Qatar to build first new Venice Biennale pavilion in 30 years

Someone break it to South Korea: Qatar is moving in. Seoul was the last to open a permanent pavilion in the coveted Giardini — a thoroughfare of the Venice Biennale, the massive art and architecture exhibition. Last year South Korea published The Last Pavilion, a book to commemorate its 30 years in Venice, ArtNet reported.

But the Qataris are making progress on their move to the Giardini, as Gulf countries look to expand their cultural capital. Qatar Museums tapped Paris-based and Lebanon-born architect Lina Ghotmeh to design its pavilion, the first in 30 years to be built along the treelined promenade, which began hosting national pavilions in 1907. The UAE and Saudi Arabia settled for locations off the main drag in 2013 and 2019, respectively.