Biennale Arte 2026: Austria and Poland Pavilions in Venice

Biennale Arte 2026: Austria and Poland Pavilions in Venice

At Biennale Arte 2026, the Austrian and Polish pavilions present projects that probe the intersections of body, sound and technological and natural environments. Both works use performative and installation-based strategies to prompt fresh reflections on communication and interspecies relationships.

• Austria Pavilion — SeaWorld Venice: Florentina Holzinger, curated by Nora-Swantje Almes, stages SeaWorld Venice, a performative project where visitors' bodily fluids are repurposed as living elements for the artists through a series of performances called Venice Etudes. The piece frames the pavilion as a mechanical organism undergoing transformation and partial flooding, interrogating the clash between nature and technology. The commission is supported by Bukhman Foundation, Hartwig Art Foundation and Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery.
• Poland Pavilion — Liquid Tongues: Liquid Tongues by Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski is an audiovisual installation featuring the community choir Choir in Motion, which brings together hearing and deaf participants. The choir interprets whale songs and communication systems using spoken language and sign, seeking alternative modes of exchange inspired by non-human life. Curator Ewa Chomicka emphasizes the project’s focus on overlooked voices and empathy as a foundation for new intersubjective relations. Organizer and producer: Zach ta – National Gallery of Art.

Visitor note: SeaWorld Venice offers a visceral, performance-driven environment with changing spatial conditions, while Liquid Tongues creates an audio-visual space that foregrounds non-verbal and interspecies communication. Both works contribute to Biennale Arte's broader reflections on technology, care and multispecies coexistence.

Date mentioned in the article: May 7, 2026.