The Facts
On November 3, 2026, the Walker Art Center announced Abbas Akhavan: Variations on a Garden, the artist's first mid-career survey and first major U.S. exhibition. The show will be on view November 12, 2026, through April 18, 2027, in Minneapolis, bringing together more than a dozen works from across Akhavan's 20-year career, many presented in the U.S. for the first time. Akhavan, currently representing Canada at the 2026 Venice Biennale, will show works including curtain call, variations on a folly (2021), which recreates the colonnade that once led to Syria's ancient Palmyra Arch, and cast for a folly (2019/2023), acquired by the Walker in 2025, which recreates the ransacked lobby of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The exhibition is curated by Pavel Pyś, with support from Brandon Eng.
The Signal
The survey consolidates Akhavan's standing as a leading voice in site-responsive installation at a moment when institutions are closely engaging with art that addresses war, environmental loss, and cultural preservation. Placing monumental works such as the Palmyra Arch reconstruction alongside intimate, perishable-material pieces underscores the Walker's commitment to presenting artists who examine geopolitics through material and spatial means. The accompanying first comprehensive monograph, with essays by Pyś, David Joselit, and Oxana Timofeeva, extends the exhibition's scholarly reach and positions the Walker as a platform for mid-career recognition.
- Artists: Abbas Akhavan
- People: Pavel Pyś, Brandon Eng, David Joselit, Oxana Timofeeva
- Museums: Walker Art Center
- Locations: Minneapolis
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