Weekly News Roundup: May 9, 2025

Construction Begins in Taichung on First Frank Gehry-Designed Museum in East Asia 

In Taichung, Taiwan’s second-largest city, construction of the CMU Museum of Fine Arts has now commenced. Set to open in 2028, the museum is the first major project in East Asia to be designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry. With its structural magnitude and undulating steel surface, the building aims to be a centerpiece in the Taiwanese cultural and architectural landscape. Gehry was personally invited by Chang-Hai Tsai—chairman of Taiwan’s China Medical University (CMU)—to produce the commission, which will be developed by New York-based architecture firm SOM. To be located on CMU’s Shui-Nan campus, the building will embody the dialogue between architecture, nature, and the cityscape. In an interview with The New York Times, Gehry noted: “The design is inspired by reflections of buildings, trees, and the sky on pools of water and mirrored steel.” Meanwhile, Tsai emphasized his hopes that the museum will be an extension of CMU’s influence beyond medicine and science into the arts.

Defne Ayas Named Director of Van Abbemuseum

On May 6, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, announced curator, lecturer, and editor Defne Ayas as its new director, effective this September. She will succeed Charles Esche, who led the museum for two decades. Ayas has years of leadership experience under her belt, having helmed the Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam from 2012–17 and currently serving as curator-at-large at the New York-based nonprofit Performa. She has also co-curated several major expositions—including the 13th Gwangju Biennale (2021), the 6th Moscow Biennale (2015), and the 11th Baltic Triennial (2012)—and curated the Turkish Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015). In a press release, Ayas described the appointment as a “true honor,” adding that “[t]aking on this legacy of iconoclastic approaches to museology . . . is no small feat.” In August 2023, Ayas was entangled in the Istanbul Biennial’s organizational mayhem, when the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts reversed her appointment as curator for the event’s 18th edition. While no official reason was given, many have linked it to Ayas’s acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide, which Turkey still denies to this day.

2025 Archibald Prize Winner Revealed

Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) has presented its 2025 Archibald Prize to Julie Fragar, making her the 13th woman recipient in the award’s 104-year history. The jury unanimously selected Fragar out of 57 finalists for her work Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene) (2025), a portrait of her fellow artist Justene Williams. This year’s shortlist also featured a majority of female artists for the first time. In a statement, Fragar explained that she chose to paint Williams “for three reasons: she’s a dear friend, as a great artist, and to capture her otherworldliness.” Both Fragar and Williams currently hold positions at the Queensland College of Art and Design in Brisbane, where they serve as heads of the painting and sculpture departments, respectively. As the winner, Fragar will receive AUD 100,000 (USD 64,000), and her work will be exhibited at the AGNSW from May 10 through August 17 before touring regional venues across New South Wales and Victoria until mid-2026.

Japanese Artist Debuts Fog Sculpture in Berlin Art Museum

On May 2, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin unveiled a new site-specific installation by Japanese experimental artist Fujiko Nakaya. Located in the museum’s sculpture garden, Cult of Mist (2025) periodically emits fog clouds from several sides of the lawn, which gradually dissipate—offering “ephemeral experiences that blur the lines between nature and artistic expression,” according to a press release. Visitors can stroll through the garden to fully immerse themselves in the nebulous installation, or observe the project from within the museum, through its 90-meter-long glass facade. Nakaya pioneered the use of fog as an artistic medium in 1970, when she created her first “fog sculpture” for the Expo World’s Fair in Osaka, using water to generate natural brume. While Nakaya was already known for her association with the New York-based collective Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), she garnered international acclaim through this conceptual and material innovation. Cult of Mist will be on view at the Neue Nationalgalerie until September 14.

Japan’s Setouchi Region Welcomes Permanent Installation by Korean Artist

Boo Ji-hyun—the only Korean artist participating in the “Spring session” of this year’s Setouchi Triennale in Japan—has installed her new mixed-media work, The Home (2025), as a permanent fixture at the Uno Port in Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture. The spaceship-inspired project was commissioned by the Triennale for its sixth edition—which runs through May 25 across 17 locations in Japan—and will stay there after the event. The Home’s metallic structure, comprising Boo’s signature material of discarded fishing lamps, pays tribute to her upbringing in Jeju Island. In an interview with Korea Joong Ang Daily, the artist commented on the permanent installation of her work: “I once visited Setouchi years ago and dreamed of exhibiting here. I tried to create a work that harmonized with the space, and I’m grateful it will now remain here permanently.”

Shirana Shahbazi Wins Major Swiss Art Prize

Zurich-based Iranian artist Shirana Shahbazi has won this year’s Société des Arts de Genève Prize, receiving CHF 50,000 (USD 60,130), a publication, and a solo exhibition at Geneva’s Crosnier Gallery of the Palais de l’Athénée this September. Shahbazi is known for her photography, paintings, and installations that explore themes of identity, memory, and cultural representation. Established in 2009, the biennial prize is awarded by the 249-year-old Société des Arts de Genève (Geneva Society of Arts) to “educate, promote, and encourage the development of the arts and innovation.” According to a press release, the jury selected Shahbazi for her “exceptional practice and unflagging capacity for reinvention” which “transcends national borders and displays remarkable conceptual depth with formal qualities that truly set it apart.”

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