Jakub Jansa, a lecturer at the Performance Studio at FFA, is a co-author of the winning project for the 2026 Venice Art Biennale

The Czech Republic and Slovakia will present the project The Silence of the Mole at the 61st Venice Art Biennale in 2026, created by an author team composed of Jakub Jansa, head lecturer at the Performance Studio at FFA BUT, Alex Selmeci & Tomáš Kocka Jusko, and artist and curator Peter Sit. The project was selected by a jury of independent experts and representatives of the National Gallery Prague and the Slovak National Gallery as the best of seventeen proposals submitted for the joint presentation of both countries on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Czechoslovak Pavilion in Venice.
The central figure of the project *The Silence of the Mole* is Mr. K – an exhausted actor who portrayed the character of the Mole for decades. | Author: NGP

The Venice Art Biennale is a global forum and an open platform for exhibiting and connecting current trends in art. Every two years, what resonates most in contemporary international artistic approaches is confronted in national pavilions and in the curated exhibition in the Giardini and the Arsenale. The chief curator of the 61st Venice Art Biennale, titled In Minor Keys, is Koyo Kouoh. The theme and curatorial concept proposed by the chief curator will be respected despite her recent sudden passing. The 2026 Art Biennale will take place from May 9 to November 23, 2026.
Jakub Jansa, a lecturer at the Performance Studio at FFA, is a co-author of the winning project for the 2026 Venice Art Biennale. | Author: NGP

The central figure of the project The Silence of the Mole is Mr. K. – an exhausted actor who has portrayed the character of the Mole for decades. Originally an embodiment of a world of childlike innocence and poetic silence, he has become a mascot of cultural diplomacy, an object of licensing and nostalgic myths. He is sent to represent the Czech and Slovak Republics as a diplomatically acceptable, politically neutral figure who also embodies reproach, silence, and a confused identity.

The Silence of the Mole explores themes of Czech-Slovak coexistence, collective memory, and ecological fatigue. It raises the question of what happens to imagination when it becomes a public mask. The exhibition will appeal to a broad international audience through visual clarity, a strong emotional atmosphere, and a dramaturgy that transcends language.
Author Mgr. Tímea Vitázková
Published
Link https://www.vut.cz/en/but/f19528/d295478
Faculty of Fine Arts