MATÍAS DUVILLE TO REPRESENT ARGENTINA AT THE 2026 VENICE BIENNALE

Argentina’s Secretariat of Culture, the Directorate of Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Argentine Investment and International Trade Agency (AAICI) announced the project that will represent the country at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The chosen proposal, Monitor Yin Yang by artist Matías Duville with curatorship by Josefina Barcia, will be presented in the Argentine Pavilion between May 9 and November 22, 2026.

The selection emerged from an open call that received a record 69 submissions, reviewed by a distinguished jury composed of Amalia Amoedo, Sergio Baur, Andrés Duprat, Tulio Andreussi Guzmán, Rodrigo Moura, Adriana Rosenberg, and Eugenia Usellini.

Leonardo Cifelli, Secretary of Culture, highlighted the significance of this record participation, emphasizing that it reflects “the vitality and commitment of Argentine artists to major international platforms.” He also underscored the importance of cooperation between public and private sectors to “promote our creators and project the country’s cultural strength.”

Made with salt and charcoal, Monitor Yin Yang unfolds as a monumental drawing covering the floor of the Argentine Pavilion. The work transforms as visitors walk across it, integrating their movement as part of its meaning. The jury praised its “unprecedented character” and its “decisive experimental drive,” shifting drawing from its traditional medium toward a spatial and process-based experience.

They also noted how the project merges the experimental and the contemplative, reflecting on materiality, territory, and human trace, resonating with the Biennale’s general curatorial theme, Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, directed by Koyo Kouoh. Its originality, conceptual coherence, and poetic strength were decisive for its selection to represent Argentina.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1974, Matías Duville works with objects, videos, and installations, though drawing remains central to his practice. His works evoke desolate, dreamlike landscapes charged with tension, where gesture and matter intertwine to leave expressive marks on the surface.

Argentine curator Josefina Barcia’s research explores the historical intersections of music and contemporary art, questioning hegemonic narratives such as colonialism and nationalism. Her curatorial practice navigates between classical music, performance, installation, opera, sound art, and experimental video, focusing on the social and artistic specificities of the Global South.

*Cover image: Matías Duville. Courtesy of Argentina.gob.