 at various locations around Venice, including Giardini and Arsenale (Source: La Biennale di Venezia)

Six years since India last had a National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019, the country is set to return to the prestigious event. The Ministry of Culture is spearheading the project in partnership with the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre and Serendipity Arts Foundation. The pavilion will be curated by Rwanda-born Indian origin art historian and critic Amin Jaffer, who is the curator and director of the Al Thani Collection.

Speaking about the participation, in a press note, Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that India’s return to La Biennale di Venezia “is a proud moment of reflection and a statement of cultural confidence”. Reflection on the artwork in the pavilion, he added that the national pavilion will showcase a contemporary India that is “deeply rooted in its civilisational memory while fully engaged with the world today”.

Curated around the theme “Geographies of Distance: Remembering Home” the pavilion will feature works of five artists – Alwar Balasubramaniam, Sumakshi Singh, Ranjani Shettar, Asim Waqif and Skarma Sonam Tashi. Elaborating on the theme, the note added how it “will express how, for those whose lives are shaped by change or distance, home becomes less a fixed place and more a portable condition: part memory, part material, part ritual, part personal mythology.” It added, “The exhibition reflects a moment of accelerated change in India, as cities grow horizontally and vertically, transforming neighbourhoods at an unprecedented pace. Indians today are more mobile than ever, both within a country in the throes of economic boom and as a visible and vocal global diaspora… As once familiar physical spaces transform and renew, we are invited to consider whether home is a place or an evocation of emotion and memory.”

Following the vision of the late Cameroon-born curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away last year, the 61st edition of the Biennale is centered on the theme “In Minor Key” and will run from May 9 to November 22 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various locations around Venice.

Jaffer noted, “The 61st International Art Exhibition, themed ‘In Minor Keys’, offers a poignant opportunity to explore the nuances of distance and the enduring power of memories of home. The India Pavilion brings together artists whose practices reflect the experience of a world in constant change. The pavilion explores home not as a fixed physical location, but as an emotional space carried within the self, a repository of culture, personal mythology and emotion. Using materials associated closely with Indian civilisation, the chosen artists create a singular meditation on the fragile nature of home, which is both personal and universal, quiet and resolute.”

Sunil Kant Munjal, Founder Patron of Serendipity Arts, added, “Alongside the visual arts programme, our involvement will activate the Pavilion through performance and participation, inviting audiences to engage with the ideas of memory, place and belonging in multiple forms. This collaboration reflects Serendipity’s belief that India’s cultural expression is most powerful when it is interdisciplinary and open to dialogue.”

Coinciding with the event, several other exhibitions of Indian art have also been planned alongside. While Kiran Nadar Museum of Art will be exhibiting works of artist Nalini Malani, at the Archivio Stato (Venice state archive) photo artist Dayanita Singh will be showing from April 16 to July 31. In the exhibition titled “Co-Travellers” – that will take place from March 29, 2026 to January 10, 2027, artist Amar Kanwar will be showing two of his multi-media installations at the Palazzo Grassi.

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While several of its artists have been featured in the main curatorial section of the Biennale over the years, in the past India has received criticism due to lack of a pavilion at the biennale, with the country having officially participated at the event only twice, in 2011 and 2019.

Speaking to The Indian Express on the global positioning of Indian art last year, Jaffer had stated, “Indian art is increasingly integrated into the global contemporary and modern art scene. Indian artists are more globalised than ever. The future generation of artists will grow up feeling more universal than the previous generation of artists. That’s also a factor of social media, shared education, shared movies, shared media. But I think India is an heir of an early and rich civilisation with unique cultural values which will continue to be represented in the works of its artists. Indian art has a very big role to play in the world.”

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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