Scotland + Venice at Biennale Arte 2026: Bugarin + Castle Explore Queer and Trans Histories

The Scotland + Venice presentation at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia features the artistic duo Bugarin + Castle. Their exhibition navigates a complex tapestry of overlapping geographies and historical eras, from Scottish castles to Filipino cemeteries. Through a contemporary queer and trans reinterpretation of public humiliation rituals, Bugarin + Castle weave narratives not as singular scenes but as a carnivalesque procession of subversion and defiance. Working across architecture, moving image, sculpture, and performance, their practice illuminates vibrant connections between queer and trans lives in Scotland and globally, including diasporic links with the Philippines. Their art delves into shared resonances and distinctions, shaped by personal and cultural histories.

The exhibition reinterprets centuries-old European rituals of public humiliation, known as rough music, charivari, and scampanate, where spectacle, sound, and costumes were used to punish social transgressors. Bugarin + Castle transform these customs into a contemporary language, bringing together 14th-century court transcripts, 18th-century satirical engravings, karaoke ballads, medieval armor, and Filipino vehicle art. This process constructs a layered world where historical voices and contemporary culture intertwine in scenes that are both provocative and tender. The sculpture 'At Certayne Tymes' merges mechanical, anatomical, and vocal elements, while 'Submit to Sound,' a moving image work, layers voice feminization exercises with songs created alongside the Manila band Kalye Teresa. Spanning the gallery spaces, the sculptural intervention 'Nocturnal Amusements' provocatively asks the viewer, "Are you discreet?" Here, shame is not banished but expanded into new emotional registers where defiance, play, and intimacy coexist. Bugarin + Castle offer no simple moral solutions; instead, by mapping shame and transformation across continents and through time, they create a politically charged space where power and identity remain fluid.

Previous works by Bugarin + Castle include the interactive film 'Sore Throat,' filmed in Edinburgh and Manila, which explored colonial monsters and sounds in Filipino queer spaces, notably screened at Fruitmarket and Tate Modern. The duo also performs in drag as Hairy Teddy Bear and Pollyfilla, through Pollyanna, a Scottish queer arts company founded by Castle.

Their works have been exhibited at significant institutions across the UK, including Tate Modern and the ICA, as well as internationally in the Philippines, USA, Finland, and Germany. Individually, both artists bring extensive international experience, with their practices recognized through various commissions, residencies, and awards, notably including participation in the Malta Biennale and the Venice Architecture Biennale.

"For the restless and the passionate, from a restless and passionate duo," Bugarin + Castle explain. "The rebellious woman, the cuckold, the prostitute, the sodomite, and other social transgressors were once subjected to public ridicule in parades of humiliation. We are interested in investigating how both sound and drag were employed not to express an essence, but as instruments of control. These seemingly amusing events form the matrix of our exhibition, which spans past and present, from Scotland to the Philippines. Our work is situated in a contemporary context where the lives of trans people and sex workers continue to be subjects of public debate and institutional decisions — in courts and parliaments — often without these individuals having a real space for voice or representation. The work neither erases shame nor clings to it; rather, it focuses on its complexity, its stickiness, on the collision between sound, voice, and shame."

The exhibition is anticipated to be a powerful and provocative encounter, featuring visually striking, conceptually rich, and politically resonant works. Curated by the Mount Stuart Trust, the project will embark on a tour across Scotland, beginning at Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute in the summer of 2027, following its presentation in Venice.