Asia Society Announced Title and Artist Lineup for Inaugural Triennial

On January 29, New York based Asia Society announced the launch of its inaugural Asia Society Triennial featuring artists from Asia or of the Asian diaspora, slated to open on June 5. Titled “We Do Not Dream Alone,” the Triennial, helmed by Boon Hui Tan, director of Asia Society Museum, and Michelle Yun, senior curator of Asian Contemporary Art, will collaborate with various cultural organizations across the city including Governors Island, New-York Historical Society, and Times Square Arts, among others. 

The festival aims to highlight a diverse range of viewpoints in an increasingly fractured world, where, as Boon Hui Tan explained: “the old ties between cultures and civilizations have become undone, contemporary art has risen to prod, pull, and nudge us to resist pessimism.” 

The first edition will feature more than 40 multi-disciplinary artists and collectives from 19 countries, with categories covered ranging from painting, sculpture, photography, video, fiber art, to performance. Nearly half of those invited will produce newly commissioned, site-specific works. Highlights include multiple projects on Governors Island: multimedia conceptual artist Kimsooja will produce an immersive installation, comprising architectural, light and sound elements; Iranian artist Reza Aramesh’s ceramic installations combine Hellenistic features with images of contemporary wars; and Lu Yang’s multimedia interactive installation will mix manga, science fiction, and video games to examine the relationship between science and religion. At Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, in partnership with the New York Philharmonic, Mina Cheon’s participatory public work will stimulate thoughts over the unification of North and South Korea through Choco Pie, a popular snack in both regions. For the opening night gala, the Triennial’s first composer-in-residence Huang Ruo will premiere his new opera M. Butterfly.

Michelle Yun stressed on the choice of the artists, “Asia Society’s purview across the region and the diaspora represents diverse cultures, religions, ethnicities, political ideologies, and identities . . . Ultimately, we focused our selection on artists whose practices actively and uniquely engage timely, yet universally accessible, issues relating to democracy, identity, gender, and sustainability.”

The list of participating artists is as follows:

Hamra Abbas (Kuwait / US / Pakistan)

Ghiora Aharoni (Israel / US)

Song-Ming Ang (Singapore / Germany)

Reza Aramesh (Iran / UK)

Christine Ay Tjoe (Indonesia)

Mina Cheon (US / Korea)

Cheuk Wing Nam (Hong Kong)

Daniel Crooks (New Zealand / Australia)

Vibha Galhotra (India)

Kyungah Ham (Korea)

Joyce Ho (Taiwan)

Susie Ibarra (US)

Abir Karmakar (India)

Kimsooja (Korea / France / US)

Lao Tongli (China)

Dinh Q. Lê (Vietnam / US)

Li Jianjun (China)

Minouk Lim (Korea)

Lu Yang (China)

LuxuryLogico (Taiwan)

Prabhavathi Meppayil (India)

Mountain River Jump! (China)

Kevork Mourad (Syria / US)

Nasim Nasr (Iran / Australia)

Jordan Nassar (US)

Hetain Patel (UK)

Anne Samat (Malaysia)

anGie seah (Singapore)

Shahzia Sikander (Pakistan / US) 

Arpita Singh (India)

Samita Sinha (US)

Sun Xun (China)

Melati Suryodarmo (Germany / Indonesia)

teamLab (Japan)

Natee Utarit (Thailand)

Jason Wee (Singapore / US)

Wen Hui (China)

Xu Bing (China / US)

Xu Zhen® (China)

Ken + Julia Yonetani (Australia / Japan)

Pamela Wong is ArtAsiaPacific’s assistant editor. 

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