Culture

Welsh art exhibition attracts thousands of visitors at Venice Biennale

25 Oct 2026 4 minute read

The Wales in Venice Exhibition. Credit: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd

Nation.Cymru Staff

More than 39,000 people have visited an exhibition showcasing Welsh art at the Venice Biennale since it opened in May, with just a month left before it closes.

The Wales in Venice exhibition, Sownd, marks the country’s return to exhibiting at the world-renowned festival and has become one of the most successful yet.

The artists are now inviting anyone visiting the Venice Biennale to experience Sownd by dropping in to the space at the Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà in Castello.

Manon Awst and Dylan Huw were the artists selected to represent Wales this year, in collaboration with curator and joint project director Steffan Jones-Hughes of Oriel Davies, joint project director Catherine Spring of Oriel Myrddin and other creatives.

Over the last six months, Sownd has sparked conversations around landscape and identity both in Venice and in Wales through the Sownd [ar safle] site-specific live art events, supported by Art Fund and the Colwinston Chae Trust.

The experiences between June and September saw Awst and Huw joined by commissioned artists at Cors Bodeilio on Ynys Môn, Cors Caron in Ceredigion, and Cors Crymlyn in Swansea, as well as through conversations and film at the 2026 National Eisteddfod.

The project has also been a springboard for exhibiting work by the 19 early career artists who have acted as invigilators during the Biennale.

Writing in Artlyst Paul Carter Robinson noted: “Materials gathered from Welsh peatlands sit alongside organic specimens from the Venetian lagoon, damp transitional landscapes that preserve ecological histories while mirroring the vulnerabilities of minoritised languages.

“Huw’s text and sound weave through tactile environment, transforming the rooms into something genuinely multi-sensory.

“The pavilion avoids regional nostalgia entirely, presenting itself instead as a living archive that raises serious questions about what survives, what gets buried, and what it means to maintain a language and a culture against the pressure of larger forces.”

For the final weekend of the 61st Venice Biennale (21 – 22 November), the artists will transform stanza 4 of the Sownd space into a record of the project’s site-specific evolution in Wales.

Video documentation by filmmakerLiam Martin of Sownd [ar safle] will loop continuously, layering newly commissioned live work presented on Welsh peatlands onto the Venice installation.

The featured artists include:

Anushiye Yarnell
Catrin Menai and Bob Evans
Naomi Pearce
good cop bad cop
Eddie Ladd

Sited contributions from Sownd’s commissioned writers Becca Voelcker and Carwyn Graves will also feature, alongside photographic prints from Gwenno Llwyd Till, Lowri Page and Sam Stevens.

The artists will be in the space all day on Saturday 21 November to share their work and mark the Venice closing of this multi-platform project. At 11am there will be a reading by Becca Voelcker.

Visitors at the Wales in Venice Exhibition. Credit: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd

Maggie Russell Chair of the Arts Council of Wales said: “I’d like to congratulate Manon, Dylan, Steffan, Catherine and everyone at Oriel Davies and Oriel Myrddin on these visitor numbers and the success of Sownd, both in Venice and here in Wales through Sownd [ar safle].

“I’d also like to thank this year’s cohort of invigilators, without whom we wouldn’t be able to open the doors – I hope this has been a rich learning experience for you as you start your art careers.

“As always, my thanks also to Arts Council of Wales colleagues for their commitment and passion for this work.

“Our intention in returning to La Biennale after a seven-year hiatus was to propel Welsh visual arts onto a global stage and attract international interest and debate around Welsh visual arts.

“It is essential that we own that space in the world and create international experiences and connections for galleries, curators and artists that will develop the visual arts in Wales.”

Follow @walesinvenice on Instagram for latest updates and events around Sownd.

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