ArtReview
Today brings tentative optimism that the artworld’s enforced lockdown might be coming to some sort of end, after announcements on curators and themes by various international biennials. While barely a handful of major exhibitions were able to go ahead in 2020 (many either postponed or going online), the organisers of the Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art and a new project in Saudi Arabia, the Ad-Diriyah Biennale, are confident enough to announce curators and themes. Last week the Istanbul Biennial also announced its team for an event scheduled for late 2021.
Ad-Diriyah, an eighteenth-century town on the outskirts of Riyadh known for its traditional mud-brick architecture, and which is being redeveloped as a heritage site (it was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010) will host Saudi Arabia’s first biennial. The kingdom’s newly formed Ministry of Culture has asked Philip Tinari, the director of Beijing’s UCCA Center for Contemporary Art to lead. Fro
by The Editors
Exterior view of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Courtesy the Hong Kong Museum of Art.
Amid new surges in Covid-19 spikes worldwide, there are new openings and closures of art institutions in various regions. Here’s a roundup of updates, and a look at several announcements made in recent weeks.
Seoul and Hong Kong Museums Close due to Covid-19
On December 2, Hong Kong art institutions were shuttered once again following government mandated restrictions responding to a fourth wave of Covid-19 in the city, in effect until at least December 15. With daily numbers for new cases still high, the closure will likely be extended. Affected spaces include, among others, Tai Kwun Center for Heritage and Arts (including Tai Kwun Contemporary), the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT), the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the nonprofit Para Site. Just days later on December 8, museums in Seoul were similarly closed due to a spike in Covid-19 cases. Spaces such as the Nationa