Panama City, November 7, 2025 Panama Announces the project selected to represent the country at the 61st Venice Art Biennial (2026): The proposal put forward by Antonio José Guzmán and Iva Jankovic has been selected after an open call and an independent international jury's appraisal.

The Minister of Culture, María Eugenia Herrera, noted that "To participate in the Venice Art Biennial consolidates Panama's presence on the most important platform of contemporary art in the world. Our pavilion is a country effort that unites the public sector, cultural institutions and private enterprise to project Panamanian talent and strengthen our artistic ecosystem."

Project selection

Following an open and competitive process that received 89 proposals, an international jury appointed to select the project that will represent Panama at the 61st Venice Art Biennial (2026), chose the proposal put forward by Antonio José Guzmán (Panama, 1971) and Iva Jankovic (Yugoslavia, 1979).

The process reaffirms the principles of openness, institutional transparency and artistic excellence as pillars for strengthening the projection of Panamanian contemporary art at the global stage.

About the Trial and Jury

The Jury was composed of six leading visual arts professionals in Latin America:

• Rossina Cazali, independent curator (Guatemala)
• Miguel A. López, curator, researcher and writer (Peru / Costa Rica)
• Gladys Turner Bosso, art critic and curator (Panama)
• Jochen Volz, Director General of the Pinacoteca of São Paulo (Brazil)
• Carolina Alvarez Mathies, curator and cultural manager (El Salvador / USA)
• Gianni Bianchini, National Director of the Arts, Ministry of Culture of Panama

Each member of the Jury independently assessed the proposals with a heading based on three main criteria:

1. Strength and conceptual coherence.

2. The conduct of an artist or collective.

3. Feasibility and performance capacity.

The scores were referred individually by e-mail and later socialised at two joint sessions, conducted by video conferencing, at which the proposal selected by means of the headings was confirmed.

The process was coordinated by the Organizing Committee appointed by the Ministry of Culture, which includes the Panama Canal Museum, the City of Knowledge Foundation and the Art and Culture Foundation.

About the winning project

The proposed work explores the submerged memories of the so-called "lost peoples" of the Panama Canal, communities displaced while Lake Gatuna was established and the Canal Zone's enclave was established at the beginning of the 20th century.

Through textiles, sound and archives, the project looks at the crossings of the Black Atlantic and the contemporary resonances of migration, despairing and cultural resistance. The proposal invites reflection about memory, territory, historic repair and cultural interdependence.

The project will be production especially for the Panama Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennial 2026 and will be inaugurated in April 2026 and will have the curatorial accompaniment of Panamanian curators Mónica Kúpfer and Ana Elizabeth González.

About artists

Antonio José Guzmán and Iva Jankovic develop a practice that combines textiles, sound, archives and memory to address stories of movement, identity and diaspora. His research incorporates artisan collaborations with Sufiyan Khatri's workshop in Gujarat (India) and Afro-Caribbean, Adinkra and Mesoamerican visual references.

His work has been presented at international institutions and biennials, including a recent sample at the Panama Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC Panama) as well as at the Stepheljk Museum (Amsterdam), the Dakar Biennial and the Lima Museum of Contemporary Art. Also, his work forms part of public and private collections in Latin America, Europe and Africa.

Previously, in 2024, the artistic duo participated in the international exhibition of the Venice Art Biennial cured by Adriano Pedrosa. On this occasion and for the first time, they will represent Panama at its National Pavilion.