The biennale’s fifth edition is turning its gaze toward the unfinished business of memory, with artists treating the port city as both witness and collaborator.

The Surrealists' Exquisite Corpse game mirrors modern society. Governments, businesses, and institutions inherit structures they did not create and often do not fully understand. Like players continuing a hidden drawing, they build upon fragments of the past, convinced they know the whole picture. Civilization itself may be an endless Exquisite Corpse—shaped by countless hands, partial knowledge, forgotten intentions, and unforeseen outcomes.

NFTs surged in popularity around 2021, promising radical shifts in art ownership and investment, but their market collapsed by 2024, revealing a disconnect between tech-driven financial hype and the enduring values of traditional art. While digital art faces new challenges from AI-generated imagery, physical artworks like paintings and sculptures remain resilient and irreplaceable.