61. Biennale Arte – Ruin

Il progetto Ruin rappresenta la Germania alla Biennale di Venezia.

Comunicato stampa

Opening to the public on May 9, 2026, the German Pavilion at The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is titled Ruin. Curated by Kathleen Reinhardt, the pavilion will present works by Henrike Naumann and Sung Tieu. The German contribution to the Biennale Arte 2026 is commissioned by ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen.

In Ruin, the German Pavilion becomes a space in which physical and social structures, German ideologies, and lived biographies tangibly overlap, bringing architecture, history, and psychology into productive tension. The exhibition’s title riffs on the word’s multiple associations. While the English word ‘ruin’ refers to architectural and physical remnants, the German term ‘Ruin’ signifies a state of collapse – economic, social, or moral. 

In newly produced works, Henrike Naumann and Sung Tieu draw on their research into the GDR and the transition period following reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, demonstrating how historical ruptures and gaps in political, social, and architectural structures continue to resonate – and are perhaps more evident than ever in a globalized present. Tieu and Naumann reflect on both German history and the German Pavilion’s fascist architecture by artistically re-appropriating the space. Using a formal vocabulary that oscillates between minimalist clarity and maximalist opulence, both artists employ the building as an ambivalent mirror of social dynamics from the recent past to the present. 

From her nomination in May 2025 until her sudden death a few weeks ago, Henrike Naumann worked intensively on her contribution to the German Pavilion, completing the work before she passed. The team of the German Pavilion is now working alongside her studio team to bring her artistic vision to life. 

The German Pavilion’s graphic concept was developed by Dan Solbach. Building upon Sung Tieu’s and Henrike Naumann’s fields of interest, Solbach has created a design that bridges language and words, representation and effectiveness. The typography of the title Ruin is taken from a graffito that marked East Germany’s last pavilion at the 44st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 1990: a black, red, and gold ‘D.D.R.’ (the German abbreviation for GDR – German Democratic Republic). Drawing on epigraphy – the study of ancient inscriptions – and scriptio continua, a style of writing without any word breaks, Dan Solbach transposes the inscriptions from the past to the present. 

Press material is available in the press section of the German Pavilion’s website. Recent updates can be found under News as well as on the pavilion’s Instagram account.

Alongside the opening, an accompanying publication featuring texts by Sabeth Buchmann, Kathleen Reinhardt, and Kerstin Stakemeier, as well as artistic contributions by Henrike Naumann and Sung Tieu, will be published by DISTANZ Verlag.

The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026. The press preview will take place from May 6 – 8. Accreditation applications for the preview will be accepted until April 24 and can only be submitted via La Biennale di Venezia. An invitation to the press event will follow shortly.

You can find all the information you need to plan your visit from May 9 to November 22, as well as details on advance ticket sales, on the biennial’s website.