Japan Pavilion: Grass Babies, Moon Babies – Ei Arakawa-Nash

An attendant hands you a baby at random, five to six kilos, in sunglasses that show you your own face. You don't get to choose. For the rest of the visit it's yours to carry.

Ei Arakawa-Nash made the show after becoming a parent to twins in 2024. You start under the pilotis, cross the garden and climb to the upper galleries. Around you, dolls sit on a tall scaffold like a jungle gym, perch on the roof edge and ride between floors in baskets. At the exit you change the nappy, and a QR code inside gives you a poem tied to your doll's birthday, a date from Japanese, American or Asian history. Venice has inspired centuries of poems; this is the first you'll fish out of a nappy.

Family Style called it "courageous and experimental without being heavy-handed". The catch, per The Curatorial: the history wall text upstairs is small and dense. It's covered by the €30 Biennale ticket, Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm, until 22 November.