Venice: Minister of Culture Gihan Zaki said Egypt's participation in the 61st Venice Biennale reflects the state's firm belief in the importance of cultural presence in international forums, noting that Egypt remains the only Arab country with a permanent pavilion at the global event, which was established in 1895.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the Ministry of Culture is participating in the Venice Biennale through the Egyptian Pavilion, which is officially inaugurated on Friday and opens to the public on Saturday, running until November 22. The participation reaffirms Egypt's sustained presence at one of the world's most prominent international art events and the leading global platform for visual arts, held in the historic Italian city of Venice, where art intersects with history.

The minister said that cultural diplomacy is no longer a luxury or peripheral element in international relations, but has become a parallel language that expresses the identity of peoples and presents it to the world in its most authentic and profound form through art, creativity, and thought. Zaki stressed that culture derives its strength from its ability to cross borders quietly and reach human consciousness smoothly, making it one of the most effective tools of soft power in building bridges of understanding among peoples and strengthening countries' presence in the global cultural landscape.

She concluded that Egypt continues to enhance its international cultural presence, drawing on its rich civilizational heritage and the creativity of its artists, who consistently shape its image abroad through the language of art, beauty, and meaning. This year, the Egyptian Pavilion is represented by artist Armen Agop through his project 'The Pavilion of Silence: Between the Seen and the Unseen,' inspired by the memory of the desert, not as a physical space, but as an existential state transcending time and borders.

The project features five monumental granite sculptures that treat mass as latent energy rather than static form, employing a highly restrained visual language free of ornamentation or excess. The installation creates a state of visual silence within the pavilion, one that carries movement and contemplation, inviting visitors into an intimate dialogue with the artwork, where reception becomes an active process of meaning-making and reinterpretation.