Qatar to Host New Quadrennial in 2026

A new contemporary art quadrennial, Rubaiya Qatar, is set to launch in Qatar in November 2026. The event will be centered in Doha at the Al Riwaq pavilion, adjacent to the Museum of Islamic Art, with satellite events planned across the country. The inaugural edition, titled “Unruly Water,” will be curated by Tom Eccles, executive director of the Centre for Curatorial Studies and the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College—in collaboration with Ruba Katrib, chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at MoMA PS1; Mark Rappolt, editor-in-chief of ArtReview & ArtReview Asia; and Shabbir Husain Mustafa, chief curator at Singapore Art Museum. The new quadrennial joins a number of large-scale shows in the region, including the well-established Sharjah Biennial, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale and Islamic Arts Biennale—both relative newcomers, established in 2021 and 2023 respectively. 2026 is poised to be a landmark year for Qatar’s art scene, with Rubaiya Qatar following Art Basel’s inaugural Qatar fair in February.

Kelly Akashi to Create Public Artwork at New York’s JFK International Airport

Japanese American artist Kelly Akashi is one of seven individuals commissioned to create a major public artwork at the John F. Kennedy International Airport’s forthcoming New Terminal One (NTO). The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the artist selection on October 27, along with the theme, “We Travel Under One Sky,” which aims to celebrate the city’s diversity, culture, and history of migration. Akashi, who is based in Los Angeles, will present an almost five-and-a-half-meter sculpture titled Migration of Flora, featuring native flowers blooming from a bronze hand. Spanning site-specific sculptures, mosaics, and murals, the commissions will be installed throughout NTO alongside the terminal’s branding, creative filmmaking, and digital designs. The NTO, which is part of the airport’s USD 19 billion expansion project, will open in phases starting in 2026 and is scheduled for completion in 2030.

Hanwha Foundation of Culture to Debut Art Space in New York

The Hanwha Foundation of Culture is set to launch a new nonprofit art venue in New York, dubbed Space ZeroOne, on November 7. Located in the Tribeca neighborhood, the space will serve as a platform for emerging Korean artists, aiming to become a hub for cross-cultural exchange. The inaugural exhibition, “Contours of Zero: Emerging Korean Artists in New York,” will showcase around 20 works by eight artists who probe themes of technology, materiality, and identity in their practice—Beak Jungki, Khia Hong, Kim Jihee, Kai Oh, Park Junghae, Jeenho Seo, Minjung Song, and Jiyoung Yoo. Drawing on the venue’s name, the exhibition will consider the term “zero” not as a representation of absence, but as a starting point rife with potential for new beginnings. In a statement, Lee Sungsoo, chairman of the foundation, remarked, “Space ZeroOne will serve as a meaningful milestone in establishing [our] presence in New York’s contemporary art scene.” The exhibition will run through December 20.

Dubai’s Ishara Art Foundation to Launch New Project in India

Dubai-based nonprofit Ishara Art Foundation will unveil a new project in Kochi later this year, titled Ishara House, that will run from December 13 to March 31, 2026. Designed by artists and scholars of the Aazhi Archives and located at the Kashi Hallegua House in the southwestern Indian city’s Jew Town, the initiative will present a curated exhibition alongside public programs and other events, with Riyas Komu serving as artistic director. Ishara House will open with “Amphibian Aesthetics,” a show exploring our relationship to the natural world through the lens of multispecies ecologies. Featuring new commissions by artists from South Asia, the Middle East, and beyond—such as Shilpa Gupta, CAAS Collective, Rami Farook, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, among others—the show aims to encourage cross-cultural dialogue, in line with the foundation’s mission.

New Art Fairs Set to Open in Taipei and Hong Kong

Pavilion, a new art fair founded by Willem Molesworth and Ysabelle Cheung of Hong Kong gallery PHD Group, is set to launch its first edition from January 22–26, 2026, at the Grand Courtyard in Taipei. A Hong Kong edition of the fair will take place from March 23–28, coinciding with Art Basel Hong Kong, although a venue has yet to be secured. The Taipei leg will feature approximately 15 galleries and adopt a booth-free format, departing from the model of a typical art fair. Participation costs will be lower compared to major fairs to encourage galleries to showcase more experimental works. “We are never going to try and be one of those giant art fairs. We present an alternative experience,” Molesworth stated in an interview with ArtNet. Amelie Kuo, co-founder of the patron group Looom Club, and Michelle Hsieh, VIP consultant at Frieze, will assist in organizing the event on the ground in Taipei, while architect Yu-Chih Hsiao will oversee the exhibition design. This new venture follows Supper Club in Hong Kong, a fair with a similarly booth-free model co-founded in 2024 by Molesworth, Cheung, and Alex Chan of Shophouse, which concluded after two editions.