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The hidden history of Africans in Venice

From Black gondoliers to art depicting enslaved people, Venice has a long history of cultural exchange with Africa.
Catherine Bennett, The Washington Post, 4 September 2025
In the 15th century painting “Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Rialto Bridge,” a Black gondolier calmly rows his client through the center of a frenetic scene. When you picture Venice’s famous canals, the boatmen might not match this description, but the Black character’s presence in the artwork isn’t a historical anomaly.

Vittore Carpaccio was painting Venetian life as it was: an international hub where different cultures across the world mixed freely — and where many of the boatmen were Black Africans.

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Venice, as the site of the international art biennale, is perhaps better-placed than many cities to lead the charge in reclaiming visual representations of Blackness — but if change is happening, it’s happening slowly.

Africa has historically been poorly represented at the event. But over half of participants at the 2023 Architecture Biennale, directed by Lesley Lokko, were African or from the African diaspora. Last year marked Africa’s largest-ever presence at the arts biennale, with Benin, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal participating for the first time. Togo made its debut this year.

“Africa is a growing presence here in Venice, but African pavilions could do so much more if they had the same financing that other countries have,” explained Lidija Kostic Khachatourian, the founder of AKKA Project, a contemporary African art gallery in a pocket of streets near the Accademia Bridge.

She chose to open her gallery in Venice “because of the exchange that the city has had with both the Middle East and Africa,” adding that “it felt very romantic to connect the three continents in this way.”

AKKA Project offers a residency program to self-taught African artists, exposing them to the city’s rich art history and allowing them to learn practical skills about the contemporary art world. An exhibition by the gallery in partnership with Venice’s modern art museum Ca’ Pesaro in 2023 saw contemporary African artists added to the museum’s permanent collection for the first time, effectively inserting their art into Venetian heritage.
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The city’s monoculture of tourism has had the effect of stifling that sense of openness, turning Venice into a destination for others rather than point of departure.

But Africa’s influence on the city is there — if you know where to look.