Venice Biennale 2026: Expressions of Interest – Stage One

We are looking for a compelling and viable exhibition concept that signals the depth and complexity of Australia’s contemporary art and cultural stories.

Your proposal should consider the context of the presentation – within the global setting of the Venice Biennale, its unique audience as well as the length of presentation.

Creative Australia strongly encourages applications from the entire spectrum of visual arts practice. This opportunity is your chance to submit an exhibition concept you feel is timely to present within one of the most globally visible art platforms.

A shortlisted proposal for Stage Two will include an artistic concept outline that is:

• creatively ambitious
• engaged with contemporary global conversations
• responsive to the architecture of the Australia Pavilion,
• considerate of the audiences who visit the Venice Biennale across its entire opening period, and
• demonstrates the timeliness of the presentation.

Proposals may focus on presenting one artist or relate to a number of artists and their practice. Similarly, proposals may include one curator or a number of curators. Proposals cannot list the same individual as curator and artist.

Venice Artist Fellowship

The selected artist/s will receive a Venice Artist Fellowship of $100,000 to develop, create, and produce new artwork(s) for the exhibition in the Australia Pavilion for the Venice Biennale 2026.

Additional support towards travel and accommodation in Venice will be provided.

Curatorial Support

The selected curator/s will receive the Venice Curator Fellowship of $50,000 to provide curatorial direction for the exhibition, working closely with Creative Australia as the producer.

Additional support towards travel and accommodation in Venice will be provided.

General Support

An exhibition budget covering freight and equipment, fabrication, Pavilion operations and maintenance, install and deinstall, PR and marketing will be managed by Creative Australia as the producer. The production budget will be provided to shortlisted applicants for stage two submission.

Only individuals and groups may apply to this opportunity. All members of the artistic team must be Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents and practicing artists or arts professionals.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply for this opportunity if:

• you have already applied to this opportunity in a separate proposal within the same application year.
• you have an overdue grant report
• you owe money to Creative Australia
• you are an organisation.

You must address three assessment criteria.

First Criterion | Quality

The selection panel will assess the quality of the artistic proposal. They will consider:

• vision, ideas, and artistic rationale
• level of innovation, ambition, experimentation or risk-taking.

Second Criterion | Viability

The selection panel will assess the viability of the artistic proposal. They will consider:

• skills and ability of artist/s and curator/s involved, and relevance to the proposal
• evidence that you have considered and addressed audience engagement and access associated with your artistic proposal.
• evidence that you have considered the international setting for this presentation.

Third Criterion | Alignment

The selection panel will assess the timeliness of the artistic proposal. They will consider:

• the proposal’s contribution and relevance to contemporary art discourse both in Australia and internationally.

Successful EOI applicants will be asked to submit a detailed proposal later this year (Stage Two) based on the advice of a panel of independent industry advisors including national and international visual arts experts. The names of the panellists will be published when the successful Stage Two proposal is publicly announced.

The questions we will ask in the application form include:

• a title for your proposal
• the names of the proposed artist/s and curator/s (the artistic team)

*do not list names of any technicians, consultants or any other collaborator supporting your proposal.

• a short overview of your proposal
• three essential and one optional support material items will be required.

You must submit support material with your application. The selection panel will review this support material to help them gain a better sense of your proposal.

Please ensure all support material is attached to the application form as individual PDF’s as outlined below. Creative Australia will not accept weblinks for this opportunity.

We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact the Venice Biennale Project Team.

There are four types of support material you must submit:

1.    Artistic Proposal

A maximum two (2) page, A4 PDF document titled *titleofproposal_ArtisticProposal_VeniceBiennale2026

Minimum font size must be 11pt, sans serif.

This document should address the three assessment criteria outlined in these guidelines and provide a summary of your artistic proposal for the Australia Pavilion.

*Do not submit any visuals of the exhibition concept in this EOI Stage One.

2.    Curriculum Vitae

A maximum one (1) page per individual, A4 PDF document titled *titleofproposal_CV_VeniceBiennale2026

Minimum font size must be 11pt, sans serif.

This document should include a short bio of each member of the artistic team. Illustrate relevant experience and practice achievements of each member. Do not list names of any technicians, consultants or any other collaborator supporting your proposal.

3.    Previous artistic work

A maximum four (4) pages per artist, A4 PDF document titled *titleofproposal_previouswork_VeniceBiennale2026

Minimum font size must be 11pt, sans serif.

This document should include images and brief overview text of previous work. Do not include web links in this document.

4.    Letter of support from gallery (optional)

If you are affiliated with a commercial gallery, please provide a letter of support from them . An individual letter can be submitted for each artist forming part of the team.

If you are not affiliated with a commercial gallery, you do not need to submit this letter.

You can download the floor plan and images of the Australia Pavilion here:

• Internal – exhibition gallery
• Internal – view of the canal from exhibition gallery
• Internal – entry and vestibule
• External – entry and ramp access
• Dimensioned Plan (PDF)