San Marino Pavilion 2026: Sea of Sound

It will be Mark Francis (Newtownards, Northern Ireland, 1962) to represent the Republic of San Marino to 61. International Art Exhibition – The Venice Biennale.

Curated by Luca Tommasi, the Sound of Sea project will present a new corpus of works by the artist, who has always been interested in deepening the physical and poetic relationships that exist between art, sound and science. In 2026, the Titan Pavilion It will be housed in a new location, located between the Arsenal and the Gardens: Tana Art Space (Fondamenta de la Tana n. 2111), former wood and coal warehouse converted to art and culture. The San Marino Pavilion is designed and built by FR Institute of Contemporary Art Spa, a Sammarinese company headed by Roberto Felicetti, Vincenzo Rotondo and Alessandro Bianchini, with the support of the State Secretariat for Education and Culture and the supervision of Valentina Garavini in the role of commissioner. «As soon as the theme of the Biennale was revealed, In Minor Keys , by Koyo Kouoh and his team, the choice of Mark Francis seemed immediately natural and appropriate to me since in full semantic and metaphorical consonance with the most recent projects of the Northern Irish artist called Soundscapes , Acoustic Ocean , Harmonic Field », declares the curator Luca Tommasi. « In Minor Keys It is an expression borrowed from music that signifies a mode of performance in a lower tone, and which aims to extend the concept from the pure musical sphere to the need for human beings to reconnect with the frequencies of their own soul, to refine and amplify the ability to listen to whispers and voices that are more faint than the dominant narrative, acting as a tuning fork capable of restoring balance and harmony». Mark Francis has developed a work mainly focused on abstract painting since the ‘90s. A sonic and emotional experience that translates into works that evoke auditory sensations through visual representation, in a synesthetic and plurisensory dimension. The title Sea of Sound alludes to the vastness of sounds and frequencies in which we are immersed and the ability to intercept them, select them and translate them into personal experiences, also through the emotional filter. The Pavilion will be divided into two rooms: in the entrance hall a projection from the title Listening Field will lead the viewer into the world of the artist's images; in the second room a close selection of unpublished large-format paintings, made in oil on canvas or aluminum, will allow the viewer to deepen his research. «While my work is abstract in nature, it is conceptually driven by ideas that draw inspiration from science, sound, and color. Instead of replicating these ideas, I always allowed myself to get lost in the creative process, giving rise to new and imagined forms. My practice focuses primarily on painting, but I have also explored other languages, such as graphic art and sculpture. Now that I am expanding my research towards the moving image, I can't wait to share this new direction at the 2026 Art Biennale», declares the artist Mark Francis. The Pavilion logo originates from a painting, which is superimposed the three iconic towers of Mount Titan, propagators of waves of freedom, independence and creativity. Privileged listening points and acoustic refuges above that “sea of sounds” evoked by the artist.

What to expect:
Installation