Shirin Neshat, film trilogy Do U Dare! anchors Venice Biennale 2026
Published on 08/29/2026 at 16:33 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Shirin Neshat occupies Palazzo Marin in Venice in the Biennale year 2026 with her new film trilogy Do U Dare!. As the Gladstone Gallery project page details, the work runs as a collateral exhibition from May 8 to September 6, 2026, parallel to the 61st Venice Biennale. Gladstone Gallery announcement
Film trilogy at Palazzo Marin
The trilogy Do U Dare! is installed throughout the historic rooms of Palazzo Marin, a 16th century palazzo a few minutes from San Marco, forming one of Venice’s collateral art projects. Associazione Genesi and Banca Ifis promote the project, with curation by Ilaria Bernardi and Bartolomeo Pietromarchi.
According to the gallery announcement, the films are structured around three distinct social and economic milieus in New York, following a character inspired by Iranian born YouTuber Nasim Aghdam and weaving exile, online visibility and censorship into a narrative arc.
Biennial context and 2026 exhibition presence
The Art Newspaper’s free report situates Do U Dare! explicitly in the collateral orbit of the 61st Venice Biennale, noting that the trilogy runs from May 8 to September 6, 2026 and explores identity, exile and a social media tragedy through shifting realist and surreal registers. The Art Newspaper coverage
In parallel to Venice, Dirimart highlights Neshat’s participation in Looking Back: The Hiroshima Art Prize and Theme ‘Hiroshima’ at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, on view from July 19 to November 30, 2026, underscoring that her work in 2026 circulates between European biennial discourse and Japanese memory based institutions. Dirimart exhibition news
All news and background on Shirin Neshat
Further reporting on Shirin Neshat’s exhibitions, films and institutional projects is available in the AD HOC NEWS archive for readers who follow her work across biennials and museums.
The work core in Do U Dare!
Do U Dare! extends Neshat’s long standing concern with female subjectivity under political pressure, but relocates it from Iran to American digital platforms. Hotel Bel Sito’s Venice Biennale guide describes how the trilogy oscillates between black and white social realism and a more visionary, surreal imagery.
The protagonist moves through three social landscapes, mirroring economic stratification and differing modes of self presentation, while the films scrutinize how visibility online can mutate into self destructive performance. Italian cultural commentary in Il Foglio stresses the project’s insistence on artistic courage and the responsibility to ‘dare’ within Venice’s crowded field.
Where Shirin Neshat stands now
Shirin Neshat’s film trilogy Do U Dare! remains on view at Palazzo Marin in Venice as a collateral exhibition to the 61st Venice Biennale until September 6, 2026, marking that closing date as the next publicly confirmed milestone in her 2026 calendar.
Key facts on Shirin Neshat
- Artist: Shirin Neshat
- Medium / Genre: Photography and video installation (conceptual)
- Born: 1957, Qazvin, Iran
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between New York and multiple international project sites
- Active since: Late 1980s, with broader recognition from the mid 1990s photo series
- Key work groups: Women of Allah, Turbulent, Rapture, Land of Dreams
- Current/last exhibition: Do U Dare!, Palazzo Marin, Venice, May 8, 2026 - September 6, 2026
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Guggenheim Museum (New York), Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, D.C.)
- Awards: First International Prize at the Venice Biennale (1999), Hiroshima Art Prize (2014)
- Next date: September 6, 2026, closing day of Do U Dare! at Palazzo Marin, Venice
Frequently asked questions about Shirin Neshat
Where is Shirin Neshat’s work on view in 2026?
In 2026, Neshat presents her film trilogy Do U Dare! as a collateral project at Palazzo Marin in Venice and contributes to Looking Back: The Hiroshima Art Prize and Theme ‘Hiroshima’ at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art.
How long does Shirin Neshat’s Do U Dare! run in Venice?
The project is on view from May 8 to September 6, 2026, coinciding with the core period of the 61st Venice Biennale and using Palazzo Marin as its dedicated venue.
What themes does Shirin Neshat explore in Do U Dare!?
The trilogy examines exile, female identity, digital censorship and the pressures of online self branding, through a character shaped by the real case of Nasim Aghdam and three contrasting New York settings.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
