Scotland + Venice Professional Development Cohort

A group of people posed looking at the camera on a set of marble stairs with stained glass windows in the backdrop.

Scotland + Venice PDP Cohort at Mount Stuart. Image by Neil Hanna.

Scotland + Venice's Professional Development Programme will feature paid opportunities for 17 early career visual arts professionals to spend time at La Biennale di Venezia. While in Venice, the cohort will look after and advocate for Scotland + Venice's presentation by Bugarin + Castle, using their pre-Venice training to help visitors engage with the artist's exhibition Shame Parade, while also building confidence in talking about contemporary art, expanding international networks and having the opportunity to explore the wealth of art on display across Venice. Read more

Film Chapter One: Shame Parade by Bugarin + Castle

Text reads Shame Parade on golden shapes on a black background

Scotland + Venice can now reveal the first in a chaptered series of films by Nat McGowan that offer insight into the journey to La Biennale di Venezia. In this first film, we hear directly from the artists, delving into the exhibition they will present in Venice and the key themes explored. Read more

4 March 2026 — Commission Announcement

Bugarin + Castle to present Shame Parade at 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2026

For the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2026, Bugarin + Castle are to represent Scotland, curated by Mount Stuart Trust and commissioned by Scotland + Venice. The work will be shown from Saturday 9 May to Sunday 22 November 2026 at Olivolo, Castello 59/C 30122, Venice. Read more

Bugarin + Castle, Mr. Mimic [Submit to Sound], 2026, Photo (detail), Courtesy the Artists and Scotland + Venice © Bugarin + Castle

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

9 May – 22 November 2026, Olivolo

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, sound and voice.

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.

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.

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

Davide Bugarin, Angel Cohn Castle and Morven Gregor at Mount Stuart. Photo by Charlotte Cullen, courtesy Scotland + Venice

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

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

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

Invitation to tender for a review of the Scotland + Venice project

Established in 2003, Scotland + Venice is a significant, flagship project that promotes the best of contemporary art and architecture from Scotland on the world stage at La Biennale di Venezia (La Biennale). Read more

National Galleries of Scotland acquire two major installations by acclaimed artist Alberta Whittle, ahead of her solo exhibition opening this Saturday

A large tapestry composed of imagery of snakes, water, diamonds and hands, suspended on a green gate

Pictured: Entanglement is more than blood by Alberta Whittle. Credit: Neil Hanna Photography

The National Galleries of Scotland has announced the acquisition of two major works by the celebrated Barbadian-Scottish artist, Alberta Whittle. The artist’s extraordinary installation with tapestry, Entanglement is more than blood (2022), and thought-provoking film, Lagareh – The Last Born (2022), will form an integral part of Alberta Whittle: create dangerously. Read more