On October 4, Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) commenced its two-phase expansion project “Out of Bounds,” which focuses on the construction of a new collections vault and exhibition building with the support of the Taipei City Government. The expansion will facilitate “professional conservation, restoration, and research,” and address the museum’s urgent need to accommodate the growth of its collections, which currently comprise over 5,300 artworks and archives of modern and contemporary art. Phase one will begin this month with the construction of the two-story collections vault under the existing museum parking lot, scheduled for completion in 2024. For phase two, in January TFAM will launch an open call for architectural proposals for the new exhibition venue, outlined to include black box spaces, an interactive learning area, and other facilities. The new building, expected to open in 2026, will be built below the Taipei Expo Park area as Taiwan’s first underground museum.

The 16th edition of Biennale Jogja opened on October 6 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and marks the sixth iteration of the festival’s Equator series. Since 2011, Biennale Jogja has partnered with artists and art communities from countries within the equatorial area, between the Earth’s 23.27° North and 23.27° South latitudes, to explore their interconnected histories and cultures. Titled “Roots < > Routes” and curated by Elia Nurvista and Ayos Purwoaji, Equator #6 centers on Oceania and Nusantara, particularly the outer islands of Timor Islands, Mollucas Islands, and West Papua, examining the dialogue between contemporary and Indigenous art throughout the regions. The festival features 34 participating artists in its main exhibition, along with pavilions from Taiwan and South Korea that thematically explore the respective territories’ relationships with Southeast Asia. Biennale Jogja is on view online and at the Jogja National Museum until November 14, 2021.

The third Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB), slated for October 22, 2022 to February 23, 2023, revealed its theme and curatorial team on September 30. Titled “CHAOS : CALM,” the biennale will foreground artists exploring ideas of unpredictability and anxiety in a world troubled by climate disaster, disease, and socio-political unrest. Inspired by the ancient Greek mythological conception of chaos as the void state from which the universe was created, the BAB hopes “to emerge from this dystopian contemporary world to offer a glimpse of clarity and calm through art.” The festival will be led by artistic director Apinan Poshyananda with art consultant Nigel Hurst; curator and scholar Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani; director of Gallery Ver, Jirat Ratthawongjirakul; and founder of Bangkok creative consultancy Mysterious Ordinary, Chomwan Weeraworawit. Aside from physical exhibitions across the Thai capital, BAB will also utilize virtual viewing platforms. 

Originally set for 2021 but postponed to September 2022, the 16th edition of the Lyon Biennale will present a “Manifesto of Fragility,” as imagined by curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath. Assembling a range of creative practices that speak to the vulnerability and resilience of disparate people and places, the Biennale will delve into the possibilities of embracing fragility as a step toward empowerment and solidarity. Partnering with a number of institutions, the Biennale will show works from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, as well as from local venues such as the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon and the Lugdunum Museum and Roman Theatres.

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