FB

23-31 October 2027

Fortezza da Basso, Florence

Florence Biennale is pleased to announce the first confirmed Guests of Honour for its XVI edition, to be held at Fortezza da Basso in Florence from 23 to 31 October 2027, marking the event's 30th anniversary. The 2027 edition will reflect on the Biennale's three-decade journey while looking firmly to the future. The theme, Beyond the Sense of Time – Memory, Caducity and Eternity in Contemporary Art and Design, invites artists and designers to explore how our experience of time is shaped through memory, transience, and eternity. Time will not simply serve as a curatorial theme, but as a living framework for relationships, reunions, new collaborations, and shared creative projects.

Among the first confirmed Guests of Honour is Stormie Mills, the Australian artist whose distinctive visual language has made him one of the most recognisable figures in the international urban art scene. Mills already shares a significant connection with Florence Biennale through a major public art project created in Florence. In 2018, as part of a collaboration between Florence Biennale and the Municipality of Florence, he created The Lost Giant, a mural inspired by his iconic “lost giants” series. After the work was damaged, the artist returned to Florence to intervene on the same site, transforming the episode into a powerful symbol of continuity and creative resilience. For the XVI Florence Biennale, Mills is developing a special exhibition project conceived in dialogue with the theme of the 2027 edition.

The XVI Florence Biennale will also welcome back Iranian artists Partin Bastan and Marjan Najafi, who previously took part in the special project I Am Mahsa. Women, Life, Freedom at the XIV Florence Biennale in 2023. On that occasion, the two artists created a live clay model of Mahsa Amini's face, which later became the starting point for a broader artistic and civic journey, culminating in the casting of the sculpture in bronze. The bronze work was inaugurated at the headquarters of the Region of Tuscany, Palazzo Guadagni Strozzi Sacrati, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. For 2027, Bastan and Najafi are developing a new project that continues their exploration of the dialogue between art, memory, freedom, and civic responsibility.

Among the first confirmed Guests of Honour is also filmmaker Teresa Mular, who was a Guest of Honour at the XIII Florence Biennale in 2021 and returned for the XV edition with her film Tango en Penumbras. Born in Buenos Aires and initially trained in medicine before pursuing a career in filmmaking, Mular has developed a distinctive artistic practice centred on memory, fragility, female identities, minority voices, and personal transformation. For the XVI Florence Biennale, she will present a new version of her trilogy On the Wings of Time, re-edited especially for the occasion in direct dialogue with the theme of the upcoming edition.

Alongside preparations for the XVI Florence Biennale, Florence Biennale will present a programme of projects across the city throughout 2026. Conceived as a lead-up to the 2027 edition, these initiatives aim to expand the dialogue between contemporary art, urban spaces, hospitality, and emerging cultural communities.

From 18 September to 4 October 2026, the collaboration between Florence Biennale and The Social Hub Firenze Lavagnini will continue with a solo exhibition by emerging artist Stefano Alvino, who has been among the featured artists of the Biennale's last two editions. The partnership with The Social Hub, launched in 2026 with On Time, a solo exhibition by Venetian artist and designer Chiara Zhu—winner of the Third Prize in the Design category at the XV Florence Biennale 2025 and creator of the visual identity for the XVI edition's theme—further establishes the venue as a space for dialogue between the Biennale, the city, and a new generation of creative talent. The Social Hub is a European hospitality group that combines hotel accommodation with a dynamic, community-driven experience for guests, coworkers, and local residents. Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Charlie MacGregor, it reimagines the role of hotels within the urban landscape by creating spaces where people can learn, stay, work, connect, and engage with the local community. Its hybrid hospitality model brings together short- and long-stay accommodation, coworking spaces, meeting and event facilities, restaurants and bars, 24-hour gyms, and publicly accessible areas such as rooftop terraces, parks, and cultural venues. Alvino's exhibition will feature Il Demone Alichino, first presented at the XV Florence Biennale 2025, alongside Bergaraffa, a work created during a live painting session at the XIV edition in 2023. The exhibition will also include new works conceived especially for the occasion—including a series of plexiglass silkscreens—as well as a selection of products inspired by the artist's visual universe. Together, these elements extend Alvino's practice beyond the unique artwork, exploring new intersections between art, design, and contemporary culture.

Also in September, Art Suite will make its debut, a new project conceived and curated by Florence Biennale in collaboration with Anglo American Hotel Florence – Curio Collection by Hilton. The initiative aims to bring contemporary art into the spaces of luxury hospitality, transforming the hotel into a dynamic exhibition platform where art is not merely a decorative element, but a living presence, an experience, and a form of welcome.

The first exhibition of Art Suite will be dedicated to Flora Borsi, running from 9 September to 10 October 2026 and featuring a selection of works from her renowned Animeyed series. The series was previously chosen as the visual identity for the XIII Florence Biennale 2021, where the Hungarian artist was a Guest of Honour. Exploring themes of identity, the gaze, metamorphosis, and the relationship between humans and animals, the series will return to Florence in a new exhibition setting, engaging with the intimate and international atmosphere of Anglo American Hotel Florence.

Following this, from 16 October to 14 November 2026, Viktoria Andreeva will present a solo exhibition centred on the photographic series that served as the visual identity of the XIV Florence Biennale 2023. Winner of the International Open Call Competition – Photography Award, Andreeva was among the Guests of Honour of the XIV edition. Her works, exploring themes of the body, metamorphosis, and identity, were featured throughout the Biennale’s integrated communications and presented in a dedicated exhibition space at Fortezza da Basso.

With these first announcements, Florence Biennale reaffirms its commitment to building the path towards 2027 not only through the major international exhibition at Fortezza da Basso, but also through a series of citywide projects designed to connect artists, institutions, hospitality venues, creative communities, and the public.