IT NEVER SSST
Venice
Italy
The Flemish Community of Belgium is pleased to announce IT NEVER SSST by artist Miet Warlop, curated by Caroline Dumalin, as the project selected to represent Belgium at the 61st Venice Biennale.
By selecting Miet Warlop, the Flemish Community seeks to showcase the artist’s 20-year career, while also recognizing Belgium’s strong tradition of performance and interdisciplinarity. This presentation marks the first time that performance art will take centre stage in the Belgian pavilion.
In Venice, Warlop will present the exhibition-performance IT NEVER SSST. Performers will regularly activate the installation through physical and sculptural rituals. The title refers to the turbulent time in which they keep moving forward, doing anything to avoid a standstill. Warlop’s work explores the urgency of human connection in an increasingly disorienting world, transforming the Belgian Pavilion into a space of energy, tension, and shared emotional experience.
Following an open call issued by the Flemish Minister of Culture Caroline Gennez, the selection was made by an independent jury of arts experts convened by the Flemish Community. The jury consisted of Heidi Ballet, Bert De Leenheer, Zoë Gray, Laura Hanssens, Ivo Provoost, Stéphane Symons, Pieternel Vermoortel, and Bert Schreurs (chairman).
The jury report reads: “Miet Warlop is one of the most interesting artists working today. Her exciting work has earned her a meaningful place in the landscape of contemporary art. Her proposal brings together several storylines (the competitive drive in our frenzied society, language, rituals, the bending of rules, ...) in an exciting dramaturgy. The rock ‘n’ roll spirit of this high-octane performance captures the chaotic state of the world in a real and visceral way.”
Following Venice, the exhibition-performance will travel to the newly opened Kanal-Centre Pompidou.
Kasia Redzisz, Artistic Director of Kanal-Centre Pompidou says: “I am immensely proud that Kanal is supporting Miet Warlop and the Belgian Pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale. Her proposal embodies the experimental spirit and bold thinking that is essential to today’s contemporary art. We cannot wait to see the impact of the work at the Biennale and look forward to hosting the project in Brussels in 2027.”
About Miet Warlop
Miet Warlop is a performance artist whose work involves an unruly blend of disciplines, from the visual arts to the world of theatre. Through animated sculptures, tableaux vivants, and performative actions, she creates plastic experimentations with a distinctly scenographic approach. Recent acclaimed productions include ONE SONG (Avignon Festival, 2022), which confronted themes of mourning and resilience through the rhythm and discipline of sport and Chant for Hope, a collective choreography channelling the power of language which premiered at the Dhaka Art Summit in 2023. In 2025, her new performance INHALE DELIRIUM EXHALE premiered at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts.
About Caroline Dumalin
Caroline Dumalin is an art historian, curator, and the Artistic Director of MORPHO in Antwerp. Her work centres artists and supports artistic development and experimentation through collaborative studio projects and international residency exchanges. Previously, she worked as a curator at WIELS in Brussels, where she curated solo shows by Belgian artists Hana Miletić, Sophie Podolski and Vincent Meessen, coordinated Koyo Kouoh’s exhibition titled Body Talk: Feminism, Sexuality and the Body in the Work of Six African Women Artists, and supported curator Elena Filipovic in organising Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s performance exhibition Work/Travail/Arbeid.
Commissioner: Flemish Community of Belgium
Artist: Miet Warlop
Curator: Caroline Dumalin
Performers / Music: Oscar Claus, Rahmat Emonds, Melvin Slabbinck, Wietse Tanghe, Micha Volders
Costumes: Carol Piron (TOMBOY)
Project Manager and Artistic Consultation: Guy Gypens (Head of Live Arts, Kanal–Centre Pompidou)
Production: Polina Filimonova, Kwinten Lavigne, Rossana Miele, Luna Riche
Venue and date
61st International Venice Biennale
Belgian Pavilion, Giardini della Biennale
Sestiere Castello, 30122 Venice
May 9–November 22, 2026
Institutional partners: Kanal-Centre Pompidou, MORPHO, Miet Warlop/Irene Wool, KASK & ARBA-ESA (Young Curators Programme)
Press enquiries
For the national press: Sarah-Claire Vermeulen at Serenai, sarah-claire@serenai.eu / T +32 474 853 637
For the international press: Alicia Lethbridge at Sam Talbot, alicia@sam-talbot.com / T +44 7837 534999
For Kanal-Centre Pompidou: David Salomonowicz, dsalomonowicz@kanal.brussels / T +32 476 307 554
