Great Britain will return to La Biennale di Venezia in 2026 through the British Pavilion in the Giardini, continuing one of the Biennale’s longest-standing national presences. The British Council has commissioned and managed the Pavilion since 1937, helping shape the UK’s contribution to Venice across generations of artists, architects and curators.
For Biennale Arte 2026, Great Britain will be represented by Lubaina Himid CBE RA with a major solo exhibition of new work titled Predicting History: Testing Translation, on view from 9 May to 22 November 2026. The British Council describes the exhibition as an exploration of belonging, home and the experience of making a life in a new place, bringing together large multi-panel paintings, text, narrative and a soundscape created in collaboration with artist Magda Stawarska.
Himid’s commission also reflects the wider significance of her practice within British contemporary art. A pioneering figure in the Black British Art Movement, she is known for work that addresses race, history, feminism, cultural memory and identity, often using storytelling and historical research to challenge dominant narratives and foreground overlooked voices. In Venice, that approach will unfold within the Pavilion’s neo-classical setting, where the exhibition presents Britain as a place of possibility while allowing tension and uncertainty to remain visible.
The 2026 presentation continues the British Council’s wider role in commissioning ambitious public exhibitions for Venice. Official details confirm Emma Dexter as Commissioner of the British Pavilion and Ese Onojeruo as Curator for the 2026 commission. Read in that context, the British Pavilion this year reflects both continuity and renewal: a long-established national platform, and a new commission by one of Britain’s most influential contemporary artists.
