How Asian artists at the 2026 Venice Biennale are making their voices heard

Using everything from baby dolls to tapestries, Asian artists’ perspectives are strongly reflected in a number of memorable exhibitions

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Japanese-American artist Ei Arakawa-Nash holds two of the 208 baby dolls that are part of their exhibition “Grass Babies, Moon Babies” at the 2026 Venice Biennale’s Japan Pavilion. Photo: Uli Holz

Published: 3:15pm, 20 May 2026Updated: 10:21am, 21 May 2026

History looms large at the 2026 Venice Biennale, where the official curatorial framework – focused on contemplative, alternative voices from the “Global South” – has inspired many artists to draw from, come to terms with, and reveal personal perspectives within history.

This is strongly reflected in a number of memorable exhibitions by artists of Asian heritage. While sidestepping cultural essentialism, these practitioners focus on sidelined perspectives and offer fresh ways of thinking amid global crises.

The scope of these exhibitions is vast, ranging from a queer parent using dolls to articulate the profound psychological shifts of raising twins, to a 75-year-old woman contemplating the existential realities of ageing, mortality and rest.

We have rounded up a dozen of the best exhibitions featuring Asian voices in Venice. This list, though by no means exhaustive, highlights the most talked-about pavilions as well as independent collateral exhibitions.

The pavilions

Japan

Japanese-American performance artist Ei Arakawa-Nash’s interactive “Grass Babies, Moon Babies” is one of the most popular pavilions at Venice this year. The artist draws on their queer, diasporic perspective and their recent experience of becoming a parent to twins.

How Asian artists at the 2026 Venice Biennale are making their voices heard

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Using everything from baby dolls to tapestries, Asian artists’ perspectives are strongly reflected in a number of memorable exhibitions

The pavilions

Using everything from baby dolls to tapestries, Asian artists’ perspectives are strongly reflected in a number of memorable exhibitions