Saudi Arabia Pavilion 2026: May your tears never dry, you who weep over stones

Palestinian-Saudi artist Dana Awartani, known for refiguring historical forms, themes, and tropes of Middle Eastern cultures, has been chosen to represent Saudi Arabia at the 61st Venice Biennale.

Awartani, born in Jeddah 1987 to a Saudi mother and a Palestinian father, draws on Islamic and Arab artmaking traditions in a practice that spans painting, video, sculpture, performance, and installation. Her work examines themes including gender, healing, cultural destruction, and sustainability through the lens of politics. Among her best-known works are the mixed-media installation I went away and forgot you. A while ago I remembered. I remembered I ’ d forgotten you. I was dreaming , 2017, which features a video of the artist sweeping up a hand-dyed sand intricately patterned to resemble a traditional tiled floor. Her series “Come, let me heal your wounds. Let me mend your broken bones,” 2019–24, features medicinally dyed silks that have been draped or stretched across frames and punctured or ripped, then darned by the artist, the locations of their wounds corresponding with those of buildings or sites that have been harmed or destroyed through conflict, colonialism, or acts of terror.

What to expect:
Installation