The 61st Venice Biennale is not confined to the Giardini and Arsenale. Across the lagoon city, noble palazzi, former salt warehouses, and even the Grand Canal itself become stages for a constellation of satellite exhibitions. These collateral events are far from mere add-ons; some rank among the year's most anticipated art happenings. For visitors navigating this abundance, a strategic plan is essential. Here are our top picks beyond the main show.
From India to Venice: Pichwai at Palazzo Barbaro
At Palazzo Barbaro, a 15th-century patrician residence in the San Marco district, an esoteric world of Indian spiritual art unfolds. Pichwai is a centuries-old textile tradition once glimpsed only fleetingly behind temple idols of Shrinathji, a cherubic incarnation of Lord Krishna. The name derives from Sanskrit, literally meaning 'that which hangs at the back'. Originating in 17th-century Nathdwara, Rajasthan, these large-scale painted cloths were conceived as acts of devotion, layered with symbolic detail and narrative. They depict temple rituals, seasonal cycles, and sacred geographies through complex compositions.
Under the stewardship of cultural patron Pooja Singhal, the form is being carefully revived for a contemporary audience. Her atelier, founded a decade ago, restores materials, retrains artisans, and gently expands the craft's language. At Palazzo Barbaro, ten large-scale works reinterpret the 400-year-old genre. Once used to depict the haveli (townhouses arranged around courtyards) of Shrinathji and the town of Nathdwara, the artworks are reimagined here through the city of Venice. Singhal's exhibition perpetuates Venice's long-standing role as a meeting point between India and the West, putting a fragile but living textile heritage in the international spotlight while sustaining the master craftspeople who carry it forward.
CHIHULY: Venice 2026
Thirty years after an ambitious project that saw glass works installed throughout Venice's canals, American artist Dale Chihuly returns. Presented by Pilchuck Glass School and Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, CHIHULY: Venice 2026 features three striking new outdoor chandeliers installed along the Grand Canal. An interpretive and archival centre housed at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti accompanies the installations.
The three monumental outdoor works—ranging from nearly 5 metres to 9.5 metres in height—are placed in palazzo gardens, all visible from the Accademia Bridge. Look for tendrilled towers resembling giant aquatic plants in shimmering gold and marine blue. At night, they glow with a bioluminescence-like effect, transforming the canal into a luminous gallery.
Of Woman Born: Nalini Malani's Thought Chamber
Commissioned by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Kyoto Prize Laureate Nalini Malani has transformed the Magazzini del Sale along the Dorsoduro district's Fondamenta Zattere into a continually changing 'thought chamber' on women, myth, and global conflict. The show is inspired by the Greek myth of Orestes, who murdered his mother and her lover to avenge their slaying of his father. Though pursued by the Furies, he was saved from punishment by the goddess Athena.
Malani meditates on this myth and its resonance in present-day wars, where accountability is an anomaly and women continue to bear the brunt of patriarchal violence. She translates the ancient tale into 67 animations with more than 30,000 iPad drawings projected onto the walls. The drawings and the 20-minute soundscape of women's voices become a layered, visceral, continually shifting environment in which viewers conjure their own stories from the layered superimpositions.
Jenny Saville at Ca' Pesaro
Visit the International Gallery of Modern Art at Ca' Pesaro for a landmark exhibition dedicated to British artist Jenny Saville. The first major exhibition of Saville's work in Venice showcases paintings tracing the artist's career from the 1990s to the present, including many seminal works from the past few decades. Saville's practice is deeply rooted in the history of Italian painting, with a strong connection to the Venetian school. At Ca' Pesaro, her monumental canvases engage with the great masters of the past, creating a dialogue between contemporary painting and the city's artistic heritage.
For those seeking a deeper dive into the Biennale's broader context, our coverage of Koyo Kouoh's curatorial vision and the protests over Russian and Israeli participation offers essential background.
