Uganda Pavilion 2026: KAMPALA

The Uganda Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia has been confirmed, with Stacey Gillian Abe among the artists selected to represent the country. The Biennale runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026.

Commissioned by Acaye Kerunen and curated by Taga Francis Nuwagaba, the pavilion brings together seven artists — Abe alongside Joseph Ntensibe, Lilian Nabulime, Ronex Ahimbisibwe, Lakwena Maciver, Sheila Nakitende, and Aloka Trevor — in a presentation exploring material culture, spirituality, and social memory across East African artistic practice. The pavilion will be installed at Palazzo Navagero Gallery in Venice’s Castello district. The selection follows Abe’s fourth solo exhibition at Unit London, Garden of Blue Whispers, which deepened the artist’s ongoing exploration of personal and social ancestry through hand-embroidered silk and her signature use of indigo. Working across painting, sculpture, and textile, Abe constructs intimate, large-scale works that examine themes of reclamation, identity, and inherited narrative — concerns that find a natural extension in the Uganda Pavilion’s broader curatorial framework. Uganda’s participation comes within a significant year for African representation at the Biennale. Twelve African nations will present national pavilions in 2026, with four countries — Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Somalia — making their debut. The edition itself carries particular weight: titled In Minor Keys , the main exhibition follows the curatorial vision of the late Koyo Kouoh, the Cameroonian-Swiss curator and former Executive Director of Zeitz MOCAA, whose plan for the Biennale was confirmed following her death in May 2025.