Third Space Art Foundation unveils Venice Biennale live arts program

By AI, Created 10:45 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – Third Space Art Foundation will present “1922 Revisited” during preview week of the 61st Venice Biennale Arte from May 5-9, 2026 in Venice, Italy. The program uses performances, a screening and a panel to revisit the 1922 Biennale’s African sculpture exhibition through contemporary African and diasporic artistic practices.

Why it matters: - The program uses live art to challenge how the 1922 Venice Biennale framed African sculpture within a colonial interpretive system. - Third Space Art Foundation is positioning performance, film and dialogue as tools for reexamining archival history and proposing new narratives around African and diasporic art. - The program lands during preview week of the 61st Venice Biennale Arte, giving it a built-in international platform.

What happened: - Third Space Art Foundation announced “1922 Revisited,” a live arts program curated by Dr. Janine A. Sytsma. - The program will run May 5-9, 2026, in Venice, Italy, during preview week of the 61st Venice Biennale Arte. - The presentation will unfold across multiple Venice venues, including Hotel Monaco and the European Cultural Centre’s Marinaressa Gardens. - The program will include live performances, a screening and a panel discussion.

The details: - Participating artists are Bernard Akoi-Jackson, ruby onyinyechi amanze, Jelili Atiku, Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi [aka crazinisT artisT], Jermay Michael Gabriel, Tsedaye Makonnen, Wilfried Nakeu, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Zora Snake and Victoria-Idongesit Udondian. - Highlights include performances by Jelili Atiku; Wura-Natasha Ogunji and ruby onyinyechi amanze; Zora Snake and Wilfried Nakeu; Tsedaye Makonnen and Jermay Michael Gabriel; Bernard Akoi-Jackson; and Victoria-Idongesit Udondian. - Tsige Tafesse will moderate the screening and panel discussion. - The program takes as its starting point the 1922 Venice Biennale exhibition of African sculpture. - The historical exhibition presented works drawn from Italian museum collections within a colonial interpretive framework. - The archive is being treated as a site for critical inquiry rather than a fixed record. - The program aims to reactivate the archive through contemporary artistic practice. - The work is meant to confront inherited narratives and open alternative ways of understanding. - The program is presented by Third Space Art Foundation. - African Art in Venice Forum and the European Cultural Centre are collaboration partners in Venice. - Additional partners include The Africa Center, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Foundation for Contemporary Art, Accra, School of Art at the University of Arkansas and NEWMEDIA.COM. - A full schedule is available in the press materials at the full press announcement.

Between the lines: - The project reflects a broader curatorial shift toward using performance as a method for archival revision and institutional critique. - By centering African and diasporic epistemologies, the program signals a deliberate move away from the original Biennale framing of African art. - The partnership network spans Venice, Africa and U.S. institutions, which suggests the program is intended to operate as both a local event and a transnational conversation.

What’s next: - The performances, screening and panel are scheduled for the Biennale preview week in Venice. - Third Space Art Foundation directs readers to its website and social channels for updates and additional information.