The New York–based Teiger Foundation announced Wednesday that it had donated a total of $750,000 toward the realization of the 2026 Venice Biennale, set to open in May.
The foundation’s gift is split in two parts, with $500,000 going directly to the Biennale to fund the exhibition’s production and another $250,000 going toward supporting artists who are realizing new work in Venice and traveling there to stage it. The latter donation is being administered by the American Friends of Zeitz MOCAA, where the 2026 Biennale’s late curator, Koyo Kouoh, was executive director and chief curator.
Kouoh died in May 2025, shortly before the theme of her exhibition was to be announced. This year’s Biennale carries the title “In Minor Keys,” and is being realized by a five-person team consisting of advisers Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira, and Rasha Salti; researcher Rory Tsapayi; and Siddhartha Mitter, who serves as editor-in-chief of the Biennale’s texts.
“Koyo Kouoh’s In Minor Keys centers artists who make their own worlds, and these worlds are rooted in solidarity, poetry, and place,” Teiger Foundation executive director Larissa Harris said in a statement. “Her curatorial practice has long championed global and local networks and kinships, and the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia extends that commitment to the international stage. Teiger Foundation is proud to support the team she assembled … as they pour their own immense creative energies into making Koyo Kouoh’s vision a reality alongside the professionals of La Biennale di Venezia.”
In a statement, the Biennale’s curatorial team said, “Koyo often said, ‘People are more important than things,’ reflecting her belief that artists will lead the way and collaboration matters more than quick-earned success. Our work with Teiger Foundation honors this philosophy, which helped make her the internationally respected and successful curator she was.”
The Teiger Foundation has supported the Biennale on three separate occasions, for the 2013, 2022, and 2024 editions, curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Cecilia Alemani, and Adriano Pedrosa, respectively. The Teiger Foundation was founded in 2008 by collector and patron David Teiger, who died in 2014; shortly afterward, his collection was sold in order to shore up the foundation’s endowment. In addition to its support of the Biennale, the Teiger Foundation also has several grants programs, ranging from its Hosting program, which funds the execution of traveling exhibitions at non-originating venues, to biennial funds for curatorial research.
“We are thankful for the support of Teiger Foundation, which since 2013 has been pivotal in supporting the expansion of the artistic projects led by the Artistic Directors of the Visual Arts Department,” Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafoco said in a statement. “The important support given for the project of Koyo Kouoh is even more significant, fostering her voice and vision for the current and future generations.”
