According to a statement by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, works commissioned from 24 artists inspired by "the life and legacy" of Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) will be presented.

They collaborate with the Soundwalk Collective. This year's biennale theme is "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul." The exhibition will be spread across two venues in the Italian city.

First section

The first section will feature artists such as British composer and producer Brian Eno and Portuguese fado singer Carminho. Others include Italian composer and festival director Caterina Barbieri, British singer and songwriter FKA Twigs, American filmmaker and musician Jim Jarmusch, ambient musician Laraaji, composer and vocalist Meredith Monk, and poet and musician Moor Mother.

Second section

The second section will showcase the late filmmaker and writer Alexander Kluge's final works, who died in March. The Holy See's representation is titled in his honour. Portuguese visual artist Ilda David will exhibit her artist's books, and Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao will present her works.

Venice Art Biennale

The 61st Venice Art Biennale – which will take place under the theme “In Minor Keys,” designed by curator Koyo Kouoh, who died last May – will present a transformative vision of art in a “poetic whisper” of resistance, introspection, and joy in the face of times of global exhaustion, according to the event's organisers in Italy.

The exhibition runs from 9 May to 22 November, with a pre-opening on 7 May and 8 May in the Gardens, the Arsenal, and other locations in the centre of Venice.

Portugal representation

Portugal will be represented by the project “RedSkyFalls” by Alexandre Estrela, which translates into an ecosystem with artificial beings sensitive to earthquakes, which will be felt at the same time as they occur anywhere in the world.

Brazil and Timor-Leste will also participate from the Portuguese-speaking world.

The Portuguese visual artist Pedro Cabrita Reis will inaugurate an exhibition in Venice in May that revisits the Via Sacra through a “personal vision” of the Passion of Christ, featuring 14 new paintings in dialogue with the history of European painting.

This is an independent project entitled “XIV Steps,” the same number as the Stations of the Cross, on display from 4 May to 22 November, coinciding with the Venice Art Biennale.