Ahead of its highly anticipated opening on May 9, 2026, the Venice Biennale has faced a number of unexpected challenges. 

In early May, Cameroonian Swiss curator Koyo Kouoh—who was selected to lead the upcoming 61st edition—tragically passed away from a recently diagnosed cancer, just five months after her appointment was revealed. Recommended by the Biennale’s president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, she was the first African-born woman to helm the international exposition, disrupting assumptions that the event would take a more nationalistic turn under prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government (of which Buttafuoco is an open supporter).