We are honored to be realizing a work in the Dutch Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. At the same time, it is deeply troubling that Israel is granted a national pavilion at this edition. A state that has been credibly accused of genocide is given the opportunity to art-wash itself—ironically in the Sale d’Armi (The Armory).
We therefore support the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) in its effort to prevent Israel’s participation in the Biennale.
With pavilions for Russia and the warlike United States as well, this year’s exhibition might become a surreal time capsule, a stubborn continuation of the past, detached from reality. Or perhaps a spot on representation of a world where might makes right.
Studio Dries Verhoeven will be present in Venice, loud and clear. We believe one should always seize the opportunity to speak through art, as long as one is free to do so and can operate independently of the interests of the country one represents.
The desire to make an artwork about the obstinate preservation of a bygone time has only grown stronger.
We hope for a politically resonant edition of La Biennale.
Dries will represent the Netherlands at the 61st edition of the Venice Biennale. In collaboration with curator Rieke Vos, performance art will be presented in the Dutch pavilion for the first time. The Venice Biennale will take place from May 9 to November 22, 2026.
With a performative intervention, Dries responds to the current state of uncertainty in the Netherlands and Europe. The Rietveld Pavilion, built in the optimistic post-war years, will not only serve as the venue for the presentation but will also become part of the intervention itself. Belgium (Miet Warlop) and Austria (Florentina Holzinger) are also inviting performance artists to this edition. Dries: “The geopolitical tension we are experiencing now is, to say the least, grim; it has been a long time since our future felt so uncertain. I want to make this unrest tangible within the ‘safe space’ of the Biennale. That I get to do this in the vicinity of artists like Miet and Florentina is an incredible gift.”
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On May 23rd, from 14:00–20:30, Do not go gentle into that good nightcan be seen (and heard) at SPRING Performing Arts Festival 2026, from the roof of Stadsschouwburg Utrecht.
“Can we, as artists, truly act against dictatorial regimes, tech billionaires, and warmongers responsible for genocide? At times, I find the idea rather preposterous. Aren’t we compromised by the very systems in which we move? The political stance in the arts is not only necessary, but also rather fashionable these days, sometimes becoming almost gratuitous. The art viewer, having taken part, may walk away feeling virtuous, their conscience soothed by a moment of enlightenment. Do such gestures really challenge tyranny, or do they merely comfort the cultural middle class? And—this question is closest to my heart—what about the value of ambiguity? Can art, which draws its strength from multiplicity of meaning, be an effective medium of resistance?” — Dries Verhoeven
If you would like to see the documentation from the opening of this work, during the presentation at De Balie Amsterdam, within the context of the Forum on European Culture, please click here.
Everything Must Go is traveling to Theater Aan Zee 2026 Festival from July 29 – August 8. A performative installation that explores the moral frictions of late capitalism. Based on 24 interviews with people who occasionally ‘forget’ to pay, in which activism and consumerism become inextricably entangled. Visitors remain outside the installation. They peek into the aisle through the products on the shelves or observe the performer via CCTV footage, like surveillants in a present-day panopticon.
If you would like to read a recent New York Times review by Nina Siegal, please click here.
