Venice, 8 May 2026 (MIA) - North Macedonia’s pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale officially opened on Friday evening. The country is represented by Velimir Zhernovski’s project “Pietà in the Emergency Blankets / Will My Eyes Be Closed or Open?”, curated by Tihomir Topuzovski and Amanda Boetzkes.

The national pavilion was opened by Marija S. Gjorgova, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, who said participation at the 61st Venice Biennale is “a clear and dignified confirmation that Macedonian culture has something to say in the language of contemporary art”. 

“This project, selected through a transparent and professional process, represents a powerful and multilayered artistic expression. Its visual simplicity carries profound conceptual weight. The dialogue with the classical motif of the Pietà is transformed into contemporary language, in which historical heritage and current global realities intertwine,” Gjorgova said.

At the opening of the pavilion, set in the Ex Cappella Buon Pastore, a historic sacred space in Venice, Gjorgjova said the symbolism of the “golden” protective foils in Zhernovski’s work is not accidental, and that they are “at once both protection and alarm”. 

“It is a beauty that hurts. It is a reminder that we live in a time of crises, but also in a time when humanity must be re‑imagined. It is especially significant that the Macedonian Pavilion is set in the Ex Capella Buon Pastore – a space with deep spiritual and historical memory. Precisely there, in that silence that speaks, Zhernovski’s work gains an additional dimension, it becomes a bridge between past and present, between the intimate and the universal,” said the State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which supports the country’s participation in the Venice Biennale. 

The 61st Venice Biennale will run until November. The curator is Koyo Kouoh, and the theme is “In Minor Keys”, a concept that explores subtle, intimate, and often marginalized narratives in contemporary society.

This year’s Biennale features more than one hundred artists and over 80 national pavilions from around the world, which, through diverse media and approaches, address key issues of today – from migration and climate change to political conflicts and questions of identity.

Photo: Ministry of Culture and Tourism