Afghanistan’s culture runs centuries deep: music, visual art, poetry, craft — distinct and living. Yet it has no legitimate way to represent itself at the Venice Biennale, where national pavilions can only be put forward by a state.
The Afghanistan Pavilion 2028 exists to change that — a space for Afghan artists and cultural voices, across Afghanistan and its diaspora, to represent themselves. On 9 October, we make it public with a panel discussion, artist presentations and an open conversation at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, one of Venice’s most beautiful historic houses.
Around the table: the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, internationally exhibited artists and curators from Afghanistan, and leading voices from the international art world — gathered to open the conversation on what an Afghanistan pavilion at the 2028 Biennale can be, who it speaks for, and how it takes shape.
A rare chance to hear Afghan voices speak for Afghanistan — not spoken about — at the heart of the art world’s most important stage, during the Biennale itself. You are warmly invited to the beginning — in Venice or online.
Practical Details
- 9 October 2026, 18:00
- Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Santa Maria Formosa Castello 5252, Venezia
- The event will be held in English
- In-person places are limited; registration is required. Register here
- For those who cannot attend in person, the panel will be livestreamed — open to all. Join online
Program
18:00 | Welcome & introduction
Welcome by the organizers and introduction to the Afghanistan Pavilion 2028 initiative.
18:10 | Panel discussion & Artistic Presentations
A conversation exploring the presence of Afghan art in Venice, the vision for 2028, and the first steps toward the project.
18:55 | Open space & conversation
An informal space for artists, curators, cultural workers, institutions, and guests to meet and exchange ideas.
Speakers
Panelists
Richard Bennett — UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.
Jeanno Gaussi — Visual artist. Born in Kabul and raised between Kabul, Delhi, and Berlin, she works across film, video, photography, installation, and text, exploring memory, identity, and place.
Yama Rahimi — Artist, curator, and activist; Executive Director of Freedom Canvas Initiative e.V. (FCI). Trained in film at Kabul University, his curatorial work focuses on Afghan art, censorship, and displacement.
Leeza Ahmady — Curator, educator, and Director of the Asia Contemporary Art Forum. Born and raised in Kabul and based in New York, she curated the Afghanistan and Central Asia Pavilions at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005.
Jonathan Watkins — Curator and writer. Director of Ikon, Birmingham, from 1999 to 2022, he has curated international biennials and the Iraqi Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2013.
Moderator
Sanjay Sethi — Co-Executive Director, Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) and Initiative pour la Liberté Artistique (ILA). He oversees the organisations’ advocacy programs and legal services, with fifteen years in public service and international human rights law.
Organizers & partners
An initiative by Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) and Initiative pour la Liberté Artistique (ILA), in collaboration with Freedom Canvas Initiative e.V. (FCI) and Fondazione Querini Stampalia.
