The seventh Asia Pacific Triennial, currently filling the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, presents new and recent work by 75 artists from 27 countries, celebrating 20 years and seven editions of what acting director Suhanya Raffel claims is “the only recurring exhibition in the region that concentrates on Asian art.” This anniversary encourages reflection on the vast changes that have taken place in the Asia Pacific region over the period, a process aided by the institution’s prescient acquisition policies during these years.

Takashi Murakami’s iconic, smiley-faced flowers sprouted in Hong Kong this winter. Opening November 29 at Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong, “Flowers & Skulls” drew the local press to the preview, where reporters dispensed smiles as manically cheery as those painted on the band of daisies surrounding them. 

As ArtAsiaPacific’s Western Asia editor, I was invited to Doha on the occasion of the opening of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art’s next major exhibition, “Tea with Nefertiti: The Making of the Artwork by the Artist, the Museum and the Public,” curated by the duo Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath. 

India’s first-ever biennale opened to the public on December 12 across multiple venues scattered throughout the coastal city of Kochi in Kerala. Once a vital stop on the spice route, where a confluence of cultures, religions and nationalities converged, the idea was that present-day Kochi would once again become a trading place for ideas by hosting this international biennale. Read more . . .