Scotland + Venice for the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

9 May – 22 November 2026

Bugarin + Castle

For the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2026, Bugarin + Castle are to represent Scotland, in a project curated by Mount Stuart Trust and commissioned by Scotland + Venice. Bugarin + Castle’s commission is a multi-layered new project that uses the concept of the parade as a lens to explore complex emotional legacies of shame, pride and celebration.

Drawing on queer histories, Scottish archives and Filipino cultural heritage, Bugarin + Castle’s project will examine how sound and costume shape social control. The artists’, Davide Bugarin and Angel Cohn Castle, interdisciplinary art practice traverses cabaret performance and architectural methodologies, driven by queer and decolonial research.

Mount Stuart Trust, based on the Isle of Bute, will curate the project, working with the artists and a series of partners including Forma, Dunoon Burgh Hall and BUZZCUT.

About the Exhibition
Davide Bugarin, Angel Cohn Castle and Morven Gregor at Mount Stuart. Photo by Charlotte Cullen, courtesy Scotland + Venice
Three people pose looking towards the camera, Davide is seated in the foreground wearing puffed yellow sleeves, knee length socks and black loafers; Morven to the left wears a black dress with pink floral applique and behind Angel stands wearing black and pink with a high colour and bright heart in the center of her chest. They are in a conservatory, with wooden window frames and terracotta tiled floor, surrounded by green leafy plants.

23 July 2025 — Commission Announcement

Bugarin + Castle to represent Scotland at La Biennale di Venezia in 2026

For the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2026, Bugarin + Castle are to represent Scotland, in a project curated by Mount Stuart Trust and commissioned by Scotland + Venice. Read more

Three people pose looking towards the camera, Davide is seated in the foreground wearing puffed yellow sleeves, knee length socks and black loafers; Morven to the left wears a black dress with pink floral applique and behind Angel stands wearing black and pink with a high colour and bright heart in the center of her chest. They are in a conservatory, with wooden window frames and terracotta tiled floor, surrounded by green leafy plants.
Davide Bugarin, Angel Cohn Castle and Morven Gregor at Mount Stuart. Photo by Charlotte Cullen, courtesy Scotland + Venice

3 April 2025 — News

Scotland will return to the Venice Biennale in 2026

The Choir is waiting at the threshold and (pause) – deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory, 2022 photographer Cristiano Corte, © Alberta Whittle. Courtesy the artist, Scotland + Venice

Following a pause in 2024 to review Scotland's involvement, the Scotland + Venice Partnership are pleased to announce our renewed participation in the Venice Biennale for 2026, and a commitment to future editions in 2028 and 2030. Read more

3 April 2025 — News

Open Call for Scotland + Venice 2026

Credit: Lori Anderson

Following a pause in 2024 to review Scotland's involvement, the Scotland + Venice Partnership are pleased to announce our renewed participation in the Venice Biennale for 2026, and our commitment to future editions in 2028 and 2030. Read more

3 April 2025 — Writing

Scotland + Venice 2024 Review

Scotland + Venice has been developed over twenty years as an official Venice Biennale collateral event. Up until its pause in 2024, Scotland+ Venice had established a reputation as one of the Biennial’s most exciting collateral events. Read more

21 November 2024 — News

Venice Biennale exhibition opens at V&A Dundee

A dramatic image of the coastline of Orkney

Image: A Fragile Correspondence – Orkney. Photo credit Simon Forsythe, Lateral North. Scotland’s exhibition from the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, A Fragile Correspondence, opens at V&A Dundee on Friday 22 November for its first UK showcase. Read more

22 January 2024 — News

Scotland + Venice Survey Launched

Survey Share your experience of, and hopes for the Scotland + Venice project. Deadline 16 February 2024.

We’re inviting people involved in the visual arts and architecture to share their experience of, and hopes for the Scotland + Venice project. An initial survey is now open, with a deadline of 16 February. Read more

14 December 2023 — News

Culture Radar appointed to deliver Scotland + Venice review

Culture Radar appointed to deliver Scotland + Venice review

Following an open tender process Culture Radar has been appointed to lead a review of the Scotland + Venice project. The review, which is being commissioned by Creative Scotland on behalf of the Scotland + Venice partners, will determine the future viability of the project and the effectiveness of the current approach to its delivery. Read more

24 November 2023 — News

A Fragile Correspondence to return to Scotland after successful run at La Biennale di Venezia

Photograph of the exhibition with a blurry person walking through the space
A Fragile Correspondence – Work on display in Loch Ness section – photo by Daniele Sambo

A Fragile Correspondence will return to Scotland in November 2024 where it will be showcased at V&A Dundee after its May to November run this year in Venice. Commissioned by the Scotland + Venice partnership and curated by a creative team consisting of the Architecture Fringe, -ism magazine, and /other, A Fragile Correspondence has run from 20 May to 26 November 2023 at _docks_cantieri cucchini, as part of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Read more

10 November 2023 — Writing

Atlantic Assemblages

A photograph of some birch trees in ceramic pots, which are all displayed in front of a turquois blue wall.
Birch trees of Ravenscraig – work on display in the Ravenscraig section of A Fragile Correspondence. Photo by Daniele Sambo.

After an Open Call asking artists and writers for a creative promotional response to the themes of A Fragile Correspondence, Harvey Dimond was commissioned to write the below creative response. This three-part text considers how colonialism has shaped the natural ecologies of Scotland, South Africa and Barbados, and considers their historic and contemporary resonances from a diasporic perspective. Read more