Feb 18–May 14

Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila, Philippines

Curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong of Bangkok’s Jim Thompson Art Center, the traveling solo exhibition “The Serenity of Madness,” will present selections of the Cannes Film award winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s experimental short films, video installations, rare photographs and sketches from over two decades of the auteur’s career. Apichatpong’s work will reveal personal narratives and concerns that combine supernatural elements, folklore and socio-political commentary. The third and final iteration of the exhibition will include the Southeast Asia premier of Invisibility (2016)—a video constructed of symbolic themes from Apichatpong’s 2015 feature film Cemetery of Splendor.

Mar 2–May 25

NYUAD Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE 

New York University Abu Dhabi’s Art Gallery will host an extensive survey that looks into a crucial experimental moment in the United Arab Emirates’ art history from 1988—only 17 years after the nation’s founding—to 2008. Featuring five instrumental figures of the UAE’s creative tapestry, including the late pioneer Hassan Sharif (1951–2016) and influential conceptual artist Mohammed Kazem, the exhibition investigates the underground art movement established by these artists, who came to be known informally as the Group of Five. Rejecting traditional approaches to artmaking, these artists encouraged critical exchange and radical experimentation. The artists’ works will be shown alongside archival material and video interviews with members of the art community, and a reading room will also be opened with key contributions by cultural figures such as the artist, curator and poet Cristiana De Marchi.

Mar 3–Jun 4

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

The National Gallery of Victoria examines the 20-year career of Melbourne-based mutimedia artist Brook Andrew, who is known to examine the complex cultural landscape in Australia, both from the lens of its colonial past and today. His latest solo exhibition “The Right to Offend is Sacred” will display two new works alongside the artist’s iconic neon installations, such as Polemics (2000), which features indigenous text and iconography, as well as portraits of indigenous people. Andrew, who himself identifies as one of the Wiradjuri people of New South Wales, challenges and questions colonial power in an attempt to redefine forgotten histories of native identities.

Mar 8–May 8

Various locations, Honolulu, USA

Under the direction of Fumio Nanjo, current director of Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and Ngahiraka Mason, former curator of indigenous and Māori art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the inaugural edition of the Honolulu Biennial brings together various voices from the Pacific Ocean. Titled “Middle of Now | Here” the Biennial will be held in multiple sites in and around the surrounding islands, and will feature 30 artist from Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Participating artists include Yuki Kihara, Mohammed Kazem, Greg Sumu and Yayoi Kusama, among many others. Hawaiian artist Kaili Chun will exhibit three works, including a version of her installation Veritas II (2012–17), that explores notions of exposure and containment, while Chinese artist Zhan Wang will display two of his signature large-scale stainless-steel sculptures.  

Mar 10–Jun 12

Various locations, Sharjah, UAE

Act I of Sharjah Biennial 13 will kick off in March under the curatorial guidance of Christine Tohmé, founding director of the Beirut-based art space Ashkal Alwan. Launching under the title “Tamawuj,” defined as the Arabic word for the rising and falling waves or fluctuation, the Biennial will reflect this ebb and flow by expanding its conversation across multiple cities over the course of the year, with further exhibition programs in Beirut, Dakar, Ramallah and Istanbul. In Sharjah, visitors will come across interventions from more than 60 artists, including Raqs Media Collective, Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Daniele Genadry.