Biennale 2026

Florentina Holzinger: Naked approach to Venice!

Viennese artist Florentina Holzinger shocks with her performances, most recently "Sancta", and will be sent by Austria to the 2026 Art Biennale(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Elsa Okazaki, Matthias Baus)

Austria is sending Viennese choreographer Florentina Holzinger, known for her shocking nude performances, to the Biennale in the lagoon city next year!

For its contribution to the 61st Art Biennale 2026 in Venice, Austria is relying on performance artist Florentina Holzinger, whose nude performances regularly cause a stir and excitement - and most recently caused fainting spells at "Sancta" in Stuttgart.

The jury decision announced yesterday by Culture Minister Werner Kogler to allow the 39-year-old Viennese to perform in the national pavilion in the Giardini is politically explosive: Holzinger said at the press conference that she had no reservations about competing as a representative of a country possibly led by a right-wing conservative government. "Rather confrontation

Bloody: the opera performance "Sancta", staged by Florentina Holzinger(Bild: Oper Stuttgart / Matthias Baus)

Crucifixes were swallowed during "Sancta"(Bild: Oper Stuttgart / Matthias Baus)

"As an artist, I have always been observing the political climate and the potential consequences of this, now too, and on the contrary, it is of course an enormously cool situation for me to represent Austria in Venice with a radical and feminist position in precisely such a situation. I see great responsibility and potential in a situation like this. In my work, I also prefer to seek conversation and confrontation rather than running away. That's why it's important and relevant to take a stand."

Holzinger will deal with the element of water in her work, which has already shaped her show "Ophelia's Got Talent". "Venice is sinking," says Holzinger, who wants to use installative and performative elements: "Water creatures from mythological and classical tales form starting points by diving into a possible future of Venice." Postscript: "And I will invite you to dive in, in person, and hope that this will create a conversation that leads to something!"