In Minor Keys is the theme for the 61st Venice Biennale. It was selected by Koyo Kouoh, the curator who died at age 57 of liver cancer a year before the Biennale opened.

Concept Kouoh chose her theme to emphasize the subtle registers in which minor keys operate. An excerpt of her curatorial concept read, These are the cues for an exhibition; an exhibition tuned in to the minor keys; an exhibition that invites listening to the persistent signals of earth and life, connecting to soul frequencies. If, in music, the minor keys are often associated with strangeness, melancholy and sorrow, here their joy, solace, hope, and transcendence manifest as well. In the minor keys, sound and sensation are grounding, they hold the cadences, melodies, and silences of resonant worlds that gather and create together a polyphonous assembly of art, convening and communing in convivial collectivity, beaming across the void of alienation and the crackle of conflict.

Participants The central exhibit invited 111 participants, spanning individual practitioners, collaborative duos, collectives and artist-led organizations. The final exhibit had 110 participants.

Many of the participating artists have migrant or diasporic backgrounds. About a quarter live in Africa, while more than half the participants are based in Europe and the United States.

Below is the final list of artists in the main exhibit according to the Venice Biennale.

Name Years Birthplace City of Residence Pio Abad b. 1983 Manila, Philippines London Philip Aguirre y Otegui b. 1961 Schoten, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium Akinbode Akinbiyi b. 1946 Oxford, England Berlin Laurie Anderson b. 1947 Chicago, United States New York City Fabrice Aragno b. 1970 Neuchâtel, Switzerland Lausanne, Switzerland arms ache avid aeon New York City Kader Attia b. 1970 Dugny, France Berlin and Paris Sammy Baloji b. 1978 Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo Brussels and Lubumbashi Ranti Bam b. 1982 Lagos, Nigeria Paris and Lagos Alvaro Barrington b. 1983 Caracas, Venezuela London Éric Baudelaire b. 1973 Salt Lake City, United States Paris Sabian Baumann b. 1962 Zug, Switzerland Zurich blaxTARLINES KUMASI founded 2015 Kumasi, Ghana based in Kumasi, Ghana Beverly Buchanan 1940–2015 Fuquay, United States Seyni Awa Camara 1945–2026 Oussouy, Senegal Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons & Kamaal Malak b. 1959; b. 1962 Matanzas, Cuba; Philadelphia, United States live in Nashville, United States Nick Cave b. 1959 Chicago, United States Chicago Carolina Caycedo b. 1978 London, England Los Angeles and Caguas, Puerto Rico Annalee Davis b. 1963 St. Michael, Barbados St. George, Barbados BuBu de la Madeleine b. 1961 Osaka, Japan Nara, Japan Dawn DeDeaux b. 1952 New Orleans, United States New Orleans Nolan Oswald Dennis b. 1988 Lusaka, Zambia Johannesburg Denniston Hill founded 2008 Glen Wild, United States based in Glen Wild, United States Bonnie Devine b. 1952 Toronto, Canada Toronto Godfried Donkor b. 1964 Accra, Ghana London and Accra Marcel Duchamp 1887–1968 Blainville-Crevon, France Edouard Duval-Carrié b. 1954 Port-au-Prince, Haiti Miami Torkwase Dyson b. 1973 Chicago, United States Beacon, United States rana elnemr b. 1974 Hannover, Germany Cairo Theo Eshetu b. 1958 London, England Berlin and Rome Rachel Fallon with Alice Maher b. 1971; b. 1956 Dublin, Ireland; Tipperary, Ireland Dublin; County Mayo, Ireland G.A.S. Foundation founded 2019 Lagos and Ikiṣẹ, Nigeria based in Lagos and Ikiṣẹ, Nigeria Sofía Gallisá Muriente b. 1986 San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Adebunmi Gbadebo b. 1992 Livingston, United States Philadelphia and Newark, United States Leonilda González 1923–2017 Minuano, Uruguay Linda Goode Bryant b. 1949 Columbus, United States New York City Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige b. 1969; b. 1969 Beirut, Lebanon; Moussaitbeh, Lebanon live in Beirut and Paris Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka b. 1988 Toronto, Canada Toronto, New York City, and Japan Ayrson Heráclito b. 1968 Macaúbas, Brazil Salvador, Brazil Clarissa Herbst & Dominique Rust b. 1959; b. 1960 Crailsheim, Germany; Basel, Switzerland live in Zurich Nicholas Hlobo b. 1975 Cape Town, South Africa Johannesburg Carsten Höller b. 1961 Brussels, Belgium Stockholm, Biriwa, and Tuscany Sohrab Hura b. 1981 Chinsurah, India New Delhi Alfredo Jaar b. 1965 Santiago, Chile Lisbon Mohammed Joha b. 1978 Gaza, Palestine Marseille Michael Joo b. 1966 Ithaca, United States New York City Nina Katchadourian b. 1968 Stanford, United States New York City and Berlin Sandra Knecht b. 1968 Buus, Switzerland Buus, Switzerland Marcia Kure b. 1970 Kano State, Nigeria Princeton, Abuja, and Kaduna Natalia Lassalle-Morillo with Gloria Morillo b. 1991 San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan Florence Lazar b. 1966 Paris, France Paris Dan Lie b. 1988 Berlin Werewere Liking b. 1950 Mgombas, Cameroon Abidjan lugar a dudas founded 2004 Cali, Colombia based in Cali, Colombia Daniel Lind-Ramos b. 1953 Loiza, Puerto Rico Loiza Senzeni Marasela b. 1977 Thokoza, South Africa Johannesburg Guadalupe Maravilla b. 1976 San Salvador, El Salvador New York City Manuel Mathieu b. 1986 Port-au-Prince, Haiti Montreal and Paris Georgina Maxim b. 1980 Harare, Zimbabwe Harare and Mutare Tiona Nekkia McClodden b. 1981 Blytheville, United States Philadelphia Big Chief Demond Melancon b. 1978 New Orleans, United States New Orleans Avi Mograbi b. 1956 Tel Aviv Lisbon Wangechi Mutu b. 1972 Nairobi, Kenya New York City and Nairobi Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute founded 2020 Nairobi, Kenya based in Nairobi Eustaquio Neves b. 1955 Juatuba, Brazil Diamantina, Brazil Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn b. 1976 Sài Gòn, Vietnam Hội An and works in Hồ Chí Minh City Tammy Nguyen b. 1984 San Francisco, United States Easton, United States Otobong Nkanga b. 1974 Kano, Nigeria Antwerp and Uyo Kaloki Nyamai b. 1985 Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi Temitayo Ogunbiyi b. 1984 Rochester, United States Lagos Pauline Oliveros 1932–2016 Houston, United States Kambui Olujimi b. 1976 Brooklyn, United States New York City Hagar Ophir b. 1983 Jerusalem Berlin Uriel Orlow b. 1973 Zurich, Switzerland Lisbon and London Ebony G. Patterson b. 1981 Kingston, Jamaica Kingston and Chicago Rajni Perera & Marigold Santos b. 1985; b. 1981 Colombo, Sri Lanka; Manila, Philippines Toronto; Calgary Thania Petersen b. 1980 Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town Alan Phelan b. 1968 Dublin, Ireland Dublin Johannes Phokela b. 1966 Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg Léonard Pongo b. 1988 Liège, Belgium Brussels and Kinshasa Walid Raad b. 1967 Chbanieh, Lebanon Medusa, United States Mohammed Z. Rahman b. 1997 London, England London RAW Material Company founded 2008 Dakar, Senegal based in Dakar Tabita Rezaire b. 1989 Paris, France Cayenne, French Guiana Guadalupe Rosales b. 1980 Redwood City, United States Los Angeles Yo-E Ryou b. 1987 Seoul, South Korea Seoul and Jeju Island Khaled Sabsabi b. 1965 Tripoli, Lebanon Sydney Rose Salane b. 1992 New York City, United States New York City Issa Samb 1945–2017 Dakar, Senegal Amina Saoudi Aït Khay b. 1955 Casablanca, Morocco Sousse, Tunisia Carrie Schneider b. 1979 Chicago, United States New York City Hala Schoukair b. 1957 Beirut, Lebanon Beirut Berni Searle b. 1964 Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town Mmakgabo Mmapula Helen Sebidi b. 1943 Marapyane, South Africa Johannesburg Wardha Shabbir b. 1987 Lahore, Pakistan Lahore Yoshiko Shimada b. 1959 Tokyo, Japan Chiba, Japan Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser b. 1987; b. 1985 New Delhi, India; Bonn, Germany live in London and New Delhi Buhlebezwe Siwani b. 1987 Johannesburg, South Africa Amsterdam and Cape Town Cauleen Smith b. 1967 Riverside, United States Los Angeles Vera Tamari b. 1944 Jerusalem, Palestine Ramallah, Palestine Tsai Ming-liang b. 1957 Kuching, Malaysia New Taipei City and Taipei Victoria-Idongesit Udondian b. 1982 Uyo, Nigeria Lagos and New York City Celia Vásquez Yui b. 1960 Pucallpa, Peru the Peruvian Amazon and Pucallpa Kemang Wa Lehulere b. 1984 Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town Kennedy Yanko b. 1988 St. Louis, United States Miami Raed Yassin b. 1979 Beirut, Lebanon Beirut and Berlin Sawangwongse Yawnghwe b. 1971 Shan State, Burma Zutphen and Chiang Mai Billie Zangewa b. 1973 Blantyre, Malawi Johannesburg

Collaborators Before her death, Kouoh developed a theoretical framework for the exhibition, and had selected artists, as well as curatorial collaborators. These included Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo of Britain, Marie Hélène Pereira of Senegal and Rasha Salti, who is based in Berlin and Beirut. In addition, she asked her assistant, Rory Tsapayi of Cape Town, to join as a researcher, as well as the journalist Siddhartha Mitter of New York to be editor in chief.

Reception Domus, the influential Italian art magazine, described the show as "more sensorial than didactic, more relational than interpretative, one that relies on empathy, presence, and attentive listening."

References