THE SERPENTINE SUMMER PARTY 2026
The Serpentine Summer Party took place on Tuesday 23 June 2026 in Kensington Gardens. The evening was hosted by Michael R. Bloomberg, Chairman of Serpentine’s Board of Trustees; Bettina Korek, CEO; and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, with co-hosts Salma Hayek Pinault, Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu.
The evening brought together Serpentine supporters alongside leading figures from art, culture, fashion, architecture, business and technology. Guests experienced an artist-led journey through Kensington Gardens, encountering highlights from Serpentine’s summer programme, which includes major exhibitions by Cecily Brown (Picture Making) and David Hockney (A Year in Normandie and Other Thoughts on Painting), alongside special activations centred on the Pavilion. Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999; 2023 Edition), a public art installation by artist Jesús Rafael SOTO was on on view for this year’s Summer Party.
At its heart was the 2026 Serpentine Pavilion, a serpentine, designed by Mexico City–based LANZA atelier. Built from a rhythmic repetition of brick columns that shift between opacity and permeability, it establishes a dialogue with the historic brick façade of Serpentine South, once itself a tea pavilion, while acting as a bridge between the geographies of Europe and the Americas.
