The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, In Minor Keys by Koyo Kouoh: Shimada + BuBu | Procession for Fallen Comrades and Fallen Angels

Yoshiko Shimada and BuBu de la Madeleine have been invited to the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, In Minor Keys by Koyo Kouoh. Their works as individual artists are presented at the Central Pavilion in the Giardini, whilst their works as an artist unit are exhibited at the Arsenale. On 6 May 2026, the first day of the preview, the artists, together with 8 performers and musicians, presented the performance Procession for Fallen Comrades and Fallen Angels at the Arsenale.

"Showa Drag Angura (underground) Sugoroku" and "Procession for Fallen Comrades and Fallen Angels"

Created for this Biennale, Yoshiko Shimada’s and BuBu de la Madeleine’s new work as a duo, Showa Drag Angura (Underground) Sugoroku (2025), represents the political and artistic movements for social justice in post-war Japan (1945–1989) that has received little recognition. The piece depicts movements and activities that occurred simultaneously in Japan and across the world. These included civil resistance against authority, student movements, anti-war movements, feminist movements, protests against environmental pollution, and activities concerning AIDS and the rights of sex workers. These struggles sought to advance social justice by resisting the political and social systems that oppressed certain groups of people.

The performance Procession for Fallen Comrades and Fallen Angels was conceived as an act of mourning for those who stood up and took action, only to fall without ever achieving their goals. Shimada and BuBu sought to commemorate and honour the lives of those who refused to give up hope, even in the face of despair. Though imperfect, the present we live in is a result of their efforts. The two artists believed that only by keeping this firmly in mind could the future be opened up. Amidst the escalating massacres and wars perpetrated by superpowers with overwhelming global influence, they sought to create something that would offer the audience a glimmer of hope through solidarity.

Costumes

BuBu led the procession dressed as the prostitute who is the protagonist from Federico Fellini’s film “Nights of Cabiria (Le Notti di Cabiria)”. In the final scene of the film, the prostitute, having lost all hope in life, rises feebly to her feet. As if spurred on by the music of a young crowd arriving from somewhere, she gradually regains her smile and begins to walk. This scene was one of the sources of inspiration for the procession.

The ‘red umbrella’ symbolises the rights of sex workers. It originated at the Venice Biennale in 2001, when sex workers held up red umbrellas to protest against the violations of their human rights. A similar figure of a sex worker also appears on the 7th square of the Showa Sugoroku, representing AIDS activism and sex worker activism in the 1980s.

Shimada plays a peasant woman who took part in the “Sunagawa Struggle”, a citizens' movement led primarily by farmers in opposition to the expansion of US military bases, which took place in her hometown of Tachikawa, Tokyo, between 1955 and the 1960s. This struggle is also featured on the 2nd square of the Showa Sugoroku. After residents fiercely resisted the government's plans to expropriate their ancestral farmland, the US military announced the cancellation of the expansion plans in 1968. This victory of the people over the authorities is recognised as a historical moment.

This painting of the square is an homage to the reportage painting 5th Sunagawa (1955) by Hiroshi Nakamura, who passed away in January of this year. The act of holding up a painting also pays tribute to the “Walking Exhibition” (1964), in which members of the avant-garde art group “Sightseeing Art Research Institute”, led by Nakamura, walked around Tokyo Station whilst holding their paintings aloft.

Furthermore, on 8 May, Shimada protested against American military imperialism while wearing this costume. Standing alone in front of the US pavilion at the Giardini, she held up the painting in a silent appeal: “Yankee Go Home”.

The performers and musicians were also dressed in costumes that embodied their own beliefs and identities. These included drag queen-style mourning attire and the pink triangle, a symbol of the movement for LGBTQ+ rights and equality that also commemorates historical persecution. There were also tributes to a deceased sex worker activist, as well as straitjackets and masks. Other costumes depicted zombies moving between life and death and angels playing healing resonance. Coming together from across Japan and Europe, they devised costumes that were suitable for this procession and reflective of their backgrounds.

Finally, the performers hand pink roses to the audience. In her video work LA DOLCE VITA (2001), BuBu threw roses—symbolising her deceased friend—into a river in commemoration of the dead. In this procession, the roses, dedicated to commemorating ‘fallen comrades’, were handed to the audience to share and pass on the memory of those who have passed away.