Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council, has appointed the collective made up of Gianmaria Andreetta, Luca Beeler, Nina Wakeford, Miriam Laura Leonardi, Lithic Alliance and Yul Tomatala for the Swiss Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2026.
This is the first time that the Swiss contribution to the Biennale has been the subject of an open call for entries. 140 projects were submitted.
As part of the project ‘The Unfinished Business of Living Together’, the selected collective is looking at new ways of living together. Inspired by the “Telearena” programme broadcast on Swiss television in 1978, in which the issue of sexual orientation was the subject of controversial debate, “The Unfinished Business of Living Together” aims to address the ways and means of tolerance and belonging, as well as the different forms of social fracture.
Yul Tomatala is a graduate of the Master in Fine Arts, WORK.MASTER - (Contemporary Artistic Practices), winner of the Fonds cantonal d'art contemporain grants in 2023 for HEAD graduates, winner of the Prix d'Excellence du Domaine Arts Visuels HES-SO for his diploma work in 2024, and has exhibited for the Bourses Déliées 2025.