Venice Biennale

Exhibition dates: Saturday 9 May – Sunday 22 November 2026 (preview days 6- 8 May)
Days: Wednesday until Sunday, on Tuesdays the pavilion presents itself as a closed sculpture.*
Times: 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00, 16.00, 17.00 pm (CEST)
Location: Dutch pavilion, Giardini, Venice

*The Biennale will be open on Monday 11 May as an additional opening day. The Dutch Pavilion will present itself as a closed sculpture, but no performances are scheduled.

The pavilion closes in on itself

Designed by Gerrit Rietveld and built in the optimistic post-war years of the 1950s, the Dutch Pavilion can be seen as the epitome of openness, progress, and faith in the future. During the Biennale Arte 2026, however, this modernist monument transforms into the antithesis of itself. In a 25-minute rite of passage, the sunlit structure gradually turns its back on the outside world. What was once light, transparent and accessible, becomes dark, defensive and inward-looking. In the publication accompanying the exhibition, Vos describes the Rietveld Pavilion as an architectural icon, but also a vulnerable one: moisture from the Venetian lagoon constantly seeps into its porous walls. Verhoeven underscores this fragility through sturdy buttresses installed on three sides that appear to shore up the façade. Six times a day, on the hour, steel shutters between the buttresses rattle slowly shut. Gradually, the view of the outside world disappears, and a barrier forms between the ‘we’ inside and the ‘they’ outside.

Inside The Fortress

Inside the pavilion, the encroaching darkness manifests through a visceral vocal performance. Moving among the audience, the performers employ ‘grunting’, a technique from death metal that uses the lowest registers of the voice. It is as if the darkness of their surroundings is creeping into their bodies. As visibility fades, irrational impulses gain the upper hand. In Verhoeven’s work, the audience is never merely a spectator. By committing to the full 25-minute cycle and to the house rules stated on an iron plaque – limited capacity, no lighting, no phones – visitors must disconnect and surrender to a shared collective experience. Like a moth to a flame, a performer follows the final trace of daylight as it moves across the pavilion walls. Total darkness then descends. For several moments, the audience remains suspended in a black void, until two side doors open and the light of the outside world returns.

According to the artist and curator, The Fortress reflects a broader shift in contemporary society: at a time marked by growing nationalism, geopolitical conflict, climate crises, and social inequality, the ideals that shaped post-war liberal democracies are under increasing strain. The pavilion becomes a metaphor for a Western world caught between its enlightened self-image and a bleak vision of the future.

Dries Verhoeven:

“Together with a group of thirteen international performers, we are presenting a work about the search for stability in a world out of balance. Through the raw sounds the performers produce, they give expression to the social state of disarray that I currently observe – and the tenacity with which we, even in art, sometimes cling to values of yesterday.”

The Biennale paradox: open doors, closed borders

The Fortress engages directly with the contradictions embedded within La Biennale di Venezia itself, as perceived by the artist and curator. Vos:

“The national pavilions at La Biennale di Venezia represent a world order from a bygone era. In the Giardini della Biennale, former world powers – mostly Western – still occupy the most prominent positions. Countries that in reality are closing their borders, declaring war, or committing genocide, stand side by side, in brotherly harmony. The art world attempts to uphold the idea of enlightened ideals and a hopeful common future.”

Commissioner Eelco van der Lingen:

“We cannot return to the optimism and hope of Rietveld’s post-war modernism, but we can use our pavilion to present work that responds to the present moment. By engaging with both the event and its location, Dries Verhoeven invites us to reflect on the tensions embedded within them – an approach that feels particularly urgent and necessary today.”

The performers (alternating)

For 7 months, the performance will be on view in the Dutch Pavilion. The team consists of 13 performers who alternate: Jennie Bergsli, Melyn Chow, Maarten Heijnens, Jana Jacuka, Dengling Levine, Diane Mahín, Maya Mertens, Marlen Pflüger, Marie Popall, Lisen Pousette, Olivia Rivière, Misty Superdeluxe and Harald Stojan. 

A special thank you to the sponsors who made The Fortress possible: Fund 21, Performing Arts Fund NL, Municipality of Utrecht, Gieskes Strijbis Fund, VandenEnde Foundation, Otrias, Silicon Theatre Scenery B.V., Bertolani Buildings, and an anonymous financial donor.