National pavilions at the Venice Biennale


The national pavilions host each participant nation's official representation during the Venice Biennale, an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Some countries own pavilion buildings in the Giardini della Biennale while others rent buildings throughout the city, but each country controls its own selection process and production costs.

Background

The Venice Biennale is an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Often described as "the Olympics of the art world", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater.
Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in venues throughout the city.

Giardini national pavilions

NationLocationFirst exhibitionYear of construction
AustriaGiardini1934
AustraliaGiardini1988
BelgiumGiardini1907
BrazilGiardini1964
CanadaGiardini1957
Central PavilionGiardini1895
Czech Republic and SlovakiaGiardini1926
DenmarkGiardini1932
EgyptGiardini1932
FinlandGiardini1956
FranceGiardini1912
GermanyGiardini 1938
Great BritainGiardini1909
GreeceGiardini1934
HungaryGiardini1909
IsraelGiardini1952
JapanGiardini1956
the NetherlandsGiardini 1953
Nordic countries Giardini1962
PolandGiardini1932
RomaniaGiardini1932
RussiaGiardini1914
SerbiaGiardini1932–38
South KoreaGiardini1995
SpainGiardini1922
SwitzerlandGiardini1952
United StatesGiardini1930
UruguayGiardini1962
VenezuelaGiardini1956
VeniceGiardini1932

Pavilions outside Giardini

Albania

List of exhibitors in the Albanian Pavilion:
In 1901, Argentina was the first Latin American nation to participate in the Biennale. In 2011, it was granted a pavilion in the Sale d'Armi, which it will restore.
List of exhibitors in the Argentine Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Bosnian Pavilion:
The first Central Asian Pavilion was an initiative of Victor Miziano in 2005. The second pavilion was organized by Yulia Sorokina and the third by Beral Madra. Each of these was different in format and approach. The first one – Art from Central Asia. A Contemporary Archive – aimed at placing Central Asia on the 'map' of international art. Along the works of invited artists, there were many video compilations of films, performance and happenings presented by Central Asian artists from the end of the 1990s and beginning of 2000.
List of exhibitors in the Central Asia Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Chilean Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Croatian Pavilion:
The expositions at the Estonian Pavilion are regularly commissioned by the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art.
List of exhibitors in the Estonian Pavilion:
Gabon first participated in the Venice Biennale in 2009.
List of exhibitors in the Gabonese Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Georgian Pavilion:
In 2019, Ghana will officially participate in the Venice Biennale for the first time.
List of exhibitors in the Ghanaian Pavilion:
Grenada'Bold textBig text
in 2017, Grenada participated'in the Venice Biennale at an exclusive space in Zattere, Dorsoduro, all allocated for the exhibition entitled The Bridge, where international artists from nations with sea outlets explored the collective idea of "own identity".
Curator: Omar Donia; participating artists: Alexandre Murucci, Khaled Hafez, Jason de Caires Taylor, Asher Mains, Milton Williams, Rashid Al Kahlifa, Zena Assi and Mahmoud Obaidi.

Hong Kong

List of exhibitors in the Hong Kong Pavilion:
In 1984, as Finland had joined Norway and Sweden in the Nordic Pavilion, Iceland was given the opportunity to rent the Finnish pavilion until 2006. The Icelandic Art Center commissions the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
List of exhibitors in the Icelandish Pavilion:
In 2011, India was represented for the first time after 116 years, with the support of the culture ministry and the organizational participation of the Lalit Kala Akademi. Biennale organizers had reportedly invited the country in past years, but the government had declined, a decision attributed to a lack of communication between the culture ministry and the country's National Gallery of Modern Art.
In 2011, Iraq returned to the Biennale for the first time after a 35-year absence. The title of the Iraq Pavilion was "Acqua Ferita". Six Iraqi artists from two generations interpreted the theme of water in their works, which made up the exhibition.
List of exhibitors in the Irish Pavilion:
"Palazzo Pro Arte": Enrico Trevisanato, façade by Marius De Maria and Bartholomeo Bezzi, 1895; new façade by Guido Cirilli, 1914; "Padiglione Italia", present façade by Duilio Torres, 1932. The pavilion has a sculpture garden by Carlo Scarpa, 1952 and the "Auditorium Pastor" by Valeriano Pastor, 1977.
Partial list of exhibitors at the Italian Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Kosovo Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Kuwait Pavilion:
Lebanon was present at the Biennale for the first time in 2007.
After being absent in 2009 and 2011, it is coming back in 2013.
List of exhibitors in the Latvian Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Lithuanian Pavilion:
The Cà del Duca, situated on the Canale Grande, has been the permanent site for Luxembourg's participations in the Venice Biennale since 1999.
List of exhibitors in the Luxembourg Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Macao Pavilion:
The Maldives Pavilion was introduced in 2013.
List of exhibitors in the Maldives Pavilion:
The Malta Pavilion returned to the Venice Biennale in 2017. They also exhibited in 2000 and 1958. List of exhibitors in the Malta Pavilion:
The Pavilion of Mauritius was introduced in 2015 with an exhibition ‘From One Citizen You Gather an Idea’.
The was introduced for the first time in 1950 with the participation of the Muralists: David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and Rufino Tamayo. For this participation, David Alfaro Siqueiros was awarded the 1st prize to foreign artists. The national participation was interrupted until 2007. The exhibitors that have represented the pavilion are:
Names of exhibitions, exhibitors, curators and organizers of the Mongolia Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the New Zealand Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Macedonian Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Northern Ireland Pavilion:
In 2019, Pakistan officially participated in the Venice Biennale for the first time.
List of exhibitors in the Pakistani Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Peruvian Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Philippines Pavilion:
In 1997, Portugal announced plans to build its own pavilion; these have not materialized since.
List of exhibitors:
List of exhibitors:
List of exhibitors in the Scottish Pavilion:
The Seychelles Pavilion was first introduced in 2015, by the proposal of artist Nitin Shroff, featuring "A Clockwork Sunset". The Pavilion was commissioned by the Seychelles Art Projects Foundation and curated by Sarah J. McDonald and Victor Schaub Wong.
List of exhibitors in the Seychelles Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Singapore Pavilion:
List of exhibitors in the Slovenian Pavilion:
The Taiwan Pavilion is housed in the Palazzo delle Prigioni
In 2013, Turkey signed a 20-year lease for a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The state-funded Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts is the co-ordinator of the Turkish pavilion.
List of exhibitors in the Turkish Pavilion:
Despite the cost to the third world country, Tuvalu decided to develop its first national pavilion in 2013 to highlight the negative effects of global warming on the nation, which is forecast to be one of the first countries to disappear due to sea level rise caused by climate change. After working closely with Taiwanese eco artist Vincent J.F. Huang at the 2012 UNFCCC COP18 session in Doha, Qatar and collaborating with the artist on several occasions, Tuvalu's government invited Huang to act as the representative artist for the pavilion. All of the artworks at the 2013 Tuvalu Pavilion focused on climate change and included In the Name of Civilization, a giant oil rig turned agent of destruction, and Prisoner's Dilemma, a depiction of the Statue of Liberty kneeling in apology to ghostly portraits of terra-cotta penguins symbolic of ecological sacrifices made to further the development of human civilization.
List of exhibitors for the Tuvalu Pavilion:
The PinchukArtCentre sponsored Ukraine's pavilions in 2007, 2009 and 2015.
List of exhibitors in the Ukrainian Pavilion:
The United Arab Emirates' Venice pavilion first opened in 2009, but 2015 was the first time an Emirati has served as curator.
List of exhibitors in the UAE Pavilion:
The Wales pavilion was introduced in 2003.
List of exhibitors in the Wales Pavilion: