Weekly News Roundup: November 17, 2025

Exterior view of the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art. Photo by Ye Jianyuan. Courtesy Bjarke Ingels Group.

Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art Unveils Design Ahead of 2026 Opening

The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in collaboration with Arts Group and Front Inc, is nearing completion and will officially open in 2026. Located along Jinji Lake in Suzhou, the 60,000-square-meter museum features 12 interconnected pavilions under a ribbon-like, undulating roof—a modern interpretation of the region’s vernacular architecture and classical gardens. The design is characterized by curved glass and subtly toned steel, designed to reflect the surrounding sky, lake, and landscaping, featuring meandering paths and open, light-filled spaces. Ahead of the institution’s official launch, the museum will premier with the exhibition “Materialism,” curated by BIG, which explores architectural forms and materials.

Portrait of DYLAN SEH-JIN KIM. Photo by Sidian Liu. Courtesy Protocinema, Istanbul and New York.

Protocinema Names Dylan Seh-Jin Kim as 2025-26 Emerging Curator

Protocinema has announced Dylan Seh-Jin Kim as their 2025-26 Emerging Curator, with an exhibition in New York scheduled for early 2026. Based in Istanbul and New York, Protocinema launched its Emerging Curator Series in 2015 as a mentorship program that provides hands-on curatorial experience, career guidance, interaction with curators in the field, and opportunities to contribute to Protozine, the nonprofit’s publication series. Kim, a Brooklyn-based independent curator, has previously organized and contributed to exhibitions and programs at MoMA PS1, Protocinema, and Unclebrother, among others.

Portrait of YOSHIKO MORI (left), chairperson emerita of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, receiving her badge of OBE from **JULIA LONGBOTTOM** (right), British ambassador to Japan, at the British Embassy, Tokyo. Photo by Tayama Tatsuyuki. Courtesy the Mori Art Museum.

Mori Art Museum’s Yoshiko Mori Awarded Honorary OBE by King Charles III

Yoshiko Mori, chairperson emerita of the Mori Art Museum and a board director of Mori Building Company, was awarded an Honorary OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by King Charles III in recognition of her contributions to UK-Japan cultural exchange and education. The honor was presented by ambassador Julia Longbottom at the British Embassy in Tokyo on November 6. The OBE, established in 1917 by King George V, recognizes significant service in the fields of arts, culture, science, and welfare.

*Busra[sic] creek* (left) and *Fishing* (right), historic photographs from the late 19th to early 20th century, at “Photographic Encounters along the Gulf Coasts,” at Photography Gallery, Sharjah. Collection of Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. Courtesy Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah.

Sharjah Art Foundation Inaugurates New Photography Gallery

Sharjah Art Foundation inaugurated its new Photography Gallery in Al Manakh, Sharjah, on November 8 with two exhibitions. The gallery, housed in a restored former telecommunications building, debuted with “Image Keepers,” featuring over 50 works by 17 artists and collectives from the Foundation’s collection that trace six decades of experimentation with the photographic medium. Alongside this, “Photographic Encounters along the Gulf Coasts,” a permanent exhibition, presents 165 historic photographs and archival documents from the collection of Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, illuminating the history of the Arabian Gulf region through late 19th and early 20th century glass slides. Both exhibitions are free and open to the public.

US Border Patrol agents in front of **ANISH KAPOOR**’s *Cloud Gate,* 2004, stainless steel, 10 x 20 x 12.8 m, at the Millennium Park, Chicago. Image via X.

Anish Kapoor Considers Suing Border Agents

Anish Kapoor, the Mumbai-born British artist behind Chicago’s iconic 2004 sculpture Cloud Gate, is considering legal action after US Border Patrol agents posed for a group photo in front of the work to celebrate recent immigration raids. Kapoor condemned the photo as emblematic of a “fascist America” and criticized the federal agents’ violent enforcement tactics in the city, which include break-ins, abduction of street vendors, and usage of teargas in populated areas. Kapoor previously sued the National Rifle Association of America in 2018 for copyright infringement involving the same sculpture. Commenting on the present circumstances, Kapoor noted that pursuing legal action against federal agents would be “a bit more complicated” but stated that he intends to do all he can.

**DANIEL SZEHIN HO** (left), executive director of *CONG*; and **TOBIAS BERGER** (right), curatorial director of Serakai Studio, Hong Kong. Courtesy Serakai Studio.

Serakai Studio Announces Its First Salon Space

Serakai Studio, the cultural think tank and R&D hub for Hong Kong-based property investment venture, will open its first salon space, GOLD, in March 2026 in Wong Chuk Hang. Tobias Berger, curatorial director of Serekai Studio, will lead GOLD’s programming, transforming a former bank and jewellery shop into a multidisciplinary hub for art, fashion, music, design, and technology. The space will build on the discussions initiated by CONG, Serakai Studio’s annual journal that explores cultural and urban ideas, to reimagine the historical salon as a space where people and new ideas converge. GOLD’s inaugural exhibition, “Certainly,” will explore creativity’s unpredictability through works by artists from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the US, Macau, Mexico, and New Zealand.