Weekly News Roundup: May 22, 2026

This weekly roundup from ArtAsiaPacific covers four major developments in the art and architecture world. Chinese architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu have announced the theme for the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale, titled “Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality,” emphasizing hands-on, context-driven design. The 2026 Sovereign Asian Art Prize winners were revealed, with Balinese artist Citra Sasmita winning the Grand Prize for her work "Poetry of the Fountain" (2025). Dubai announced plans for the Museum of Digital Art (MODA), a new institution dedicated to new media and immersive technologies, as part of a major district expansion. Finally, the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) named 70 grantees for its 2026 cycle, awarding over USD 1.6 million to support cultural exchange between the US and Asia.

The Cosmos in a Drop: Interview with Wallace Chan

Wallace Chan, the Chinese artist known for his work across microscopic gemstone carving and monumental titanium sculpture, is presenting two concurrent exhibitions in Venice during the 61st Venice Biennale: “Vessels of Other Worlds” at the Pietà Chapel and “Mythos” at Scala Contarini del Bovolo. In an interview with ArtAsiaPacific, Chan discusses his artistic journey from traditional Chinese Buddhist carving to Western iconography, the spiritual resonance of the Pietà Chapel (where Vivaldi composed), and how his works explore themes of transformation, birth, growth, and rebirth through the lens of Buddhist philosophy and Catholic ritual.

148 News: Awards & Obituaries

This article from ArtAsiaPacific reports on three recent art awards. Iraqi artist Ali Eyal received the Hammer Museum's $100,000 Mohn Award for emerging artists in Los Angeles. Japanese artist Mari Katayama won the inaugural ¥10 million Mori Art Award from the Mori Contemporary Art Foundation in Tokyo. Korean media artist Jeamin Cha secured the Hermès Foundation's 21st Missulsang, receiving KRW 30 million and production support for a solo exhibition at Atelier Hermès in Seoul in 2027.

Maya Lin Connects Nature to a New Manhattan Skyscraper and Beyond

Maya Lin, the renowned artist and designer known for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, has created new works for a Manhattan skyscraper and a Chicago project, drawing on her deep connection to nature. The article highlights her latest installations that integrate environmental themes into urban architecture, reflecting her ongoing exploration of landscape and ecology.

Michael Joo Steps Into the Art World’s Spotlight

Michael Joo, a contemporary artist known for his multidisciplinary work, is currently featured in multiple exhibitions spanning New York, the San Francisco Bay Area, a Mediterranean island, and Venice. These shows highlight his ongoing engagement with themes of identity, ecology, and cultural exchange, bringing his practice to a broader international audience.

9 Art Shows to Catch Before They Close This Spring

Several major art exhibitions are concluding their runs this spring, offering a final chance for public viewing. Highlights include a rare Caravaggio painting on display, immersive installations featuring streetscapes covered in orchids, and a showcase of colorful figurative works by German Expressionist Gabriele Münter.

Jill Westwood’s Archive of Feminine Power

Jill Westwood's 1980s photographic and sculptural work exploring feminine power, kink, and queer identity is being exhibited at NEVEN gallery in London. The exhibition presents archival material that was largely unseen for decades, focusing on themes of dominance, submission, and the female gaze within subcultural scenes.

Matías Duville on Representing Argentina at the 61st Venice Biennale

Matías Duville will represent Argentina at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with a site-specific installation titled *Monitor Yin Yang*, transforming the Argentina Pavilion into a walkable landscape made of salt and charcoal. The work expands drawing into a spatial, sonic, and time-based experience, inspired by the natural environments of Mar del Plata and Patagonia. Duville discusses his approach in an interview with ArtReview, noting how early encounters with vast territories and geological time continue to shape his practice, and how the project relates to the Biennale's theme, *In Minor Keys*, by focusing on subtle intensities and open-ended evolution.

Dana Awartani on Representing Saudi Arabia at the 61st Venice Biennale

Dana Awartani, an artist based in Jeddah, will represent Saudi Arabia at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, with her pavilion located in the Arsenale under the theme 'Celebrating Visions.' In an interview with ArtReview, Awartani discusses her exhibition, which builds on her practice of foregrounding Arab cultural histories and preserving the region's material heritage. She connects her work to the Biennale's theme 'In Minor Keys' by focusing on repair, healing, and the quiet consequences of conflict, emphasizing craft as a form of quiet resistance against mechanization. The pavilion, she says, reflects the diversity of voices within Saudi Arabia's artistic community rather than a single national narrative.

Kader Attia announced as curator of the 7th Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Kader Attia has been announced as the curator of the 7th edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, scheduled for 2027–2028. The announcement was made by the Kochi Biennale Foundation via Instagram, with Attia selected by a committee chaired by Jitish Kallat and including Shilpa Gupta, Amrita Jhaveri, Pooja Sood, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Mariam Ram, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Attia, an artist, curator, and professor at HfbK-Hamburg, is known for his work exploring history, memory, repair, and colonial legacies across installation, sculpture, film, and archival research.

Goen Choi and Hyeree Ro on Representing South Korea at the 61st Venice Biennale

Goen Choi and Hyeree Ro are representing South Korea at the 61st Venice Biennale, which runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026. In an interview with ArtReview, Choi describes his sculptural installation "Meridian," featuring ruptured copper pipes that traverse the Korean Pavilion in the Giardini, exploring unseen infrastructures and unstable relations between fixed structures. Ro presents "Bearing," a membranelike waxed fabric installation with eight stations for mourning, remembering, and mending, inspired by Korean gardens and temples. Both artists respond to the Biennale's theme "In Minor Keys," emphasizing subtle forces, low vibrations, and contemplative spaces.

Sharjah Biennial announces theme and artists

Jenna Sutela on Representing Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale

Jenna Sutela, representing Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale, will present an exhibition titled *Aeolian Suite* in the Giardini pavilion. The work features sound sculptures that engage with wind as both a physical and political force, using meteorological data, wind machines, recorders, a children's woodwind orchestra, and recordings of winds from Venice, Helsinki, and beyond. Sutela explores noise as a creative medium, drawing on the concept of deep listening inspired by artist Pauline Oliveros, and connects her project to the Biennale's theme, *In Minor Keys*, curated by Koyo Kouoh.

Genti Korini on Representing Albania at the 61st Venice Biennale

Artist Genti Korini will represent Albania at the 61st Venice Biennale with a new moving-image installation titled 'A Place in the Sun.' Curated by Małgorzata Ludwisiak, the project utilizes 'Zaum'—a transrational language from the Russian Futurist movement—to explore themes of performance, puppetry, and animation. The work investigates Albania’s historical position as a 'somewhere place' often defined by external exoticism and orientalist perceptions rather than its own internal voice.

Thailand Biennale 2025 Review: Beyond the Tropical Paradise

The fourth Thailand Biennale, titled 'Eternal [Kalpa]', has launched across 19 venues in Phuket, aiming to challenge the island's reputation as a mere tropical leisure destination. Curated by a team including Hera Chan, the exhibition utilizes diverse locations—from municipal gymnasiums to mangrove forests—to explore themes of subjective time and local history. Despite logistical delays that saw some artists still installing works during the press preview, the biennial presents a series of site-specific commissions that engage with Phuket’s ecological and social complexities.

Artist list for Counterpublic 2026 announced

The St. Louis-based triennial Counterpublic has unveiled its full artist list for the 2026 edition, titled 'Coyote Time.' Running from September 12 to December 12, the exhibition features 47 artists, duos, and collectives, including prominent names like Glenn Ligon, Nicholas Galanin, and Rirkrit Tirivanija. Curated by a diverse team including Stefanie Hessler and Wanda Nanibush, the triennial will utilize site-responsive practices and emergent technologies to explore themes of climate, immigration, and education.

Manon Awst and Dylan Huw on Representing Wales at the 61st Venice Biennale

Artist Manon Awst and curator Dylan Huw will represent Wales at the 61st Venice Biennale with a project titled "Sownd." The exhibition, located at the Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, features a sculptural environment inspired by the peatlands of North Wales. Central to the installation is a wooden boardwalk that mirrors both the boggy terrain of the Welsh landscape and the flood-prone pathways of Venice, integrating material samples, oral poetic traditions, and the ancient Welsh craft of cynghanedd.

Yang Fudong’s Memory Palace

Yang Fudong has opened his largest solo exhibition to date, 'Fragrant River,' at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. The show features over 30 works and eight hours of video, including major new installations like the five-channel 'Young Man, Young Man' and the furniture-and-video piece 'Breastfeeding,' which immerse viewers in scenes from the artist's hometown of Xianghe.

Louise Bourgeois’s Body Clock

A new exhibition titled 'Louise Bourgeois: Echoes of the Morning' has opened at the PoMo museum in Trondheim. The show centers on a series of vibrant, visceral gouaches created by Bourgeois in the last four years of her life, presented in dialogue with major sculptural installations like 'Peaux de lapins, chiffons ferrailles à vendre' (2006) and 'Spider Couple' (2003). The exhibition offers an intimate, focused exploration of the artist's late work.

Trevor Paglen Will Curate Art Basel’s ‘Zero 10’ Digital Initiative

Trevor Paglen, an artist and geographer known for exploring surveillance technology, has been named curator of the third edition of Art Basel's 'Zero 10' digital art initiative, set to debut at Art Basel in Switzerland. He will co-curate the program with digital art strategist Eli Scheinman, featuring twenty exhibitors under the theme 'The Condition,' which examines life saturated by digital media and AI. The presentation will include works such as Hito Steyerl's 'Green Screen' (2023) and pieces by pioneering digital artist Vera Molnar.

Marcello Dantas Named Curator of 2027–29 Vancouver Biennale

The Vancouver Biennale has appointed Brazilian artist and documentary filmmaker Marcello Dantas as senior curator for its 2027–29 edition. Dantas, currently art director at the immersive museum Ster Ik in Tulum, Mexico, recently cocurated the 2024 iteration of Saudi Arabia's Desert X AlUla with Maya El Khalil. He has previously organized exhibitions for artists including Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor, Shirin Neshat, and Bill Viola, and curated a project by Vik Muniz for the 2013–15 Vancouver Biennale. Dantas plans to shape the event by addressing the city's corporate real estate development alongside its First Nations and colonial history, exploring themes of displacement and belonging.

Theme and Artists Revealed for Ekow Eshun–Curated British Art Show 10

Organizers of the British Art Show have unveiled the theme and artist list for its tenth edition, titled "A Chorus of Strangers." Curated by Ekow Eshun, the quinquennial exhibition will launch in Coventry on October 2, 2025, before touring to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle Gateshead through 2028. The show features a diverse roster of contemporary artists including Turner Prize winner Jasleen Kaur, Alvaro Barrington, and Precious Okoyomon, organized around three conceptual pillars: psychological, sociological, and ecological.

Inaugural Medina Triennial in Western New York Will Include 39 Artists

The inaugural Medina Triennial has announced its artist lineup for its debut edition running from June to September in Western New York. Featuring 39 participants, the walkable exhibition will showcase site-specific works by international and local figures including Tania Candiani, Lina Lapelytė, and Asad Raza. Installations and performances will be integrated into the town's civic fabric, utilizing non-traditional venues such as a railroad museum, local churches, hospital corridors, and a century-old high school.

Telfair Museums presents Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting opening May 15

Telfair Museums will present "Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting" at the Jepson Center for the Arts from May 15 through August 16, 2026. Organized for the museum's 140th anniversary, the exhibition brings together Telfair's collection of American Impressionist works with key French Impressionist paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., featuring artists such as Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, and Vincent van Gogh. The show explores Impressionism's origins in France, its transatlantic influence, and its impact on American art and identity, with works addressing themes of modern life, leisure, the city, and nostalgia for nature.

Amy Sherald exhibit sets 21st century visitor record at BMA

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) has achieved a historic milestone with its exhibition 'Amy Sherald: American Sublime,' which drew 84,000 visitors between October 2025 and March 2026. This figure more than doubled the museum's initial projections and set a new record for the highest attendance of any exhibition at the institution in the 21st century. The show featured 45 large-scale portraits by the Baltimore-born artist, focusing on themes of identity and representation.

One of the most important galleries in Brazil is in Rome these weeks with an exhibition. The interview

Una delle più importanti gallerie del Brasile in queste settimane è a Roma con una mostra. L’intervista

Brazilian gallery A Gentil Carioca has brought the first Italian solo exhibition of artist Miguel Afa to the Fondazione Capitolina in Rome, in collaboration with the Rhinoceros space. Titled "Il tempo che vive in me" (The Time That Lives in Me), the show features works created during Afa's residency in Rome, exploring themes of time, memory, and light through oil paintings that blend Brazilian and Roman imagery.

Julie Hamisky's garden, the artist who fixes the ephemeral in time, is on show in a Milan auction house

Il giardino di Julie Hamisky, l’artista che fissa l’effimero nel tempo è in mostra in una casa d’aste di Milano

French artist and designer Julie Hamisky presents 'Giardino Alchemico' (Alchemical Garden) at Pandolfini Auction House in Milan during Fuorisalone 2025. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with Galerie Mitterrand of Paris, features around twenty works including monumental sculptures like 'La Géante' (a giant poppy), jewelry, and a chandelier titled 'Aqua'. Hamisky uses electroplating—a 19th-century technique she learned from her father-in-law—to preserve fresh flowers and botanical forms by coating them in metal, freezing them at the peak of their beauty before decay begins.

Blank Spaces. Sung Tieu by Sarah Johanna Theurer

Sung Tieu's installations, characterized by austere, bureaucratic surfaces, explore the hidden architectures of power embedded in everyday systems. The article examines her series of works that deconstruct administrative forms used in asylum procedures, reducing them to blank spaces and quantified grids to expose how institutional power operates through seemingly neutral documents. Her exhibition "In Cold Print" at Nottingham Contemporary physically manifests these themes by using steel fences to control viewer movement, drawing direct parallels between minimalist sculpture and the dehumanizing design of border controls.

10 Works Under $10K at Frieze New York 2026

Frieze New York 2026 offers a selection of artworks priced under $10,000 in its online Viewing Room, making the fair more accessible to a broader range of collectors. Featured works include Esther Pearl Watson's UFO-themed paintings of rural America and Nobuyoshi Araki's intimate photographs of his cat, among other affordable pieces from various galleries.

Must-See: Rosa Loy Finds a Durable Form of Togetherness

Rosa Loy, a German painter associated with the New Leipzig School, presents a new body of work at a solo exhibition that explores themes of togetherness, collaboration, and female solidarity through her signature figurative, dreamlike style. The show features large-scale paintings and works on paper that depict pairs or groups of women engaged in shared activities, rendered in muted earth tones with subtle surrealist undertones.