Ma Yansong Appointed as the Curator of the China Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale

Ma Yansong, founding partner of MAD, will serve as the curator of the Chinese Pavilion at the 19th Venice International Architecture Biennale. Themed "CO-EXIST", the pavilion will be exhibited at the Arsenale in Venice from May 10 to November 23, 2025.

Ma Yansong's explanation of the theme of the China Pavilion exhibition:

Nature is not just natural materials and technology or "environmentally friendly" as commonly understood today, of course, it has all of these. But more importantly, it is a worldview of harmony between man and nature, believing that man and the universe are actually one and that there is a relationship between you and me. All things in nature, therefore, have human life, emotions, and wisdom.

In today's transition period from industrial civilization to the intelligent era, the ability of man to empathize with nature has weakened, and technology and capital have prevailed, sometimes even in the name of environmental protection. Nature is either a living resource that humans are destroying or an object that is being continuously modified, unlike the traditional Eastern view of nature and philosophy, where it is an extension and continuation of spirit and imagination.

We hope to regain the worldview of harmony between man and nature and find new answers in the intelligent era from the historical spirit: How does the emotional connection between man and nature happen?

This China Pavilion exhibition is hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and organized by China International Cultural Exchange Center Co., Ltd.

Bird's-eye view of the China Pavilion

About the Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale was founded in 1895 and ranks first among the world's three major art fairs. It is known as the "Olympics of the art world" and the "Mother of Biennales". The Biennale is divided into the Art Biennale and the Architecture Biennale, which are held alternately every other year. The exhibition consists of three sections: the theme exhibition, the national pavilion, and the parallel exhibition.

This Venice International Architecture Biennale is curated by Italian architect and engineer Carlo Ratti. With the theme of "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.", it focuses on the relationship between architecture and different disciplines such as cities, environment, technology, and energy, and explores how architecture should "intelligently" respond to environmental crises. At the same time, the Biennale also proposed "One Place, One Solution", emphasizing the echo between the national pavilion and the theme exhibition.