The Florence Biennale has announced its first confirmed guests of honour for the 16th edition, set to take place at the Fortezza da Basso from October 23 to 31, 2027. Marking the 30th anniversary of the international showcase, the upcoming edition will celebrate three decades of artistic dialogue while looking towards the future. Titled Beyond the Sense of Time – Memory, Caducity and Eternity in Contemporary Art and Design, the 2027 edition invites artists and designers to explore how our perception of time is shaped through memory, transience and the search for permanence.
Florence Biennial 2027: guests of honour
Australian street artist Stormie Mills, one of the most recognizable figures in contemporary urban art, has been confirmed as a guest of honour. Mills has an established relationship with Florence Biennale through a major public art project that was realized in the city. In 2018, in collaboration with the Municipality of Florence, he created The Lost Giant in theFilarmonica Rossini building in the Villamagna area, a mural belonging to his internationally acclaimed series. After the work was vandalized, the artist returned to repaint the same site, transforming the episode into a powerful statement of resilience and artistic continuity. For the 2027 Biennale, Mills is developing a new site-specific project inspired by the edition’s theme.
Also returning are Iranian artists Partin Bastan and Marjan Najafi, whose powerful contribution to the 2023 Florence Biennale centred on I Am Mahsa. Women, Life, Freedom. During the biennial, the pair live-sculpted a clay portrait of Mahsa Amini in front of visitors, an artwork that became the basis for a bronze monument inaugurated at the headquarters of the Tuscany Regional Government on International Human Rights Day. Their new project for 2027 will continue to examine the relationship between art, memory, freedom and civic responsibility.
The first announcements also include Argentine filmmaker Teresa Mular, who first participated as guest of honour in 2021 before returning to the Biennale in 2025 with her film Tango en Penumbras. Originally trained in medicine before turning to cinema, Mular has developed an acclaimed body of work exploring memory, fragility, women’s experiences, minority voices and personal transformation. She will present a newly re-edited version of her trilogy On the Wings of Time, created especially for the 2027 exhibition in dialogue with its central theme.
2026 city-wide collaborations
Alongside preparations for the 2027 Biennale, the showcase is expanding its presence throughout the city with a programme of exhibitions and cultural partnerships during 2026.
From September 18 to November 4, 2026, Florence Biennale will continue its collaboration with The Social Hub Florence through a solo exhibition by Italian artist Stefano Alvino, whose work featured prominently in the last two editions of the Biennale.
September will also see the launch of Art Suite, a new exhibition programme in partnership with the Anglo American Hotel Florence – Curio Collection by Hilton. The initiative aims to turn the hotel into a living exhibition space, where contemporary art becomes an integral part of the hospitality experience rather than simply decorative. The inaugural exhibition, running from September 9 to October 10, 2026, will showcase Hungarian artist Flora Borsi and selections from her celebrated Animeyed series, exploring identity, transformation and the relationship between humans and animals.
From October 16 to November 14, 2026, the spotlight will turn to photographer Viktoria Andreeva, winner of the Florence Biennale International Open Call Competition Photography Award and guest of honour at the 2023 edition. Her solo exhibition will present works from the photographic series that became the official image of the 2023 Biennale, continuing her exploration of the body, identity and metamorphosis.
