As the 61st Venice Biennale is approaching, all participating countries are preparing their curated art pavilions to share their artistic visions with the world. This year, Ecuador will present Tawna & Oscar, a collaborative project between Tawna, an anti-colonial collective formed by Sápara, Kichwa, and mestizo artists, and Oscar Santillán, a contemporary conceptual artist working at the intersection of Indigenous creative traditions and innovative technologies. The Pavilion of Ecuador is commissioned by the Museum of Anthropology and Contemporary Art (MAAC) and supported by TAtchers’ Art Management.
Tawna & Oscar at the Pavilion of Ecuador 2026
The exhibition’s name originates from the collaboration of Oscar Santillán and the Tawna collective, united to offer their innovative views on the transformative power of relation. Art by Ecuadorian artists, presented at Tawna & Oscar, is liberated from fixed categories to unlock novel ways of exchange across geography, time, and physical boundaries.
The pavilion’s curator is Manuela Moscoso, who has designed a space conducive to thought-provoking reflections on often-skipped narratives and frameworks. With the presented artwork taking roots in linguistically, culturally, and ecologically diverse settings, the project reinterprets knowledge production as an experiential, relational, and deeply subjective process.
Art pieces by the Tawna collective belong to the Pan-Amazonian tradition; they are created via community-based practices and embodied experiences, with a unique cultural perspective on sexuality and dreaming. The language of the Tawna collective is also an active creative force, reflecting the interconnectedness of the natural and the spiritual.
The art of Oscar Santillán is a fusion of science, emerging technologies, and ancestral creative legacy, which gives it a unique niche in the contemporary artistic tradition. Santillán prioritizes indeterminacy as a life condition, with his works exploring the interconnections between cosmic elements and technology. The artist has recently introduced the “anti-world” concept in his artistic practice, which he presents as the plurality of ancestral heritage worlds obscured by dominant cultural frameworks.
About the 61st Venice Biennale
The 61st Venice Biennale will be held under the name In Minor Keys, curated by Koyo Kouoh. National pavilions will be located in the Giardini and the Arsenale, along with other spaces across Venice. This year’s Biennale will host 99 national participations and 31 collateral events. Since Kouoh had been appointed as the 2026 Venice Biennale’s artistic director before her sudden death in May 2025, the upcoming exhibition will be dedicated to her legacy, arranged with the full support of her family to pay tribute to the art curator’s ideas and work.