Photo Credit: Abbas Akhavan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fogo Island, Newfoundland, May 5, 2026 — Fogo Island Arts announced today a new partnership with the National Gallery of Canada in celebration of artist Abbas Akhavan, who is representing Canada at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, opening May 9th.
Building on its long-standing relationship with Akhavan, Fogo Island Arts is proud to be partnering with the National Gallery of Canada and other institutional partners, organizations and individuals in honouring the artist as he receives this international recognition.
The International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia is the largest and most prestigious contemporary art exhibition in the world with more than 80 participating countries. 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 exhibition partners the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Orto Botanico di Padova.
A Decade of Engagement with Fogo Island
Abbas Akhavan’s relationship with Fogo Island Arts spans more than a decade and three residencies — in 2013, 2016, and 2019. According to Akhavan, these visits were formative to his development as an artist. The remote character of Fogo Island, an island off an island, sitting at the edge of the North Atlantic, offered the artist a context attuned to his preoccupations: the specificity of place, the weight of landscape on history, and the fragile ecologies, both social and natural, that sustain the environment.
His 2013 and 2016 residencies brought him into contact with the island’s communities, its vernacular architecture, and the particular quality of light and life at the far edge of Canada. In 2019, this relationship culminated in a solo exhibition at the Fogo Island Gallery: script for an island.
“Abbas is one of the most thoughtful artists working today; his methods ask us to slow down and attend to the world and all living things with care. He is an artist who is at home on the world’s stage and his presence in Venice is a moment for great celebration.” said Kitty Scott, Director, Fogo Island Arts.
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, as well as Institutional Partners from across Canada, including Fogo Island Arts.
ABOUT FOGO ISLAND ARTS
Fogo Island Arts is a residency-based contemporary art venue situated on Fogo Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Founded in 2008 by Shorefast, a registered Canadian charity, Fogo Island Arts has brought artists, curators, filmmakers, writers, and thinkers from around the world to Fogo Island to live, research, and make new work. Combining contemporary art, iconic architecture, and community engagement in a singular setting, Fogo Island Arts is rooted in the belief that artists and thinkers are visionaries with a unique capacity to reveal and respond to the complexities of our time.
Visit fogoislandarts.ca
ABOUT SHOREFAST
Shorefast is a Canadian registered charity (#85883 0904 RR0001) forging new pathways at the intersection of economic development, business, art and philanthropy. Its initiatives include the Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island Arts, the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies and programs focused on food systems, the environment, culture and heritage.
Through work on Fogo Island and beyond, Shorefast builds, learns and shares economic development practices that activate the intrinsic assets of communities, towards a vision of more prosperous economies that serve people, nature and culture in more places.
Visit shorefast.org
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