JUNKANOO IN VENICE: ART, MEMORY, AND POSTHUMOUS COLLABORATION AT THE BAHAMAS PAVILION

Marking the second presentation of The Bahamas at the Venice Biennale following a 13-year hiatus, the Pavilion brings together an intergenerational dialogue between Bahamian artists John Beadle (Nassau, The Bahamas, 1964–2024) and Lavar Munroe (Nassau, The Bahamas, 1982), curated by Dr. Krista Thompson. The project In Another Man's Yard explores the visual and social traditions of their homeland and the broader African diaspora, engaging themes of collaboration, commemoration, and material transformation.

Beadle was a revered figure within The Bahamas' artistic community and an inspiration to many, including Munroe. He was part of a community of makers who create costumes for Junkanoo — the centuries-old biannual national processional festival — which he described as "the cultural bedrock of The Bahamas." Junkanoo informed his commitment to collaborative artmaking and his use of discarded materials such as cardboard, as seen in works including Cuffed, Held in Check (2018) and Body Space III: Under Lock and Key (2012). Through these materials and the recurring motifs that run throughout the exhibition — dysfunctional oars, mobile houses, and concealed cutlasses — he drew attention to people, objects, and artistic processes that are often overlooked. Munroe has similarly worked at the intersection of the festival and contemporary art, frequently using discarded cardboard and abandoned Junkanoo costumes.

The exhibition foregrounds the memorial and spiritual dimensions of Junkanoo: when a member of its community passes, performers gather to honor the deceased. The Pavilion commemorates Beadle through No Matter How Dreary and Gray, We People of Flesh and Blood Would Rather Live Here, Than in Another Man's Yard (2026), an 11-panel monumental painting by Munroe depicting a funeral procession, based on photographs by Bahamian photographer Jackson Petit. This work extends the artist's engagement with spiritual practices developed through recent trips to Tanzania, Senegal, and Zimbabwe.

The exhibition features distinct sections devoted to each artist, alongside collaborative works from the Jammin (in honour of Jackson Burnside III and Brent Malone) series (2014), which Beadle produced with Antonius Roberts and Stan Burnside as part of the Junkanoo-rooted Jammin collective. However Long the Night, the Dawn Will Break (2026) is a posthumous collaboration in which Munroe incorporates materials recovered from Beadle's studio after his passing, including sail material from Haitian sloops. Munroe began this practice to honor his late father, creating works based on collaborative plans that were never realized and using materials connected to his profession as a parasail operator.

Resonating with the 2026 Venice Biennale's overarching theme, In Minor Keys, envisioned by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, the curatorial approach highlights how these artists employ discarded materials and collaborative processes to call attention to the hidden, the undervalued — "the minor keys" — in society and in the art world.

In Another Man’s Yard will be on view through November 22 at the Bahamas Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Dorsoduro 947, San Trovaso Art Space, Venice, Italy.