This week’s art news spans major appointments, a landmark national recognition, new funding and commissions, and the repair of a public artwork following vandalism—tracing developments from Jeddah and Manila to Perth and Hong Kong.
Islamic Arts Biennale 2027 sets its curatorial team
The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has appointed four lead curators for the third edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale, opening November 1, 2027. Nada Raza, director of the Alserkal Arts Foundation; William Robinson, former head of the Islamic art department at Christie’s; Alain Fouad George, the I. M. Pei Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of Oxford and founding director of the Lusail Institute in Doha; and Idries Trevathan, former chief curator of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, will each mount a separate exhibition offering an individual perspective on the arts and cultural landscape of the Islamic world. The Biennale returns to King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Imelda Cajipe Endaya becomes the Philippines’ first woman National Artist for Visual Arts
Filipina artist Imelda Cajipe Endaya has been conferred the Order of National Artists of the Philippines for Visual Arts, becoming the first woman to receive the honor. The 77-year-old is known for social realist paintings, printmaking, and installations that engage struggles in Philippine society—addressing gender and labor inequality, cultural identity, migration, globalization, and diasporic dynamics. Established in 1972, the Order recognizes those who have significantly contributed to the arts in the Philippines. “People say I have just broken a glass ceiling. There should be more successful women artists after me,” said Endaya.
Creative Australia announces 2026 Fellowships
Creative Australia revealed 16 Fellowship recipients spanning visual art, literature, performance, music, and First Nations arts. Among them are Wiradjuri musician Zeppelin Hamilton, playwright Jane Harrison, visual artist Angela Valamanesh, vocalist and composer Katie Noonan, Samoan performance and experimental artist Brian Fuata, and poet Judith Bishop. Each receives AUD 80,000 for a period of up to two years. Executive director Alice Nash said the Fellowships “give artists the time and space to take creative risks, develop ambitious new work, build connections, and contribute to the strength and diversity of the arts across Australia.”
Yona Lee awarded PICA’s 2027 Judy Wheeler Commission
The Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) has selected Yona Lee for its 2027 Judy Wheeler Commission. The Korean-born, Auckland-based artist will create a site-specific installation of stainless-steel tubing and everyday objects that engages PICA’s first-floor architecture, winding through the space in an unbroken line. “I’ve been thinking about support structures and objects that quietly shape how we move through institutional spaces. . . . I wanted to work with that language and respond to the building’s history as both a former school and a contemporary art space,” said Lee. Established in 2022, the annual commission honors the late Judy Wheeler, a keen supporter of the arts in Australia.
Alicja Kwade’s Tai Kwun work restored after vandalism
On the morning of September 20, a section of Alicja Kwade’s Waiting Pavilions (2024) at Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun was found vandalized: a large boulder originally positioned on a Monobloc chair had been separated and lay on the ground nearby. Commissioned by Tai Kwun, the outdoor installation—Kwade’s first site-specific work in Hong Kong—has been on view since December 20, 2024, with a run scheduled through late 2026. Comprising glass brick structures and Monobloc chairs paired with boulders, it reflects on the Prison Yard’s history as a site of waiting and confinement. Local police classified the incident as criminal damage and opened an investigation. The work has since been restored and remains on view.
