Sep 4–Jan 12, 2020

Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany 

Wu Tsang’s solo exhibition at Gropius Bau showcases sculptural works and a site-specific stained-glass commission that utilize the interplay of glass, light, and text to express notions of perspective and liminality. The show also debuts Tsang’s new moving-image work, One emerging from a point of view (2019),which was shot on the Greek island of Lesbos and addresses the trauma of forced migration in the context of the ongoing global refugee crisis. Also on view is We hold where study (2017). Inspired by Stefano Harney and Fred Moten’s essay “Leave Our Mikes Alone,” this film depicts a choreographed performance centered on the body and visual approaches to blackness and queerness.

Sep 14–Jan 13, 2020

Towada Art Center, Japan

Titled after American academic Donna Haraway’s publication on human-animal co-existence on Earth, multidisciplinary artist Aki Inomata’s first solo exhibition at the Towada Art Center focuses on environmental and ecological concerns from non-human perspectives. The exhibition debuts Inomata’s video installation Galloping Nambu breed horse (2019), centered on an extinct species once native to Towada, alongside her well-known sculptural series Why Not Hand Over a “Shelter” to Hermit Crabs? (2009–), comprising 3D-printed artificial shells based on the shapes of architectural landmarks. Other works on display include octopus- and ammonite-inspired works that give visitors a chance to reflect on non-human time spans.

Sep 21–Jan 5, 2020

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada 

Hajra Waheed’s solo exhibition at Toronto’s Power Plant paints a comprehensive picture of her multidisciplinary practice, which investigates diaspora, political upheaval, and the intersections of national security, surveillance, and clandestine power structures. Inspired by the formal qualities of the spiral, the show brings together a site-specific installation, sculptures, a video installation, and 100 small-scale works on paper that all relate to this pattern, using it as a metaphor for ways of navigating larger sociopolitical systems. The show takes its title from Waheed and Clea Minaker’s collaborative 2017 performance, which used the visual tropes of light and shadow to explore the possibility of radical hope amid displacement. 

Sep 29–Dec 14

Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London, United Kingdom

“Encounters” at Parasol Unit will survey the past 13 years of Lebanese artist Rayyane Tabet’s career, with a group of eight works shown together for the first time. On view will be several iconic sculptural installations—comprising found and manufactured objects—that reflect the artist’s ongoing examination of the ways in which personal and collective memories become imprinted onto historical sites and artifacts. One highlight is The Sea Hates A Coward (2015), which is composed of a pair of suspended four-meter-long wooden oars taken from the boat his father had rented in 1987, during the Lebanese Civil War, in the hopes of rowing his family to Cyprus. 

Oct 5–Jan 4, 2020

Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong

“Phantom Plane, Cyberpunk in the Year of the Future” will explore the aesthetic influences of science fiction on contemporary art and visual culture. The group exhibition aims to tease out the ambivalence inherent in visions of the “cybermetropolis,” and will display works that engage with physical and metaphorical landscapes of imagined dystopias. The exhibition is co-presented by the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College and curated by Lauren Cornell, chief curator at New York’s Hessel Museum; arts writer Dawn Chan; and Tai Kwun Contemporary’s head of art Tobias Berger and curator Xue Tan with assistant curator Jeppe Ugelvig. Included in the lineup are sculptor and installation artist Lee Bul, painter and sculptor Cui Jie, installation artist Nadim Abbas, and multimedia artist Seiko Mikami.

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