In a south London studio, Godfried Donkor prepares a striking canvas for the Arsenale, the heart of the Venice Biennale’s main exhibition. The artwork centers on Caribbean boxer Peter Jackson with angel wings, a dragon and ship below, and ‘Kumasi’ and ‘Gold’ above. The background mimics pink financial pages listing icons like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, and Louis Armstrong. Drawing from St. Michael’s iconography, the piece weaves themes of the slave trade, African diaspora, superheroes, and sports.
Honoring Koyo Kouoh’s Legacy
Donkor initially explored grand sculptures but chose a subtler approach inspired by the Biennale’s title, In Minor Keys. “I thought, ‘what’s the biggest, grandest thing I could do?’ I wanted to make her proud,” he says of Koyo Kouoh, appointed in 2024 to curate this year’s event but who passed away from cancer in May at age 57.
“Minor keys do not scream or force themselves on to you,” Donkor explains. “They just carry the tune.”
This Biennale marks an unusual chapter. The Cameroonian-Swiss curator, renowned for her pan-African perspective, outlined a theoretical framework and selected artists. Her team now brings the project to fruition amid political turbulence. Kouoh envisioned an exhibition that avoids both endless commentary on global events and escapism from crises, focusing instead on emotion, sensation, and marginalized knowledge systems sidelined by colonialism and capitalism.
Art Rooted in Emotion and Nuance
In these realms, beauty, joy, solace, and radicalism endure. “This exhibition is going to remind us how much of our humanity is still there to be explored,” states Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, a pivotal figure in post-revolutionary Cuban art. She blends painting, sound, photography, performance, and sculpture to explore her African, Chinese, and Hispanic roots, exhibiting alongside musician Kamaal Malak.
The theme inspires diverse responses from 110 participants. Mohammed Joha’s outdoor installation highlights Gaza’s devastation and resilience, while Carsten Höller’s massive sculpture induces a sense of smallness. Demond Melancon draws from New Orleans Mardi Gras beadwork, and Tammy Nguyen’s Dante-influenced paintings trace Cold War impacts.
Artists emphasize nuance, slowness, and attentiveness, favoring overlooked narratives. Walid Raad, whose films and photography address Lebanon’s history, contrasts this with dominant “major keys of security, energy, and finance.” Kennedy Yanko, creator of abstract sculptures from found metal and paint skins, adds, “It is less about declaring meaning and more about creating conditions for perception to shi.”
Shiing from Confrontation to Subtlety
Contemporary art oen counters injustice with confrontation and critique. Kouoh’s vision prompts reflection on art’s role. “It’s never been more clear to me that art is a pretty modest endeavour: our aims as artists might be radical, but our work is only a suggestion,” says Johannesburg artist Nolan Oswald Dennis. “Koyo’s invitation has forced me to rethink the importance of small creative acts.”
Sohrab Hura, transitioning from documentary to intimate drawings, notes, “I don’t want to consider myself an activist. When I started out, my work came from a place of hope… Now, I feel my role is to deal with doubt and confusion in a so way.”
Engaging Crises Through Subtlety
The focus on ambiguity might seem like disengagement, especially with Biennale politics involving pavilion reopenings and artist bans. Yet artists view subtlety as strategic. Himali Singh Soin of Hylozoic/Desires calls it “art’s devious method.” Her collaborator David Soin Tappeser, presenting an installation linking environment and social history, explains, “Some people are more easily reached by soness, the subliminal, rather than being confronted.”
Pio Abad, 2024 Turner Prize nominee, highlights art’s allure in drawings tied to traumas like Philippine dictatorships and Benin Bronzes looting. “We’ve failed to tell compelling stories,” he says. “That’s why the loudest voices capture people’s imaginations, even if they’re disingenuous.”
British-Nigerian artist Ranti Bam, craing clay sculptures on femininity and care, observes, “A lot of what is happening now is the chaos of western empire—thinking they are the ruler of the world and that they speak for us all. This exhibition decentralises those ways of being in the world.”
Many artists hail from migrant or diasporic backgrounds, with a quarter based in Africa, though over half reside in Europe and the US. Kouoh’s ideas may evolve under the team’s guidance—potentially more forceful, cohesive, or a manifesto for alternative artmaking. As Abad suggests, it could simply “remind us that we are still capable of producing beautiful things.”
The exhibition runs May 9 to November 22 at labiennale.org.
