This news rundown, State of Play, is part of The Asia Pivot, Artnet Pro’s biweekly members-only newsletter that provides mission-critical analysis, insights, and exclusive intelligence on developments in Asia’s art markets, with a focus on business opportunities and challenges. Subscribe here to receive it directly to your inbox every other week.
Art Fairs
– The Art OnO fair’s sophomore edition will take place in Seoul at SETEC from April 11 to 13 with 42 exhibitors. (Press release)
Galleries
– The Paris gallery Petrine is set to open an exhibition space in Düsseldorf in April, coinciding with Art Düsseldorf. Its first show in the German city will be a solo presentation by Sena Sasaki, who is based in Hokkaido, Japan. (Press release)
– Portuguese gallery Duarte Sequeira is moving to a new location in Seoul, in the Hannam-dong area, after operating spaces in Gangnam and near Deoksugung Palace. The new venue includes two exhibition areas and an outdoor terrace for sculptures. (Instagram)
– Asia Week New York returns from March 13 to 21 with a focus on contemporary art at its participating galleries. (The Asia Pivot)
– Seoul-based Emma Son was promoted to partner at Lehmann Maupin. (Press release)
Institutions and Biennials
–Dib Bangkok, a new contemporary art museum, is set to launch in December in the Thai capital in a repurposed 71,000-square-foot warehouse from the 1980s. The project is being spearheaded by Purat (Chang) Osathanugrah, an art collector who is also the president of Bangkok University, director of Shiseido Thailand, and CEO of Oventure Group. His father, Petch Osathanugrah, whose renowned art collection forms the museum’s foundation, was the CEO of Osotspa. (The Asia Pivot)
– The 161-acre Khao Yai Art Forest recently opened in Thailand. It was founded by the Thai-Korean philanthropist and art patron Marisa Chearavanont, who opened the Bangkok Kunsthalle last year. Also new to the nation’s cultural landscape this year is Museum Pier, which was founded by collecting couple Kornkamol and Piriya Vachajitpan to showcase modern and contemporary Thai art in Bangkok. (Artnet News)
– Qatar Museums announced its spring programming, which includes the third edition of the Tasweer Photo Festival Qatar, highlighting photographers from West Asia and North Africa (WANA), and the first large-scale presentation of Latin American art in the WANA region. (Press release)
– The Diriyah Biennale Foundation appointed Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed as the artistic directors for the third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale. Razian is the deputy director and head of exhibitions and programs at Art Jameel in Dubai and Jeddah; Ahmed is a curator, cultural theorist, and educator currently serving as projects advisor at the Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai. (Press release)
– The Seoul Museum of Art is adding two new venues this year: the Photography Seoul Museum of Art, opening in May in the Dobong district, and the Seo-Seoul Museum of Art, set to open later this year in the Geumcheon district. Meanwhile, in Gyeongju, the OAR Contemporary Art Museum will debut on April 1 with a solo show by Japanese artist Etsu Egami. (The Korean Herald, The Asia Pivot)
– The sixth edition of the Aichi Triennale in Japan, led by Hoor Al Qasimi, the director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, will feature 60 artists from 22 countries and territories. Its title is “A Time Between Ashes and Roses.” It will open in September. (Press release)
– The Pakistani artist Rabbya Naseer has called off her solo show at the Belvedere 21 Museum of Contemporary Art in Vienna, citing alleged censorship in relation to the Israel-Hamas war. (The Art Newspaper)
– Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District will stage an arts week in Shanghai in June for the first time. M+’s retrospective of legendary architect I. M. Pei will travel to Shanghai’s Power Station of Art from April to July before heading to Qatar Museums Gallery, AI Riwaq in Doha. (South China Morning Post)
Auctions
– Later this month, a 1984 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting will headline Christie’s 20th- and 21st-century evening sale in Hong Kong during Art Basel with a high estimate of HK$125 million (about $16 million). (Artnet News)
– On May 5, Bonhams Hong Kong will present two themed sales to celebrate the 80th birthday of Jules Speelman, a leading collector and dealer of Asian art. Last June in Paris, an auction of works from his collection made €15.2 million, more than three times its presale estimate. (Press release)
– Yoshitomo Nara’s 2005 painting Cosmic Eyes (In the Milky Lake) was the top lot at Sotheby’s Modern and contemporary auction in London on March 4, selling for £9.03 million ($11.4 million). Christie’s held its 20th- and 21st-century evening sale the following evening in the city, and said that 13 percent of the bidding came from the Asia-Pacific region. (Artnet News, The Asia Pivot)
People
– Ming Fay, the New York artist celebrated for his expansive sculptural gardens and public art installations, died at the age of 82 on February 23. (Press release)
– The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, in partnership with the SBS Foundation, awarded Yang Jung-uk the 2024 Korea Artist Prize. (Press release)
– Chengdu-based architect Liu Jiakun was awarded the 2025 Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in architecture. In a career spanning over 40 years, Liu has completed more than 30 projects across China, including academic and cultural institutions, civic spaces, commercial buildings, and urban planning initiatives. (Artnet News)
– After five years at the helm of the Today Art Museum in Beijing, Jessica Ran Zhang will depart on March 26, while continuing to hold the position of honorary director. (The Asia Pivot)
– On March 27, Hong Kong mega-collector Adrian Cheng’s K11 brand will open K11 HACC (K11 Hybrid Art and Cultural Centre) in Shenzhen, which will be its first standalone museum space. (Its previous cultural spaces have all been in conjunction with retail projects.) Designed by architect David Chipperfield, K11 HACC will debut with a Lu Yang solo show. The museum has established a K11 Curator Prize, aimed at celebrating curators who excel in digital and interactive art. (Press release)
– Japanese artist Yu Nishimura (who was appeared in The Asia Pivot’s Talentspotter section last year) is now in the collection of Centre Pompidou in Paris, following the acquisition of his 2023 painting boy. (The Asia Pivot)
– Daisy Desrosiers, the director of the David and Francie Horvitz Family Foundation and chief curator of the Gund at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and Xue Tan, chief curator and head of program and exhibitions at Haus der Kunst in Munich, are joining the 15th Shanghai Biennale as co-curators. This edition is being led by Canadian writer and curator Kitty Scott. It is scheduled to open in November. (Press release)
