Venice Biennale Fellowship Programme
The British Council's 2026 Venice Fellowship Programme
We are delighted to be part of the British Council’s 2026 Venice Fellowship programme, and to offer an opportunity for two artists from the North West to spend a month in Venice during the world’s most important art and architecture biennales.
The Fellowships Programme is a key part of the British Council’s presence in Venice, supporting the exhibition programme as well as being a platform for the development of artists and creatives. The Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for early career artists to represent the UK on an international level whilst broadening their perspective, making connections and developing their creative practice.
What is the Venice Biennale?
From May to November, alternating between art and architecture, the Venice Biennale (Italian: La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation.
The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of its kind. The official Biennale exhibition is spread across two venues in the east of the city: the Arsenale and the Giardini. The Giardini, an area of parkland, houses the Central exhibition Pavilion and 29 national pavilions. Each of them, including the British Pavilion, presents its own showcase from a particular country or region.
2026 British Pavilion Exhibition
The world-renowned British artist, Lubaina Himid RA, CBE (b. 1954, Zanzibar), will represent Great Britain and deliver a major solo exhibition of new work at the British Pavilion. Known for a pioneering practice which addresses themes of race, history, feminism, cultural memory and identity, Lubaina Himid frequently employs storytelling and historical research to challenge dominant Eurocentric narratives and highlight the overlooked contributions of Black figures in Western history.
Himid lives and works in Preston, UK, and is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire . One of the pioneers of the Black British Art Movement, Himid curated several significant exhibitions in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Five Black Women (1983) at the Africa Centre, London and The Thin Black Line (1985) at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, both of which showcased the work of Black female artists in response to their exclusion from mainstream galleries. In 2017, Himid was awarded the Turner Prize and in 2018 she received the honorary title of CBE for her contributions to the arts.
About the Fellowship Programme
The Fellowship programme supports approximately 70 artists and creatives from across the UK to attend the Venice Biennale for one month every year. Fellows spend half their time working at the British Pavilion, acting as Exhibition Ambassadors and interacting with visitors and supporting the exhibition. The other half of the time in Venice is dedicated to artists being able to develop or exhibit their own independent research or creative project and using the Biennale as a platform for artistic and professional development.
Find out more about the Fellowship Programme here: Venice Fellowships 2024 | British Council
Meet our 2026 Venice Biennale Fellows
Local artists connecting their practice with international conversations through one of the world’s leading art events.
Supported through our Artist Development programme, the Fellows will engage with the 2026 Venice Biennale as part of the British Council’s Venice Fellowship programme.
They will each spend a month in Venice, supporting Lubaina Hamid’s exhibition at the British Pavilion, while also having dedicated time to develop their own work.
Through research, travel and exchange, the programme supports artists to connect their practice to global conversations and bring new ideas back into our region.
Kirsty Barlow
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Kirsty is an immersive environment designer for theatre, festivals and live events. With a background in theatre design, her work explores how sound, light and spatial design can shape emotional experience. As an autistic artist, her practice is increasingly focused on developing sensory calming spaces that reduce overwhelm, offer refuge and support meaningful connection.
“I am delighted to be joining Lowry as a Venice Fellow and to have the time to develop my practice there. It means a lot to continue exploring the design of sensory calming environments in a place that champions diverse audiences and new ideas.”
Instagram: @kirstybarlow__design
Gherdai Hassell
Gherdai is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist, podcast host and independent curator and researcher based in Manchester, UK. Having studied in China. Her work investigates memory and nostalgia to construct and deconstruct identity through collage, painting, textile, fashion and site specific installation. She often uses the onion as metaphor, employing mixed media techniques to thread and weave layers of history and the complexities of Bermudian identity Caribbean heritage, post colonial narratives and identity.
Her awards include the 2025 KLAT International Creative of the Year, 2025 Arts in Medicine Fellow and a 2025 Women in Art Prize recipient. In 2023, She won the Dr. Eva Hodgson Racial Justice Award, and was a Jerwood x HOME resident artist. She was a 2022 Manchester Open Award winner, and in 2021 a Master works Museum’s Charman Prize winner for distinctive style. She is a three time best of Bermuda Award -Visual Art recipient. The 2021 Women’s United Art Prize recipient
Her artwork is a part of public and private collections across the world. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions and biennials in Bermuda, USA, UK , Nigeria, Cuba, Sweden, Switzerland, Mali, Belgium, South Africa and China. Gherdai is a Graduate of the China Academy of Art.
“I'm deeply honored to have been selected as a Venice Biennial Fellow with the British Council and representing the Lowry in Salford. To continue working within the late curator Koyo Kouoh's legacy is a gift. I am excited to embark on this journey to connect, to learn, to listen and to experience how the work will be impacted, inspired and evolve.”
Website: Gherdaihassell.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/hassell_free
2024 Alumni
Amy Townsend-Lowcock
Amy is a multimedia artist and researcher with an interest in memory, identity, and (post)colonial histories. Inspired by documentary techniques, historical archiving processes, and installation art, she creates live performances that invite audiences to re-imagine British identity. Her performance work includes ‘My Fruits’ (HOME Manchester, 2023) and ‘Handle with Care’ (Contact Theatre, 2022).
Isabella So
Isabella is a multidisciplinary artist based in Manchester. She draws upon her unique cultural identity as both a Hong Konger and Korean to explore themes of identity, memory, and slice-of-life stories with a comedic twist. Raised on the power of storytelling, Isabella approaches her work in performance, directing, and projection design with a focus on uplifting diverse narratives and engaging audiences through immersive techniques. During her theatre studies at Coventry University, Isabella began experimenting with video projections and devised performance pieces that delved into questions of identity and memory. Since graduating, she has continued to hone her experimental, contemporary approach, fusing elements of comedy, technology, and cultural commentary.