Biennale Matter of Art 2026 kicks off with an extended Opening Weekend

Running from June 11 to 14 2026, the Biennale’s busy Opening Weekend will host performances, guided tours, book presentations, workshops, and more, at numerous locations in two cities – Prague and Pardubice.

The program will begin on Thursday, June 11 at the National Gallery Prague’s Trade Fair Palace with an opening ceremony of the main section of the biennale exhibition. The night will unfold with two performances: Warsaw-based artist Nadia Markiewicz will present as The Lonesome Wing  – a character “born with the wing of a white bird instead of one arm”, followed by Michal Durda’s group performance project Looks Like a Calf at a New Door which explores the themes of queer shame and self-acceptance. An afterparty with DJs from the local community platform Shella Radio will close the night.

Friday, June 12 will open with a guided tour of the biennale exhibition at the National Gallery, featuring the curators and participating artists. This will be followed by a launch of a new book More Than 20 Years of tranzit.org, and a performative lecture Daylight All Night Long by interdisciplinary artist Felipe Steinberg. Non-Aligned Feminist Friendships collective will take the program to the Center for Contemporary Arts Prague to present their new feminist bulletin which links political imagination with art, featuring a discussion with Katia Krupennikova, Jelena Petrović, Armina Pilav, Tereza Stejskalová, and Bita Razavi.

Meanwhile on Friday, the City Gallery Pardubice (GAMPA) will host the opening of the second part of the biennale exhibition with a guided tour led by curators and participating artists. To wrap up the Friday program, producer and DJ Seba Kayan will perform a set blending the sonic influences of her European and Kurdish roots.

The program for Saturday, June 13 will start with the inaugural collective reading of kroužek intersekce in the National Gallery, later moving to the community garden of the Tusculum studio and residency center. Warsaw-based collective GALAS will hold a participatory happening featuring food and music, followed by the first in a series of workshops hosted by the multidisciplinary group StonyTellers.

The weekend program culminates in a Sunday morning guided tour of the exhibition at the National Gallery.

Besides the events of the opening weekend, the biennale exhibition will be accessible during regular opening hours across all venues of the biennale starting Thursday, June 12. All of the events of the Opening Weekend are accessible free of charge, as is the entire biennale exhibition.