“Voices, Amplified: A Manifesto” Concludes in Venice, During the 61st Venice Biennale

2026-08-23 Editor

The international art exhibition Voices, Amplified: A Manifesto brought together 11 artists from China, the United Kingdom, and the United States in Venice, during the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Presented in Venice, Italy, from 15 to 22 August 2026, Voices, Amplified: A Manifesto explored ideas of “voice,” “listening,” and individual expression through painting, moving image, digital media, and other artistic forms. The participating artists brought distinct cultural backgrounds and creative approaches to the exhibition, which comprised two sections: a presentation of physical artworks and a programme of digital moving-image works.

Drawing inspiration from In Minor Keys, the title and curatorial framework of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the exhibition turned its attention towards voices that are subtle and persistent, yet not always readily noticed. In the title, “Amplified” does not simply refer to making a voice louder. Rather, it raises a broader set of questions: What can be heard? Who can be heard? And how do different forms of individual expression enter our fields of perception and understanding?

Exhibition Information

Exhibition: Voices, Amplified: A Manifesto

Dates: 15–22 August 2026

Opening reception: 15 August 2026, 17:00–19:00

Venue: Calle del Bastion 2498, Venice, Italy

Participating artists: Mikhi Dacus, Li Weizheng, Lin Hongnian, Luo Ziran, Song Kaixin, Sun Lijun, Wang Renxiang, Wei Ziying, Xiong Linrui, Zhao Jun, and Zhao Guihu

Curator: Fang Ting Ting

Organised by: Asian Academy of Arts

Curatorial Statement

What can be heard, who can be heard, and how a voice enters public perception are always shaped by cultural, social, and institutional structures. Who has the opportunity to express themselves, whose forms of expression are understood, and who gains entry to exhibitions, institutions, histories, and systems of knowledge are all determined through ongoing processes of negotiation and selection. To amplify a voice within a particular space, therefore, is also to reconsider the conditions under which that voice is organised, viewed, understood, and ultimately heard.

Drawing inspiration from In Minor Keys, the curatorial framework of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, this exhibition approaches “listening” as a mode of perception. It focuses on diverse forms of expression created by artists with different cultural backgrounds, social experiences, and artistic paths. When attention is directed towards subtle details, experiences that have long existed but have not been fully recognised begin to emerge.

Some artists listen for the vitality contained within materials by tracing changes in matter, nature, and time. Others use the body, language, memory, and identity as sites of artistic exploration, examining how personal experiences are continually constructed and rewritten within social structures. Still others engage with artificial intelligence, algorithms, and digital media, exploring how technological transformation reinterprets reality. Placed together within the same space, these forms of expression create a series of independent yet interconnected modes of “listening.”

Listening always takes place within particular cultural, social, and relational contexts and therefore continually generates new forms of connection. As visitors enter the exhibition, they encounter a series of evolving relationships: between people and artworks, among artworks, across cultures, between technology and the body, and between different lived experiences. Within these encounters, viewing becomes a form of listening, listening becomes a form of understanding, and understanding becomes a continuously evolving relationship.

—Fang Ting Ting, Curator

The works presented in the exhibition articulated their perspectives through different media, creating multiple points of dialogue across questions of the individual, society, culture, and technology. Together, they formed a series of voices that remained distinct while becoming intertwined within the exhibition.

The participating works reflected on contemporary society and individual experience from multiple perspectives. Some examined women’s attentiveness to life and existence itself. Others brought together past and present, East and West, seeking new possibilities between inward exploration and outward engagement with reality. Still others translated abstract computation into tangible encounters.

As these different perspectives intersected within the exhibition, individual voices were given the opportunity to become both visible and heard.

Throughout the exhibition, visitors from different countries and regions entered the space, pausing before the works, looking closely, exchanging ideas, and engaging in conversation. Their varied cultural backgrounds and lived experiences gave rise to different interpretations and responses. Some discussed colour, while others focused on creative approaches. Some were struck by the meanings embedded within particular works, while others lingered because of an immediate visual encounter.

Through these repeated acts of looking and exchange, the exhibition space became more than a site for displaying artworks. It developed into a platform for connections among artists, artworks, and audiences, allowing different voices to encounter one another and generate new responses and conversations.

Fang Ting Ting, curator of the exhibition and dean of the Asian Academy of Arts, was also present, engaging with participating artists and visitors. Through these conversations, the exhibition extended beyond its curatorial framework and the expressions embodied in individual works, unfolding through the acts of viewing, discussion, and interpretation that took place among its audiences.

Fang Ting Ting, exhibition curator and dean of the Asian Academy of Arts.

Participating artist Xiong Linrui, who attended the exhibition in Venice, reflected on the experience:

“For me, participating in this exhibition was not only an opportunity to present my work in Venice but also a chance to reconsider my own practice, encounter the work of other artists, and engage with audiences from different cultural backgrounds.

“What surprised me most was that the works in the exhibition did not attempt to respond to In Minor Keys through a single approach. Instead, each retained its own distinctive artistic language while moving between tradition and contemporary practice, personal experience and cultural memory. Bringing these different works together within the same space created unexpected and compelling dialogues.

“One of the most meaningful aspects of the exhibition was seeing my work enter an unfamiliar cultural and perceptual environment. My work, Algorithmic Shadow, explores the relationship between artificial intelligence, the physical world, and human perception. When the work arrived in Venice and encountered audiences from Italy and elsewhere, I began to realise that the same artwork could generate entirely different interpretations within different cultural contexts.

“Conversations with local visitors also prompted me to reconsider the act of looking itself. Audiences do not necessarily understand a work in the way an artist anticipates. They establish relationships with it through their own lived experiences, cultural backgrounds, and even bodily perceptions.

“Because of this, I increasingly feel that an exhibition is not the endpoint of an artwork. When a work leaves the studio and enters a real public space, it truly begins to form relationships with others. Different artistic voices encounter one another, while the ways in which audiences look, respond, and engage in discussion continually add new layers to those voices.

“Participating in this exhibition in Venice during the Biennale has been an extremely valuable experience for me. It has shown me that different cultures, media, and individual experiences do not need to be unified into a single voice. On the contrary, subtle, independent, and distinctive forms of expression can generate new resonances precisely through their encounters with one another.”

Xiong Linrui and Mikhi Dacus, Algorithmic Shadow, interactive audiovisual installation, 2026.

Voices, Amplified: A Manifesto presented the independent artistic practices of 11 artists while creating a space in Venice where different cultures, media, and experiences could encounter one another.

Rather than seeking a single, unified voice, the exhibition allowed differences to coexist, creating opportunities for subtle yet persistent forms of expression to be seen, heard, and understood. Through successive encounters between artworks and audiences, “voice” extended beyond individual expression and became part of an evolving process of communication and connection among people.

Media contact

Steven Zhao

Canada & World Report

zhao@canadanewsreport.com

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