U.S. Representatives at Venice Biennale Will Need to ‘Promote American Values’
Applications will be judged on their capacity to advance U.S. foreign policy and promote American values while maintaining a ‘non‑political character’. Save to My Ocula
Artists vying to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale will face new constraints echoing the broader ethos of President Donald Trump’s current U.S. administration.
Newly released guidelines for applicant proposals include an emphasis on nationalism and diversion from DEIA practices.
The selection criteria includes four parts of equal weighting, including ‘promoting American values’ by ‘[advancing] the interest of the United States’ and supporting U.S. foreign policy goals through diplomacy and promoting ‘understanding of American values and policies’.
In line with the U.S. administration’s new anti-discrimination policies, proposals that promote DEIA as to violate President Trump’s executive order barring such practices (14173 Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity) are ineligible.
Programmes must also ‘maintain a non-political character’, which places the socially involved and identity-based artworks that abound today in a precarious position.
Further, while applicants are vetted by an appointed advisory committee that includes museum directors, curators, and other experts, the final decision is handed to an official in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Final decisions depend on whether an application meets the Department of State’s ‘programmatic goals and objectives’ and how it supports the Department’s ‘overarching foreign policy priorities’.
The federal government website, as of 22 January, lists such priorities as advancing the message that ‘America is a great and just country’, abstaining from divisive topics, and supporting the U.S.’s return to energy dominance by foregoing climate policies.
Other criteria include artistic merit, which evaluates proposals’ representativeness of U.S. contemporary art, capacity for public engagement, cost-effectiveness, and artistic excellence—which is measured through the lens of quality, significance, and the ‘ability to showcase American exceptionalism and innovation’.
Mirroring cost-cutting measures within government under President Trump, should two proposals come to a tie, that with ‘the greater amount of cost-share’ will move forward.
Applicants and their institutional partners have historically been responsible for costs exceeding the government’s $375,000 USD grant.
Take last year’s exhibition by Jeffrey Gibson, which as the U.S. press office told Finestre sull’Arte had a budget of $5.8 million USD with the remaining funds provided by private donors.
Gibson was lauded as the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States at the exhibition.
His upbeat presentation, the space in which to place me, was critically acclaimed for embodying inclusivity.
Applications close on 30 July. —[O]
Main image: Exhibition view: Jeffrey Gibson, the space in which to place me, United States of America Pavilion, The 60th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice (20 April–24 November 2024). Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia. Photo: Matteo de Mayda.
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