Exhibition dates: Saturday 9 May – Sunday 22 November 2026 (pre-opening 6-8 May)
Location: Dutch pavilion, Giardini, Venice
For the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Verhoeven and Vos have proposed a performative intervention in the Rietveld Pavilion. Through this intervention, Verhoeven responds to a smouldering state of uncertainty, he currently perceives in the Netherlands and Europe. The Rietveld Pavilion, built in the optimistic post-war years, is not only the location of the presentation, but is itself the subject of the intervention.
Dries Verhoeven:
‘Geopolitical tensions are grave, and that’s putting it mildly. It has been many years since our future felt this uncertain. I want to attempt to make this unease tangible, within the “safe space” of the Biennale. To have the opportunity to do this in the company of so many fantastic artists is nothing short of a blessing.’
Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee’s positive recommendation to the Board of the Mondriaan Fund regarded Verhoeven and Vos’ plan, in light of the remarkable way in which the current global political developments are translated into a visual performance. Verhoeven will now add a striking new chapter to the presentations in the Dutch Pavilion, while simultaneously placing the pavilion itself in a new light.
The members of the advisory committee for the 2026 Dutch submission were: Amira Gad (curator at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen), Franziska Nori (Dir. Frankfurter Kunstverein), Manuel Segade (Dir. Reina Sofía), Jörgen Tjon A Fong (former Dir. De Kleine Komedie, curator, Senior Cross Media Editor at Omroep Max) and Barbara Visser (visual artist), with Eelco van der Lingen (Director Mondriaan Fund) as the committee Chair.
Eelco van der Lingen, Director Mondriaan Fund and commissioner:
‘Following the relocation of melanie bonajo to a church outside the Giardini in 2022, and Renzo Martens making way for the Congolese collective CATPC in 2024, conventions are once again being pushed aside, and hierarchy and national representation are being challenged. The building, the garden, the biennale and the relationship with the outside world all deserve to be discussed, and I am therefore looking forward to Dries Verhoeven’s intervention, and to the questions that it will raise.’
In the coming months, the artist and curator will be working to further develop the presentation. Please visit our website and follow us on Instagram for updates.