2024 Asian Art Biennial launches opening week events

Press Release
Editor CHIHYI CHEN

Organised by National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA), the 9th Asian Art Biennial officially opens today (16 November), and will run until 2 March 2025. Co-curated by Fang Yen Hsiang (Taiwan), Anne Davidian (Armenia), Merv Espina (the Philippines), Haeju Kim (South Korea), and Asli Seven (Turkey), the Biennial features a total of 83 works from 35 local and international artists under the title of “How to Hold Your Breath”, inviting viewers to take a deep breath, retune with the metabolic rhythms of our bodies and the planet, and catch a glimpse of potential future hope.

Asian-Art-Biennial.-Woosung-Lee-Hot-Wind — Woosung Lee, *Hot Wind*, 2024, acrylic gouache on a quilted cloth, patchwork, 256 × 153 cm (5 pieces). Courtesy of the artist.

Chen Kuang-Yi, Director of National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts said, “Since its inception in 2007, the Asian Art Biennial has developed into one of the most representative art biennales in Asia. In recent years, the curatorial mechanism of convening diverse cross-disciplinary curators for collective dialogue has been put into practice to expand the horizons of Asian contemporary art. The effectiveness of this approach can also be seen in the wide background of the participating artists this year. This year, in addition to inviting artists from Taiwan’s neighboring countries to participate in the exhibition, we also invited emerging artists from Turkey, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Lithuania and other places to jointly present diverse cultural perceptions and artistic experiences to Taiwanese audiences.”

Chen-Kuang-Yi (陳貺怡), the director of NTMoFA with the curatorial team and participating artists. （Photo・Courtesy of NTMoFA）

The curatorial team stated, “The artists in the 2024 Asian Art Biennial propose alternative imaginaries and practices of world-ordering, both political and aesthetic, inspired by knowledge and ways of living grounded in relationality, reciprocity, and response-ability. Through a variety of media, the artworks presented in the Biennial challenge progressive and universal notions of time, revealing instead how histories are tied to people, places, and positions. By tracing the entanglements of colonial violence within ongoing imperial politics and new social systems that govern life, they open spaces for alternative liberatory futures.”

Nil Yalter, Exile is a Hard Job, 1975-ongoing, site-specific installation: fly-posters and red acrylic paint, dimensions variable. Image courtesy of the artist and THE PILL®. — Nil Yalter, Exile is a Hard Job, 1975-ongoing, site-specific installation: fly-posters and red acrylic paint, dimensions variable. （Photo・courtesy of the artist and THE PILL®）

As the Asian Art Biennial officially unveils its 9th edition, the Biennial launches the opening public programs on 16 and 17 of November, including talks and conversations under the themes of ”Data, record, memory: Scriptwriting and artistic practice”, “It’s Not Me, It’s You: Is it Time to Break Up With Capitalism?”, “Rewriting Time: Echoes of Other Worlds”, “Landscaping the Margins, Memory, and Rehabilitation”, “Remembering Trees, Speaking of Soil”, as well as a series of performances: Andrius Arutiunian’s Armen, Nefeli Papadimouli’s Dream Coat, Sharon Chin’s Portal, Natalia Papaeva’s What Will This Circle Bring This Time?

In addition to the opening week events, the Biennial will continue to host lectures, workshops, screening programs, and guided tours during the exhibition period until 2 March 2025. For the latest event information, please visit asianartbiennial.ntmofa.gov.tw or follow the Asian Art Biennial on Facebook and Instagram.

Sharon Chin, Portal, 2024, site-specific installation with oil lamps and wheatpasted poster images, dimensions variable. （Photo・ courtesy of the artist）

About Asian Art Biennial

Being one of the most representative art biennials in Asia, the Asian Art Biennial is an important bi-annual exhibition hosted by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. Since its establishment in 2007, it has been committed to presenting the development of contemporary art with an emphasis on Asia. Asian Art Biennials in recent years have convened curators with cross-disciplinary backgrounds to help shape curatorial mechanism through collective dialogue. Invitations for the participation of Asian artists from diverse cultures and wide-ranging perspectives has enabled the creation of a platform for interaction. asianartbiennial.ntmofa.gov.tw

Julia Sariesetiati, Caregiving Vocabularies, 2024, 5 single-channel videos, approx. 50 min (each). Courtesy of the artist.

About National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA)

Located in the West District of Taichung City, Taiwan, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) was inaugurated in 1988. It covers a total area of about 10 hectares and is the largest public art museum in Taiwan. With visual art as its main focus, NTMoFA highlights the collection, research, exhibition and educational promotion of modern and contemporary art in Taiwan, and is dedicated to providing visitors with a diverse and professional space for appreciating art. www.ntmofa.gov.tw

How to Hold Your Breath – 2024 Asian Art Biennial Exhibition Period｜16 November 2024 – 2 March 2025

Venue｜National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (2, Sec. 1, Wuquan West Road, Taichung)
Curatorial Team｜Fang Yen Hsiang, Anne Davidian, Merv Espina, Haeju Kim, Asli Seven
Participating Artists｜Noor Abed, Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research (AFSAR), Marwa Arsanios, Andrius Arutiunian, Sharon Chin, Chu Hao Pei, Kiri Dalena, Fang Wei-Wen, Tao Leigh Goffe, Hit Man Gurung, Mashinka Firunts Hakopian, Emre Hüner, Saodat Ismailova, Maiko Jinushi, Cetus Kuo Chin-Yun, Woosung Lee, Milay Mavaliw, Nathalie Muchamad, Hwayeon Nam, Yoshinori Niwa, Pak Sheung Chuen, Nefeli Papadimouli, Natalia Papaeva, Ri, Julia Sarisetiati, Kirill Savchenkov, Aziza Shadenova, Yehwan Song, Trương Quế Chi & Nguyễn Phương Linh, Wang Yu-Song, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jasmin Werner, Cici Wu, Nil Yalter, Gary Zhexi Zang
Artists in the Screening Program｜Bani Abidi, Noor Abuarafeh, Chingiz Aidarov, Richard Fung, Rojda Tugrul, Pallavi Paul, Sanaz Sohrabi, Your Bros. Filmmaking Group (So Yo-Hen, Tien Zong-Yuan, Liao Hsiu-Hui)