Representing the Philippines at the 2026 Venice Biennale, the Sea of Love exhibition features the work of Manila-based visual artist and filmmaker Jon Cuyson, curated by Mara Gladstone. Cuyson’s long-term creative exploration of maritime life culminates in this homage to Filipino seafarers, who sustain global commerce yet often remain invisible in cultural narratives.
Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world, and the Art Exhibition is described as “the Olympics of contemporary art.” Sea of Love is the sixth participation for the Philippines; it first participated in 1964.
With the fraught political climate in the Philippines, there are several public-facing elements for which we seek your help.
YOUR SUPPORT ALLOWS US TO:
• Pay our hardworking Filipino-Italian visitor services team
• Produce public programs - the Paglalayag Series
Installed in a prominent location at the Venice Biennale, Sea of Love surrounds you by essential forms from the artist Jon Cuyson’s thirty-year practice. Large-scale minimalist paintings and lush videos create an immersive experience that tells a maritime story of diaspora that layers the lives of sailors and their families with the symbolism of ships and mussels as oracles of resilience.
The exhibition has received excellent press coverage online and in print publications in Europe, the US, and Asia. We are launching the Paglalayag Series of public programs beginning summer 2026 with our catalogue release event on June 27. We hope you can join us!
ABOUT THE ARTISTIC TEAM
Mara Gladstone (b. New York, USA, 1977) is the curator for the Philippine Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. She is committed to creating transdisciplinary, welcoming spaces for art that nurture connections between people and the environment. Gladstone holds degrees from the University of Rochester (MA, PhD) and Brown (BA) and is a dual citizen of the United States and the Philippines.
Jon Cuyson (b. Manila, Philippines, 1969) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice exists across installation, painting, sculpture, books and moving images. Rooted in queer and postcolonial ecologies, his work explores the sea as a living archive, an unstable site where memory, labor, migration, and desire continually shift and recombine. He earned his MFA in Painting from Columbia and has held academic positions at institutions in Manila. Jon lives and works in the Philippines.
Learn More: https://www.mahalprojects.com/work/sea-of-love