2026 Jerusalem Biennale

 
 

How art brings the collective subconscious to the surface, helping us process, heal, and elevate

The Jerusalem Biennale will take place this year for the seventh time under the title De Profundis (ממעמקים). The Biennale will unfold across 19 venues throughout the city, presenting 39 exhibitions and featuring more than 250 participating artists. Over the course of seven weeks, the exhibitions will be accompanied by a rich public events program.

Venues

The 2026 Jerusalem Biennale will take place in some of the most compelling venues across the city. Among them are: the Tower of David Museum, the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art, the Heichal Shlomo Museum, the Bible Lands Museum, the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Hamiffal Gallery, Blackbox Gallery, Studio of Her Own Gallery, and more.

One of the most exciting spaces in this year’s edition is the old, long-abandoned building of Israel’s former National Gallery. Visitors will be able to move from venue to venue, explore the beauty and complexity of Jerusalem, and experience the diverse art spaces that serve the city’s varied communities.

Exhibitions

Most of the exhibitions in the 2026 Jerusalem Biennale are the result of responses by art institutions and independent curators to our annual open call and this year’s theme. Submissions included group exhibitions, solo exhibitions, and site-specific installations. The title De Profundis sparked curatorial ideas that address the ongoing war and its impact on Jewish communities in Israel and abroad; explore elements of the collective subconscious and the power of art to bring them to the surface; and engage with the universal practice of prayer.

Below are some of the highlights of the 2026 Biennale.

Reflecting Light (Or Chozer)

Curated by Dr. David Sperber and Porat Salomon, this group exhibition pays homage to the Israeli artist Mordechai Ardon. Twenty leading Israeli artists- including Gilad Ratman, Sigalit Landau, Belu Simion Fainaru, Raida Adon, Lihi Turjeman, and Yosef-Joseph Dadon- present works that respond to the iconic Ardon Windows at the former National Library building in Givat Ram. From the curatorial text: Ardon’s windows are dedicated to Isaiah’s utopian vision: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares […] nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” This is a vision not only of an end, but of awakening- a charged space in which a national horizon becomes a universal demand. The Ardon Windows function as an active force that defines the terms of encounter. Their scale, symbolic density, and visionary intensity compel each work to position itself in relation to them—to extend the vision, fracture it, slow it down, or resist it. The exhibition explores the act of vision itself: the strain of seeing and the effort required to sustain a prophetic gaze.

The Returning Voice – Aniam Leah Dery

Curated by Dr. Smadar Sheffi, Aniam Leah Dery’s exhibition focuses on echo and reverberation. The exhibition responds directly to the museum’s unique architectural and conceptual condition- its integration with the seventeenth-century Conegliano Veneto Synagogue, relocated to Jerusalem in 1951 and still serving the Italian Jewish community. Dery creates a layered system of resonance between the gallery and the synagogue. The exhibition unfolds through an encounter between Dery’s contemporary works and selected objects from the museum’s collection. This dialogue generates new interpretive frameworks, investigating how immaterial phenomena- voice, sound, fragrance, acquire presence through containment, and how spiritual concepts are embodied in material form. The exhibition will be presented at the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art

Tobi Kahn: Site-Specific Installation at Shaare Zedek

Inspired by his rich family history, Tobi Kahn will create a site-specific installation in the historic building of Shaare Zedek Hospital, dedicated in 1902. Members of Kahn’s family from Frankfurt am Main were among the founders and longtime supporters of the hospital. Curated by Emily D. Bilski, the exhibition will include new works created specifically for this site in honor of the artist’s father, alongside some of Kahn’s iconic ritual objects.

Open Wound

This group exhibition, created in partnership with the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, brings together leading Israeli artists, including Erez Aharon, Shulamit Bismuth, Dana Reisin, Daniel Tchetnik, and Amir Tomashov- in response to the events of October 7. As the curatorial text states: “From emotional, historical, and spiritual depths, voices rise- not seeking redemption, but a space to bleed, to ache, to be heard… The exhibition does not avert its gaze; on the contrary, it looks directly, with open eyes, into the rupture.” The exhibition will be presented at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.

Richard McBee: Akeida Alone

New York–based artist Richard McBee presents a solo exhibition in collaboration with the Jewish Art Salon. After completing 100 paintings on the Akedah over 35 years, McBee has concluded that “after the Holocaust, we Jews are all Isaac.” A new series of six paintings opens mid-narrative, responding to Isaac’s unsettling question: “Where is the lamb?” The exhibition will be on view at the Heichal Shlomo Museum.

Additional Highlights

The 2026 Jerusalem Biennale will also include:

  • A new video work by Yehudit Sasportas at the Tower of David Museum
  • A solo exhibition by Hanita Ilan, winner of the 2025 Rapaport Prize, at Hamiffal Gallery
  • A site-specific installation by the artists of Binyamin Gallery, curated by Elad Yaron
  • Group exhibitions from Los Angeles, Boston, Portland, Omaha, Buenos Aires, and Prague

✈️ Now is the time to book your trip.

Plan to join us for Opening Week — or visit anytime through June 26.

We can’t wait to welcome you to Jerusalem.