Volume XX
In the 20th edition of the ArtAsiaPacific Almanac, we survey the many contemporary art events across Asia and the world, from art fairs and auctions to biennials and major exhibitions. The nucleus of the Almanac is the 15 City Reports, where our contributors reflect on impactful artworks and conversations from 2024 and preview what’s in store for 2025. In our interviews, we caught up with several artists who had major showcases. Beginning in Aotearoa New Zealand, we spoke to Brett Graham about the legacy of the 19th-century Land Wars and the continued influence of his artist-father. Like Graham, the Shaanxi-based artist Xiyadie was featured in the 60th Venice Biennale, where he displayed his monumental handmade erotic papercuts. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Ei Arakawa-Nash reflected on his first institutional retrospective in Japan, which included irreverent collaborations with over 50 creatives, friends, and volunteers. Among other energetic artist-organizers making an impact in the region, AAP spoke to Hong Kong artist Florence Lam about the Per.Platform initiative for live art, Ulaanbaatar painter and performance artist Anunaran Jargalsaikhan, and Ho Chi Minh City-based collective Art Labor member Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần about working closely with communities to foreground local concerns.
Throughout this Almanac we hear about the dynamics at play in cities across Asia and beyond. From Seoul, curator Valentina Buzzi assesses how the art scene in the South Korean capital won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Christopher Whitfield describes how Taipei’s creative scenes have responded to major geopolitical events. In Manila, Sam del Castillo looks at artists’ preoccupation with the climate, a theme echoed by curator and critic Quddus Mirza, who observes the environmental consciousness evident at the biennials in Lahore and Karachi. From Istanbul, Matt Hanson assesses the rifts between private ventures and artist-driven initiatives. Chelsea Pettitt highlights ambitious international exhibitions staged in London amid funding cuts for the arts. Finally, from Los Angeles, Jennifer S. Li describes how the art scene has witnessed a slight contraction while smaller spaces appear to be thriving.
For our Artists of the Year, we looked at Archie Moore, the Golden Lion winner at the 60th Venice Biennale for his monumental installation kith and kin (2024) in the Australia Pavilion, as well as the influential Saudi Arabian artist Manal AlDowayan, whose work dissects collective memory and Saudi female identity. We highlight Yuko Mohri’s large-scale, kinetic installations shown in the Japan Pavilion at Venice, in Tokyo, and elsewhere around the world. The similarly active Trương Công Tùng staged reinterpretations of Indigenous communities’ mythological beliefs at venues from Venice to New York. A prominent figure for decades, Korean artist Do Ho Suh received a major homecoming solo survey in Seoul. Finally, our One to Watch for 2025 is London-based Taiwanese artist Steph Huang, who exhibited widely in the UK and is set for more projects in the year ahead, including in Taipei.
Elsewhere, we survey eight major festivals of the year—from the Biennale of Sydney to the Gwangju Biennale. At the year’s center was the 60th Venice Biennale, with its theme of “Foreigners Everywhere,” which tapped directly into the zeitgeist. In our Exhibitions of the Year, we look back on major surveys at museums from Tokyo to Shanghai and New York, as well Wong Ping’s provocations in Hong Kong, the late Lala Rukh’s poetic works in Sharjah, and Amanda Ba’s figurative paintings in New York. For Inside Burger Collection, Harry C.H. Choi uncovers the thematic concerns of the elusive Julia Phillips, who explores social relationships via the human body.
The ArtAsiaPacific Almanac 2025 would not be possible without the generous support of Burger Collection, Stephen Cheng, Bangkok Art Biennale Foundation, Gallery Hyundai, Kukje Gallery, Mapletree, Stefan Rihs, Chloe Suen, Nicola Chu, and Jean-Marc Bottazzi. We are grateful to the many people who support ArtAsiaPacific throughout the year, including the contributors and organizations that share their time, thoughts, images, and information with us. As always, we look ahead to the enlightening engagements with artists and cultural communities from across the world that await us in 2025.
A digital edition of the full ArtAsiaPacific Almanac 2025 is now available for purchase on Zinio, Google Play, iTunes, and Magzter.