At long last, the 2022 Venice Biennale is finally almost here. Delayed a year by the pandemic, this iteration of the famed Italian art show, the Biennale’s 59th, is currently set to run from April 23 to November 27.
Often, the biggest attraction is the main exhibition, which this year is being overseen by Cecilia Alemani. Placing a focus on Surrealism and an unprecedented emphasis on women artists, that show will be titled “The Milk of Dreams,” in reference to Leonora Carrington’s writings.
But just as exciting are the 90-plus national pavilions around that show. Some of those pavilions will be in dialogue with Alemani’s exhibition, though most will not. Their topics will range from the preservation of peat bogs in Patagonia to Black women’s resilience, from economic decline in Italy to the Ghanaian flag, from the German Pavilion as a political site itself to “nothing” at all at the Croatian Pavilion.
Below, a guide to the dozens of national pavilions that have so far been announced, along with four participants that are producing Biennale-sanctioned collateral events. The majority of the pavilions are located in the Arsenale and the Giardini—the two main venues for the Biennale’s main exhibition—though some are sited at various locations across the city.
