VENICE, Italy and OTTAWA, ON, May 5, 2026 /CNW/ - The National Gallery of Canada (NGC), commissioner of Canada's participation in the 61^st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, unveiled today the exhibition Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup.

Over the past two decades, Abbas Akhavan has honed a poetic and thoughtfully site-specific practice. With each project, he enters into a protracted conversation with a place: its architecture, economies, human and non-human inhabitants, and their rhythms. Gardens and organic matter in general—along with cultural heritage and historical iconography, particularly the fluidity of symbols throughout history, contexts, and conflicts—have been recurrent preoccupations and foundational themes in his work. 

For Entre chien et loup, his site-specific installation for the Canada Pavilion, Akhavan reimagines the building's architecture as a Wardian case: a precursor to the terrarium used to transport plants throughout the British Empire. With a custom pool outfitted with grow lights to present giant water lilies of the genus Victoria, the pavilion also evokes the Crystal Palace, constructed to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, where the plant was prominently displayed. Although native to South America, the water lilies were a natural wonder of the Victorian era. Named in homage to Queen Victoria, they are considered her emblem. 

In collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK), seeds of the water lilies were first transplanted to the Botanical Garden of the University of Padua (IT) for germination. From there, they were transported to the Canada Pavilion to reach maturity during the Biennale Arte 2026. The artist has replaced the structure's facade with glass panels, making the plants visible from the exterior. This central installation is framed by additional sculptural works inside the pavilion and in its courtyard.

Anchored by these magnificent lilies, the installation operates as a satellite garden while the Waterlily House at Kew Gardens is closed for renovation. By re-presenting these plants and cultural emblems within the pavilion of a Commonwealth country established under the reign of their namesake, Akhavan offers a meditative space in which to revisit a pivotal moment in world history and to consider how we position ourselves today in relation to our natural and built environments. 

The title Entre chien et loup – literally "between dog and wolf"– evokes the indeterminate nature of twilight, when distinctions blur and a wolf might be mistaken for a dog. In this liminal space, the exhibition invites us to reconsider our relationship to the natural and built worlds.

Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup is curated by Kim Nguyen, Director of Programs at the Ruth Foundation for the Arts. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication with texts by Abbas Akhavan, Federico Campagna, Kim Nguyen, Stefano Riccioni, Marina Roy, Asli Seven, and Lucy T. Smith.

Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup is commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and presented in partnership with the National Gallery of Canada Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts, with thanks to supporting sponsor Hatch and our exhibition partners the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Botanical Garden of the University of Padua. The Canadian representation at the Biennale Arte 2026 is made possible through the Canadian Artists in Venice Endowment at the National Gallery of Canada Foundation and with the generous financial support from Canada Pavilion Patron Reesa Greenberg, C.M. and the Canadian Artists in Venice Endowment Patrons.

Jean-François Bélisle, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada, has said:
"We are honoured to present Abbas Akhavan's work at the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia, the world's forum for cultural dialogue. The Canadian representation at the Biennale Arte 2026 showcases Canada's intellectual and creative leadership on the global stage. Abbas' work redefines our relationship to the land and its histories, and his installation for the Canada Pavilion proves that art remains our most powerful tool for navigating the complexities of the world today. Importantly, it also provides a space for quiet reflection in keeping with this year's theme: In Minor Keys."

Michelle Chawla, Director and CEO, Canada Council for the Arts, has said: 
"The Canada Council for the Arts is proud to support Canada's participation at the 61^st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia with Abbas Akhavan's installation at the Canada Pavilion. Entre chien et loup highlights Akhavan's ability to transform space and invite reflection. The Canada Council believes in connecting Canada's artists with global audiences at a moment of shifting international relationships. Canada's artists play a vital role in sharing Canadian ideas and values abroad, contributing to our connectedness and resilience. Our ongoing support for the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia reflects our commitment to ensuring that their leadership, vision, and inspiration resonate internationally."

Kim Nguyen, Curator, has said:
"Abbas Akhavan's practice is the very definition of synergistic and intuitive. With each installation, he attends to the ways that sites, objects, and symbols become charged and enter into, or are calibrated within, our collective imagination. Guided by his vision and material sensitivity, the pavilion is transformed into a vessel for plant life, transporting us to an alternate time. Akhavan's presentation asks us to consider how histories contradict and fold over themselves, how we can learn from what has been left behind, and to reflect on what we neglect and what we carry onwards."

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Exhibition credits
Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup
61^st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
May 9 – November 22, 2026

Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada
Curator: Kim Nguyen
Partners: National Gallery of Canada Foundation; Canada Council for the Arts
Supported by: Hatch
Exhibition Partners: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Orto Botanico di Padova
Artist Selection Committee Chair: Jean-François Bélisle

Canada Pavilion Patron
Reesa Greenberg, C.M.

Canadian Artists in Venice Endowment Patrons
$2 Million +  
The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation 
D. R. Sobey Foundation  

$1 Million  
The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation  

$500,000  
The Michelle Koerner Family Foundation; Jackie Flanagan; Private family foundation  

$250,000  
Hon. Bill Morneau & Nancy McCain; Rosamond Ivey  

$100,000  
Robin & Malcolm Anthony; Paul Fredricks & Victoria Foley, The Freybe Family; DH Gales Family Foundation; Shabin Mohamed; Stonecroft Foundation for the Arts  

Institutional Partners
We recognize the Canadian art museums and institutions whose financial and in-kind support contributed directly to the realization of this project through the Gallery, reflecting a shared investment in Canada's presence at the Venice Biennale: Art Gallery of Hamilton (ON), Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (NS), Art Gallery of Ontario (ON), Beaverbrook Art Gallery (NB), CAB Art Centre (QC), Concordia University Faculty of Fine Arts (QC), Confederation Centre of the Arts (PE), Contemporary Calgary (AB), Fogo Island Arts (NL), Koffler Arts (ON), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (QC), Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MAC, QC), PHI (QC), Plug In ICA on behalf of Michael Nesbitt (MB), Remai Modern (SK), University of British Columbia Faculty of Arts and Office of the Provost & VP Academic (BC), and Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq on behalf of Michael Nesbitt (MB).

Visiting the exhibition
Canada Pavilion, Giardini della Biennale, Sestiere Castello 30122 Venezia (Vaporetto: Giardini)

During the pre-opening week, hours are 10a.m. – 7p.m.

About Abbas Akhavan
Abbas Akhavan's (b. 1977, Tehran, Iran; lives/works: Montreal and Berlin) practice ranges from site-specific ephemeral installations to drawing, video, sculpture, and performance. The direction of his research is deeply influenced by his engagement with the places in which he works – their histories and architectures, as well as the economies and inhabitants that shape them. The garden – and by extension, the spaces and species just outside the home, such as backyards, public parks and other domesticated landscapes – has been a foundational and recurring subject in his work. In recent large-scale installations, Akhavan has recreated cultural sites affected by international conflicts, attending to the multivalent ways in which ongoing geopolitics shape historical narratives. Akhavan's work engages with formal, material and social legacies that shape the boundaries between public and private, domesticated and wild, hostile and hospitable.

Upcoming and recent solo exhibitions include the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2026); Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver (2025); Copenhagen Contemporary and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen (2023); Mount Stuart House, Isle of Bute (2022); and Chisenhale Gallery, London (2021). Recent group exhibitions include the Tate Modern, London (2025); Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2024); 14^th Gwangju Biennale (2023); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2022); Protocinema, Istanbul (2021); Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017); and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2016).

Akhavan received an MFA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2006), and a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal (2004). Recent residencies include Bangkok Kunstahalle (2024); Fogo Island Arts (2019, 2016, 2013); Capp Street Project Artist-in-Residence, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2019); Atelier Calder, Saché (2017); and Delfina Foundation, London (2012). He is the recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Visual Arts (2025); Fellbach Triennial Award (2017); Sobey Art Award (2015); Abraaj Group Art Prize (2014); and Berliner Kunstpreis (2012).

SOURCE National Gallery of Canada