Portrait Nabil Nahas by Farzad Owrang, courtesy of the artist
Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture is proud to announce the country’s participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, taking place from Saturday, May 9 to Sunday, November 22, 2026. Nabil Nahas, an internationally recognized contemporary artist, will represent Lebanon with Nada Ghandour leading as Commissioner and Curator of the Pavilion. The country’s participation is organized together with the Lebanese Visual Art Association (LVAA).
Born in Beirut in 1949, Nabil Nahas moved to the United States in 1969, was awarded a BFA from Louisiana State University and an MFA from Yale University (1972). He currently lives and works between Beirut and New York.
His works are included in major museum collections, such as The British Museum (London), Tate Modern (London), The High Museum of Art (Atlanta), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Rutgers University Zimmerli Museum (New Jersey), Colby Museum of Art (Maine), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), The Flint Institute of Arts (Michigan), Michigan Museum of Art UMMA, Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art (Doha), Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation (Beirut), Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The Selection Committee, made up of Nada Ghandour, Maria Sukkar, Basel Dalloul and Elie Khouri, commented: “Nabil Nahas has an extraordinary ability to explore the intricate relationships between nature, geometry, and the cosmos, creating a unique visual language that seamlessly blends abstraction and figuration. His monumental works, existing between painting and sculpture, employ fractal forms with both scientific precision and artistic sensitivity. The result is an immersive, sensory, and meditative experience that navigates the tensions between chaos and harmony. Through his art, Nabil Nahas offers a poetic vision of the world – one that resonates with contemporary concerns while evoking both the spiritual and the material, the intimate and the cosmic.”
The Lebanese Pavilion will be located in the Arsenale, one of the two main historical sites of the Biennale. It is produced by the Lebanese Visual Art Association (LVAA), a non-profit organization based in Paris, France.
The Selection Committee is made up of the following experts:
- Nada Ghandour, Chair of the Committee, Art and Heritage Curator, Commissioner and Curator of the Lebanese Pavilion – Biennale Arte 2022 and 2024
- Maria Sukkar, Co-Chair of Tate’s MENAAC, Trustee at ICA London, Bidoun NY, and Founder of the ISelf Collection
- Basel Dalloul, Founder and Chairman of the Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation (DAF)
- Elie Khouri, President of the Elie Khouri Art Foundation (EKAF), UAE
Nabil Nahas is represented by:
Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut
Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai
Tanit Gallery, Munich
Ben Brown Fine Arts, London-Hong Kong
Practical information:
The 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia:
May 9 – November 22, 2026
www.lebanesepavilionvenice.com
Facebook/Instagram: @lebanesepavilionvenice2026