‘Black Seas: Scores for the Sonic Eye’ project to represent Romania at the Biennale di Venezia

The project ‘Marea Neagră la plural – Compoziţii pentru ochiul sonor / Black Seas – Scores for the Sonic Eye’ won the national competition to represent Romania at the 61st edition of the International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia.

The selection committee evaluated the three projects that qualified for Stage II, awarding scores based on the criteria set out in the Competition’s Rules of Organization, namely the unity of the concept for both spaces, the feasibility of the project, the possibility of practical implementation, and compliance with the estimated budget, and the strategy for promoting the project within the Biennale and beyond.

Second place was awarded to the project “Lumea care se scurge / The Leaking World,” while third place went to the project “Unde elementele respiră: Împletiri ecologice / Where elements breathe: Ecological entaglements.”

The results of the competition were announced by the Ministry of Culture.

The 2026 Venice Art Biennale is not without its controversies, and the main one involves Romanian-born sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, who will represent Israel. The Israeli pavilion remained closed to the public for the entire previous edition, amid protests related to the war in Gaza, according to Urban.ro.

Fainaru, born in Bucharest in 1959 and based in Haifa, dismissed calls for boycotts, saying that he sees dialogue as “the best way” to express himself.

(Photo source: La Biennale di Venezia on Facebook)