PCAI is happy to announce that PCAI collection artists Sophia Al-Maria and Almagul Menlibayeva will participate in Venice Biennale 2026.
From May 9 to June 8, 2026, the former Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian on the island of Giudecca in Venice will host As Above , So Below, a collateral event of the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, curated by Elizabeth Zhivkova and Farah Piriye Coene.
The exhibition brings together seven international artists and collectives, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Yoko Shimizu, Antoine Bertin, Almagul Menlibayeva with Suad Gara, Andrea Crespi, Elnara Nasirli and Orkhan Mammadov. Their research spans installation, sound, moving image and artificial intelligence, building a collective investigation on the border between art, science and technology.
A section of the exhibition is dedicated to the works of Almagul Menlibayeva and Suad Gara. The multimedia project Water Older Than the Sun (Caspian), accompanied by an original soundtrack by Reinhold Heil, addresses the ecological collapse of the Caspian Sea.
More information here.
Sophia al -Maria participates in the national pavilion of Qatar. untitled 2026 (a gathering of remarkable people); Rirkrit Tiravanija, Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Atoui, Alia Farid, Fadi Kattan builds on artist Rirkrit Tiravanija’s decades-long practice of inviting collaborators to activate his architectural and spatial scenarios. For the 61st Biennale, Rirkrit Tiravanija has designed a tent-like structure to serve as a place for cultural exchange, with a film by Qatari-American artist Sophia Al-Maria, live performances organized by Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui, a large-scale sculpture by Kuwaiti-Puerto Rican artist Alia Farid, and a culinary programme of Middle Eastern cuisine designed by Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan.
a gathering of remarkable people is co-curated by Tom Eccles (Executive Director, Center for Curatorial Studies and the Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College) and Ruba Katrib (Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, MoMA PS1). It will be presented in the Giardini della Biennale on the site of the future permanent Qatar Pavilion designed by Lina Ghotmeh—Architecture.
More information here.
Activity aligned with Goals 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17
