IN PHOTOS AND VIDEO: The Sights of the Venice Biennale
This multimedia report documents the opening days of the 2026 Venice Biennale through photography, video, and on-site coverage from across Venice. Moving between the Giardini, Arsenale, performances, protests, and gatherings unfolding throughout the city, it presents In Minor Keys as both an exhibition and a lived social experience shaped by ceremony, political expression, and collective participation.
The New York Times highlights a range of artists and performances presented during preview week, including works by Faustin Linyekula, Pussy Riot, and Miet Warlop, alongside scenes of demonstrations, celebrations, and public interventions across Venice. Through its visual documentation, the piece emphasizes the Biennale’s performative and communal dimensions, reflecting the curatorial vision of Koyo Kouoh and the exhibition’s engagement with movement, sound, ritual, and public space.
Among the highlighted moments is Big Chief Demond Melancon’s performance Blessing the Ancestors, presented on May 6 at the Giardini as part of the Biennale’s public program. Rooted in the Black Masking traditions of New Orleans, the performance unfolded as both ritual and procession, with Melancon—joined by members of the Young Seminole Hunters and wearing his Jah Defender suit (2020)—guiding audiences through movement, music, and collective invocation. Through images of ceremonial regalia and procession, the coverage positions the work as one of the Biennale’s most powerful live moments, foregrounding ritual, ancestral memory, and embodied cultural traditions within In Minor Keys.
Excerpted words written by Matteo de Mayda for The New York Times
