The National Gallery of Canada (NGC), curator of Canada’s participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia, today unveiled the exhibition Abbas Akhavan: Between Dog and Wolf.
Over the past two decades, Abbas Akhavan has refined a poetic and reflective practice rooted in place. In each of his projects, he engages in an extended dialogue with a place: its architecture, its economies, its human and non-human inhabitants, as well as their rhythms. Gardens and organic matter in general—as well as cultural heritage and historical iconography, particularly the fluidity of symbols across history, contexts, and conflicts—are recurring concerns and fundamental themes in his work.
For Between Dog and Wolf, his site-specific installation for the Canada Pavilion, Abbas Akhavan reimagines the architecture of the building as a Ward’s crate: the ancestor of the terrarium used to transport plants in the British Empire. Using a custom pond fitted with horticultural lights to display giant Victoria water lilies, the pavilion also evokes the Crystal Palace, built to house the 1851 World’s Fair in London, where this plant was featured. Although native to South America, water lilies were a natural wonder of the Victorian era. Named in honor of Queen Victoria, water lilies are considered her emblem.
In collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK), the water lily seeds were first transplanted to the Botanical Garden of the University of Padua (IT) for germination. They were subsequently transported to the Canada Pavilion to reach maturity during the Arte 2026 Biennale. The artist replaced the facade of the structure with glass panels, making the plants visible from the outside. This central installation is framed by other sculptural works inside the pavilion and in its courtyard. Anchored by these magnificent lilies, the installation acts as a satellite garden during the closure for renovation of the Waterlily House at Kew Gardens. By recontextualizing these plants and cultural emblems in the pavilion of a Commonwealth country founded during the reign of their namesake, Akhavan offers a meditative space that allows us to revisit a pivotal moment in world history and reflect on our current relationship to our natural and built environments.
The title Entre chien et loup evokes the indeterminate nature of twilight, when distinctions fade and dog and wolf can be confused. In this liminal space, we are invited to reconsider our relationship to the natural world and the constructed world. The exhibition Abbas Akhavan: Between Dog and Wolf is curated by Kim Nguyen, director of programs at the Ruth Foundation for the Arts. An illustrated publication featuring texts by Abbas Akhavan, Federico Campagna, Kim Nguyen, Stefano Riccioni, Marina Roy, Asli Seven and Lucy T. Smith accompanies the exhibition.The Abbas Akhavan exhibition. Between Dog and Wolf is commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada, presented in partnership with the National Gallery of Canada Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts, with the sponsorship of Hatch and the support of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Botanical Garden of the University of Padua, our exhibition partners. Canadian representation at the 2026 Arte Biennale is made possible thanks to the Canadian Artists in Venice Endowment Fund of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation and the generous financial support of Canada Pavilion Patron, Reesa Greenberg, C.M., and patrons of the Canadian Artists in Venice Endowment Fund. “We are honored to present Abbas Akhavan’s installation at the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia, the global forum for cultural dialogue. Canadian representation at the Arte 2026 Biennale highlights Canada’s intellectual and creative leadership on the international stage. Abbas’ work redefines our relationship with the territory and its stories. Its installation at the Canada Pavilion demonstrates that art remains the most powerful tool for dealing with the complexities of today’s world. It also offers a space for silent reflection in line with this year’s theme: In minor scales. » – Jean-François Bélisle, Director General of the National Gallery of Canada “The Canada Council for the Arts is proud to support Canada’s participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, where Abbas Akhavan presents his installation at the Canada Pavilion. Between Dog and Wolf highlights Akhavan’s ability to transform a place and provoke reflection. The Arts Council remains committed to creating connections between the country’s artists and audiences around the world at a time of evolving international relations. Artists play a vital role in sharing our ideas and values abroad and contributing to our cohesion and resilience. Our continued support of the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia reflects our commitment to showcasing their leadership, vision and inspiration internationally. » – Michelle Chawla, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts “Abbas Akhavan’s practice perfectly embodies the sense of synergy and intuition. Through each installation, this artist is interested in the way in which sites, objects and symbols take on meaning and are integrated or readjusted in our collective imagination. Guided by its vision and material sensitivity, the pavilion transforms into a vessel for plant life and transports us to another space-time. Abbas Akhavan’s presentation invites us to think about how stories contradict and turn in on themselves, what we can learn from what has been left behind, and to think about what we overlook and what we take with us. » – Kim Nguyen, exhibition curator
Exhibition creditsAbbas Akhavan: Between Dog and Wolf61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia. From May 9 to November 22, 2026
Curator: National Gallery of CanadaCurator by: Kim NguyenPartners: National Gallery of Canada Foundation; Canada Council for the ArtsWith the support of: HatchExhibition partners: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Orto Botanico di PadovaPresident of the artist selection committee: Jean-François BélislePatron of the Canada PavilionReesa Greenberg, C.M.
Patrons of the Canadian Artists Endowment Fund in Venice$2 million and moreMichael and Sonja Koerner Family FoundationD. R. Sobey Foundation$1 millionJack Weinbaum Family Foundation$500,000Michelle Koerner Family Foundation; Jackie Flanagan; private family foundation$250,000Hon. Bill Morneau and Nancy McCain; Rosamond Ivey$100,000Robin and Malcolm Anthony; Paul Fredricks and Victoria Foley, The Freybe Family; DH Gales Family Foundation; Shabin Mohamed; The Stonecroft Foundation for the ArtsInstitutional PartnersThe Art Gallery of Hamilton (ON), Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (NS), Art Gallery of Ontario (ON), Beaverbrook Art Gallery (NB), CAB Center d’art (QC), Concordia University Faculty of Fine Arts (QC), Confederation Center of the Arts (PEI), Contemporary Calgary (AB), Fogo Island Arts (NL), Koffler Arts (ON), the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MAC, QC), the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (QC), PHI (QC), Plug In ICA for support on behalf of Michael Nesbitt (MB), Remai Modern (SK), the Faculty of Arts and the Vice-President of Teaching and Research at the University of British Columbia (BC) and the Winnipeg-Qaumajuq Art Gallery for support on behalf of Michael Nesbitt (MB).
About Abbas AkhavanThe artistic practice of Abbas Akhavan (born 1977 in Tehran, Iran; lives and works in Montreal and Berlin) extends from ephemeral site-specific installations to drawing, video, sculpture and performance. His research is deeply influenced by his relationship to the places where he works, their history and architecture, as well as the economies and inhabitants who shape them. The garden — and by extension, the spaces and species found very close to the house, such as the courtyard, public parks and other domesticated landscapes — is a fundamental and recurring subject in his work. In his recent large-scale installations, Akhavan has recreated cultural sites affected by international conflicts, focusing on the multiple ways in which current geopolitics shapes historical narratives. In his work, Akhavan is interested in the formal, material and social legacies that shape the boundaries between the public and the private, the domesticated and the wild, the hostile and the hospitable.
Among his recent and upcoming solo exhibitions: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2026); from the 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 Tate Modern, London (2025); the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2024); the 14th Gwangju Biennale (2023); the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2022); Protocinema, Istanbul (2021); the 13th Sharjah Biennale (2017) and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2016).
Akhavan holds an MFA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2006), and a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal (2004). Recent residencies include the 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 received the Hnatyshyn Foundation Excellence in Visual Arts Award for Mid-Career Artists (2025); the Fellbach Triennale Prize (2017); the Sobey Award (2015); the Abraaj Group Art Prize (2014); and the Berliner Kunstpreis (2012).