Biennale Matter of Art 2026
June 12 – September 13, Prague / Pardubice
Alex Sihelsk* – Zveromedze, film still, 2025
The fourth edition of the Biennale Matter of Art presents art as a necessity that our society cannot do without. The three-month exhibition and accompanying program, subtitled Necessary Wishes, will take place from June 12 to September 13, 2026, at the National Gallery Prague – Trade Fair Palace, GAMPA – City Gallery Pardubice, and the Tusculum Prague art center.
More than 30 art projects will be presented at the Biennale, including six new art commissions produced by Noor Abed, David Apakidze, Leila Basma & Zaher Jureidini, Yana Bachynska / Jan Bačynsjkyj, Adrián Kriška, and Aliza Orlan.
The public opening ceremony will take place on June 11, and the opening weekend program will continue until Sunday, June 14, with performances, guided tours, and other events. Subscribe to our newsletter, where we will remind you of everything in time.
The project is cocurated by Jaroslava Tomanová, Jakub Gawkowski, and František Fekete.
The exhibition will be open to the public free of charge for its entire duration, which is part of the broader efforts of the tranzit.cz initiative to mediate art to a wider audience.
List of Artists
AntiGonna, Noor Abed, Szymon Adamczak, Željka Aleksić, Gleb Amankulov, David Apakidze, Yana Bachynska / Jan Bačynsjkyj, Jürgen Baldiga, Leila Basma & Zaher Jureidini, Rufina Bazlova / Stitch It Collective, Ștefan Bertalan, Cezary Bodzianowski, Tina Bxtq, András Cséfalvay, Michal Durda, Jan Durina, Fůd, GALAS (Галас), Hana Garová, Laďa Gažiová, Davyd Chychkan, Nosrat Karimi, Seba Kayan, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Adrián Kriška, Běla Kolářová, kroužek intersekce, Isadora Neves Marques, Nadia Markiewicz, Zoi Michailova, Shabu Mwangi, Aron Neubert, Aliza Orlan, Bronislava Orlická & Zuzana Smrkovská, Taring Padi, Cezary Poniatowski, Publik Universal Frxnd, Margaret Raspé, Nour Shantout, Shella Radio, Alex Sihelsk*, Felipe Steinberg, StonyTellers, Alina Sokolova, Fedir Tetyanych, Huda Takriti, Liliana Zeic, Jiří Žák
The curatorial approach draws on the notion of necessity as the vital force and political guiding principle behind one’s decisions. Art as a necessity appears as neither an aesthetic choice, a commodity, nor a professionalised activity but rather as an instinctive, embodied response to lived conditions—something unavoidable and embedded in the very structure of daily life and its politics.
“Necessity may take the form of protest—as a means of survival and a manifestation of life—but it may also appear as an intimate gesture, an escape from visibility, or a turning inward toward the self. This year’s biennale proposes artistic form as a vehicle for solidarity and compassion, functioning as a carrier, proxy, and instrument for strengthening insurgent communities as much as addressing personal urgency. These practices sustain relationships from within, amplify silenced voices, and nourish hope by calling allies to action in response to oppression. Necessity is about learning to live with contradictions, embracing an irresistible rhythm, and navigating the choreographies of limitations. Art born of necessity is thus also an art of the poetics of reduction, involving not-doing as well as practices of restraint, refusal, boycott, and withdrawal,” the curators say in a joint statement.
Stop the violence against humanity: Wayang kardus workshop with Taring Padi
Stop the violence against humanity: Wayang kardus workshop with Taring Padi
Biennale Opening Weekend Day 1 – National Gallery Prague
Opening Ceremony
Performance: Nadia Markiewicz – The Lonesome Wing
Performance: Michal Durda – Looks Like a Calf at a New Door
Afterparty: Shella Radio
Biennale Opening Weekend Day 2 – National Gallery Prague
Guided tour with curators and artists in English – National Gallery Prague
More Than 20 Years of tranzit.org. Launch of the book tranzit 20+
Performative lecture: Felipe Steinberg – Daylight All Night Long
Biennale Opening Weekend Day 2 – GAMPA
Guided tour of the exhibition with curators and artists in English – GAMPA
Performance: Seba Kayan – Scales of Knowledge
Collective reading with kroužek intersekce: What kind of world do we wish for?
Participatory Happening: How to Galas – A Guide to Progress
Biennale Opening Weekend Day 3 – Tusculum
Who is talking in the garden? Workshop with StonyTellers
kroužek intersekce – The Tent
Guided tour with curators and artists – National Gallery Prague
Who is talking in the garden? Workshop with StonyTellers
Who is talking in the garden? Workshop with StonyTellers
The last day to view the complete exhibition across all three venues will be September 13, 2026. The exhibition at GAMPA Pardubice will continue until September 26. The biennale is organized by the nonprofit initiative for contemporary art tranzit.cz in cooperation with the National Gallery Prague and the City Gallery Pardubice. The authors of the visual identity for the Biennale Matter of Art 2026 are Martin Czeller and Andrea Vacovská.