Venice 2025 · The Art Newspaper
Venice Biennale balances sustainability with greenwashing concerns
Curator Koyo Kouoh's focus on "all earthly elements" and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's new sustainable art island exemplify environmental themes at the 2025 Venice Biennale. However, sustainability initiatives risk appearing as performative gestures amid broader contradictions.
The 60th Venice Biennale incorporates environmental consciousness as a curatorial principle, with Kouoh emphasising interconnectedness between art and ecological systems. The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo has developed a dedicated sustainable exhibition space, and alternative travel options—boats and trains rather than aircraft—are being promoted to reduce the event's carbon footprint. Yet observers note the tension between these initiatives and the inherent contradictions of maintaining Venice as an international art gathering. Critical analysis questions whether environmental messaging functions as substantive institutional change or primarily as curatorial narrative.
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