On the occasion of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Morocco Pavilion will present Asǝtta, a project by artist Amina Agueznay and curator Meriem Berrada. The Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication announced the participation of the Kingdom of Morocco in the 2026 Biennale Arte, with a national pavilion at the Arsenale for the first time.
Designed specifically for the Arsenale’s Artiglierie and curated by Meriem Berrada, Amina Agueznay Asǝtta explores the transmission of traditional craftsmanship and shared memory. The work centres on the symbolism of thresholds, echoing the theme of this edition, In Minor Keys, chosen by Koyo Kouoh.
Located at the heart of the Arsenale, Asǝtta – an Amazigh word for ritual weaving – reflects the connection to the land, gestures, and voices that shape and sustain Morocco’s artisanal traditions. The Morocco Pavilion resonates with the theme of this 61st edition, In Minor Keys, emphasising attention to subtle narratives, quiet practices, and memories passed from hand to hand.
Heritage is a living substance, with innovation as its life force.” Amina Agueznay
Amina Agueznay: Weaver of Gestures and Stories
For more than twenty years, Amina Agueznay has developed an approach deeply rooted in Moroccan vernacular knowledge and practices. With a background in architecture, she designs her works as spaces to inhabit, carefully integrating scale, rhythm, and materials to their location. Through workshops, residencies, and on-site projects across the Kingdom, the artist works hand in hand with local communities – weavers, embroiderers, basket-makers, jewellers, apprentices, master artisans, and workshop leaders. Large-scale installations such as Skin, Curriculum Vitae, Aouinates, and Fieldworks demonstrate her consistent attention to ancestral gestures, lineage, and the invisible threads of knowledge passed down through generations.
Her works are characterised by a discreet monumentality that never betrays the very essence of the material: a practice in which every twist, braid, coil, and stitch carries a story as well as silences, in a continuous exploration of how art can connect territory, body, memory, and landscape.
Specifically designed for the Morocco Pavilion, Asǝṭṭa reveals layers of time, narrative fragments, and personal memories. The installation investigates the concept of the threshold, or âatba – the passage between inside and outside, private and public, sacred and profane, at the heart of Moroccan vernacular architecture. Infused with ritual, this threshold transforms into an inhabited, transitional space.
Asǝtta pays tribute to these often invisible talents: keepers of time-honoured skills. They are invited here not as peripheral figures, but as key resources, witnesses to a space of living transmission where artisanal creation is never objectified but activated as language, as thought in action. A living archaeology of gestures, passed down, transformed, and exalted, continuing to shape new forms from ancestral heritage; a mark of recognition for those who, in minor key, contribute to the beauty of the world.”
Meriem Berrada
Weaving together the threads of tradition and innovation, and linking narratives and memories – that is the artistic and philosophical vision of the Morocco Pavilion.”
Commissioner, Mr Mohammed Benyaacoub
As part of the Kingdom of Morocco’s vision for promoting the arts and contemporary creation, and to enhance the international visibility of its artists, the Morocco Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2026 celebrates the country’s cultural scene. Led by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, this pavilion reflects a drive to promote the arts as well as artists, and demonstrates the Kingdom’s commitment to artistic excellence, rooted practice, and outward-looking creativity.
In the true spirit of In Minor Keys, the Morocco Pavilion offers a space for research, reflection, and dialogue, where Moroccan art fully engages with international artistic dynamics.
Kingdom of Morocco Pavilion Presents Amina Agueznay ‘Asǝṭṭa’ at la Biennale di Venezia 2026 from 9th May to 22nd November 2026 at the Arsenale, Venice. Find more information here.
