The Bahamas Pavilion returns to the 61st Venice Biennale after a thirteen year hiatus

Bringing together the work of the late John Beadle (1964–2024) and Lavar Munroe (b. 1982), the island’s second participation in the exhibition highlights its visual, social, and spiritual traditions. Beadle was deeply influenced by Junkanoo, the centuries-old national processional festival he described as the cultural bedrock of The Bahamas. Working with cardboard, tarp from Haitian sloops abandoned on Bahamian shores, and recurring motifs such as dysfunctional oars and mobile houses, the artist centered overlooked people and histories.

Munroe similarly draws from the festival’s traditions, constructing elaborate sculptures from discarded costumes, often shaped into monumental equestrian figures or life-sized dogs. Furthermore, Lavar Munroe celebrates John Beadle through a series of paintings depicting a memorial procession, extending his ongoing engagement with diasporic spiritual practices. A section dedicated to ‘’posthumous collaboration’’ furthers this dialogue by using materials connected to Beadle’s studio practice.

The 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia runs from may 9 to november 22, 2026.

bahamasvenicebiennale.org