Seemingly overnight, as Asian countries attempted a return to business as usual by finally dropping draconian Covid-19 restrictions in late 2022 and early 2023, simmering issues over personal and political power returned to the forefront of public discourse. 

Scandal unfolded in 2023 at the National Gallery Australia (NGA) in Canberra. After receiving allegations that external studio assistants had intervened in the creation of 28 Indigenous artworks at the APY Art Centre Collective (APYACC) ahead of the NGA’s exhibition “Ngura Pulka–Epic Country,” on April 28, the NGA and state-government bodies announced an independent review. The APYACC adamantly denied claims and welcomed a review, leading the NGA to indefinitely delay “Ngura Pulka.” In August, the expert panel’s 34-page report finally determined there was no “improper interference,” but the NGA’s 2023 calendar was too full to reschedule the exhibition. 

In Turkey, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and the Arts (İKSV) was widely criticized after it selected former advisory-board member Iwona Blazwick as curator of the 18th Istanbul Biennial for 2024, over the advisory board’s initial unanimous choice, Defne Ayas. In response to an open-letter campaign calling for “better Istanbul Biennials” in October, İKSV vowed to make internal reforms in future.