The Most Important Art Biennials of 2026

There is broad consensus across the art world that since the early 2000s, there has been a global proliferation of biennials—the so-called biennialization of contemporary art—largely driven by local governments and tourism agencies discovering the potential of these large-scale exhibitions to activate entire local economies. Yet this expansion has also prompted growing criticism, with detractors questioning how much biennials truly give back not only to the art system but, crucially, to the communities in which they operate.

Local engagement is a foundational element in building the cultural capabilities that site-specific, art-led development can generate—often creating longer-term opportunities than strategies narrowly focused on international tourism. Too often, however, these events risk weakening ties with the very territories and communities they claim to elevate. A recent article in the Straits Times even questioned whether it might be time to shut down the Singapore Biennale altogether, describing it as “disconnected from the community, and inaccessible to even determined artsgoers.”

At the heart of this debate lies a question that biennials share with all cultural institutions: Who is the audience? In response, many of the most successful recent editions have shifted focus toward the specific contexts—historical, cultural and social—in which they unfold, prioritizing the involvement of local artists alongside deeper community engagement. In these cases, public programming is often central, not secondary.

“I realized the best way to do that was to understand the city and to do something meaningful for its reality,” curator Pedro Alonzo told Observer after the opening of the Boston Triennial. Accessibility and relatability, he suggested, are essential for a biennial to function and resonate first within the communities whose spaces it occupies. “The goal isn’t to produce a Swiss exhibition; that doesn’t work here. The goal is to create something that matches the soul and the conditions of this place, and that’s the connection I’m trying to make,” echoed Nikhil Chopra, curator of the recently opened Kochi Biennale. Rather than constantly crossing the globe, Chopra spent extended time traveling across India, visiting studios in different regions and engaging closely with emerging practices, while keeping accessibility at the forefront for a biennial where roughly 80 percent of the audience is local.

While every biennial is different, superstar biennials curator Hoor Al Qasimi told Observer, their impact on the host city and its local communities is essential. “A biennial has to engage with the city. It can’t be isolated,” she said. “The exciting ones are the ones that venture into public spaces, engage with people and develop as collaborative processes.”

If 2025 saw an especially crowded biennial calendar—with some events struggling to meet this fundamental premise—the arrival of a new year marks the return of major institutional biennials, including the historical and most influential Venice Biennale, alongside region-defining editions such as the Carnegie International and the Whitney Biennial. Here are the biennials not to miss in 2026.