In February 2026, Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation was formally announced as a participant in the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia by Koyo Kouoh, titled In Minor Keys after the vision laid out by curator Koyo Kouoh before her passing in May 2025. During the opening week of 5–9 May, the Foundation presented Chorus, an installation reflecting a residency model rooted in research, dialogue, care and sustained exchange across its purpose-built creative campus in Lagos and its sustainability-focused farm and onsite studio in Ikise. Alongside this presentation, alumni, trustees, and collaborators participated in a range of independently programmed events across Venice, reflecting the expanding reach of the Foundation's network.
Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation, Chorus, 2026. Photo: Contemporary And (C&).
On Tuesday 5th May, G.A.S. alumna Ṣọlá Olúlòde participated in a discussion organised by the African Art in Venice Forum, contributing to a conversation centred on queer African perspectives and their place within contemporary art and art history. Later that evening, G.A.S. Global Circle Patron the Osahon Okunbo Foundation hosted a dinner at the Venetian Ballroom, Hotel Metropole, bringing together artists, patrons, trustees, alumni, and friends of the Foundation for an evening of exchange and reflection around continued support for African art and culture. On the same day, G.A.S. Foundation hosted an intimate preview of Chorus for supporters and invited guests, during which Yinka Shonibare spoke about the Foundation’s vision, its residency model and the relationships that have shaped its work.
Supporters and invited guests gathered for an intimate preview of Chorus in venice.
The following day, Wednesday 6th May, marked the VIP opening of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, where Chorus was presented as part of the main exhibition, In Minor Keys, within the Arsenale. G.A.S. was shown alongside contributions from three other African-based art institutions - RAW Material Company in Senegal, blaxTARLINES KUMASI in Ghana, and the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute in Kenya. Taking the Yorùbá courtyard as both an architectural and conceptual point of departure, Chorus centres on a film shaped through layered sound, colour and moving image. Bringing together the voices of former residents and collaborators, the work reflects the relationships, exchanges and forms of collective practice at the heart of G.A.S. Foundation, affirming its residency model as a living network of research, dialogue, care and sustained artistic exchange.
On the same day, G.A.S. alumna ruby onyinyechi amanze, in collaboration with Wura Ogunji, presented THE DASH, a live performance within 1922 Revisited, curated by Janine Sytsma in dialogue with Koyo Kouoh's exhibition In Minor Keys. Presented in collaboration with the African Art in Venice Forum and the European Cultural Centre, the performance brought together movement, sound, and archival reference to consider memory, absence, and historical trace.
Presentations by G.A.S. Alumni Ṣọlá Olúlòde and ruby onyinyechi amanze. Image courtesy of Ṣọlá Olúlòde and Francesca Bottazzin.
On Thursday, 7th May, G.A.S. hosted a networking breakfast for supporters, partners and invited guests. The event featured presentations from members of the project and leadership team, including founder Yinka Shonibare CBE RA; Belinda Holden, CEO of Yinka Shonibare Foundation; Moni Aisida, Executive Director of G.A.S.; and Ann Marie Peña. Together, they reflected on the Foundation’s vision, the development of Chorus, and the wider purpose of G.A.S. as a residency model rooted in research, dialogue, care and sustained exchange. The breakfast also looked ahead to the next phase of the Foundation’s work, opening up conversations around future partnership, advocacy and support.
Yinka Shonibare CBE sharing reflections on the vision and future of G.A.S. during a networking breakfast in Venice.
Later that day, G.A.S. alumnus Ṣọlá Olúlòde participated in a panel discussion at the British Pavilion alongside artists Pio Abad and Mohammad Z. Rahman, marking the opening of Lubaina Himid’s exhibition Predicting History: Testing Translation. The discussion brought together practices engaging with migration, memory and the afterlives of colonial systems. Drawing on Dorothy Price’s reading of “dwelling” in relation to Himid’s work, the conversation extended the idea of architectural space into everyday forms of inhabitation — including clothing, food and cultivation — as ways in which belonging is constructed, negotiated and reimagined.
Yinka Shonibare CBE speaking at The Hope Forum 2026. Image courtesy of ART 2030.
On Saturday 9th May, Yinka Shonibare CBE participated as a featured speaker on a panel at the Hope Forum 2026 organised by Art 2030. Themed Archipelagos of Hope, he contributed to a global conversation on cultural futures. Later that day, the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia opened to the public. Across the wider Biennale landscape, G.A.S. affiliated artists and collaborators presented work across multiple national pavilions and exhibition sites. In the Zimbabwe Pavilion, Second Nature | Manyonga featured G.A.S. alumnus Gideon Gomo alongside four artists, presenting work that explores neuroplasticity as a framework for thinking through identity and transformation. At the Gaggiandre, Nolan Oswald Dennis presented Black Earth Calendar and Black Water Station (Mbarara), developed through seismic sensing systems positioned across the African continent. Ranti Bam presented Ifa Ile Oja in the Arsenale, a sculptural installation of hand-built stoneware vessels reflecting on body, spirit, and relational presence. Temitayo Ogunbiyi presented sculptural and spatial works combining botanical forms, hair geometries, and playground structures, extending her research into public space, movement, and embodied knowledge.
Chorus, together with presentations from G.A.S. alumni and network, remains open to the public through 22 November, 2026.
Presentations by G.A.S. alumni Gideon Gomo, Nolan Oswald Dennis, and Ranti Bam, alongside trustee Temitayo Ogunbiyi, at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, by Koyo Kouoh.
Acknowledgements
Chorus is led by Ann Marie Peña, with the support of Yinka Shonibare CBE, Belinda Holden, CEO of Yinka Shonibare Foundation (Y.S.F.) and Moni Aisida, Executive Director of G.A.S. Foundation. This project is managed by Samantha Russell, with architectural installation design by MOE+ Art Architecture (Papa Omotayo, Oyinade Adegbite). Film production by Filmwrights (Randall Wright) and Julie Buckland, while sound design by Sound Disposition (Roland Heap, Simon Haupt) and Funmilola Ogunshina.
The installation is generously supported by The Osahon Okunbo Foundation (TOOF), Olufemi A. Akinsanya, Triangle Network , Yinka Shonibare CBE, Annette Anthony, Kayode Adegbola, Bimpe Nkontchou, Denise Bradley-Tyson, Wally Bakare, Yemi Adunola, Adeniyi Adenubi, Oba Nsugbe, and Tokini Peterside-Schwebig.
Among the many contributors represented in Chorus are: Alberta Whittle, Ayomide Fasedu, Bisila Noha, Catherine Bardi, Damilola Akin-Olasupo, Emma Prempeh, E.N. Mirembe, Gideon Gomo, Jonn Gale, Ofem Ubi, Olayinka Eno Babalola, Olufela Omokeko, Portia Zvavahera, Raqs Media Collective, Raymond Pinto, Ṣọlá Olúlòde, Tobi Onabolu and Umar Rashid.