Ho Tzu Nyen appointed Artistic Director of 16th edition

Singaporean visual artist and curator Ho Tzu Nyen has been appointed Artistic Director of the 16th Gwangju Biennale, set to open in September 2026.

The Gwangju Biennale Foundation (Acting President Lee Sang-Gap, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Economic Affairs of Gwangju Metropolitan City) announced on April 23rd the appointment of Ho Tzu Nyen, acclaimed for his incisive exploration of Asian modernity, as Artistic Director of the 16th Gwangju Biennale.

In line with its mission to shape contemporary art discourse, the Gwangju Biennale Foundation sought a curator who could bring a distinctive and resonant vision to its next edition. Among the shortlisted candidates, Ho Tzu Nyen was recognized for his proposal centered on the transformative power of art. His curatorial approach, designed to ignite a much-needed driving force in a time of global uncertainty, is expected to chart a new direction for the Gwangju Biennale.

Ho Tzu Nyen is a media artist and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary work spans diverse forms and contexts. He has previously collaborated with the Gwangju Biennale, participating in the 12th edition, Imagined Borders (2018), and contributing a commissioned work to the 13th edition, Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning (2021). He has held solo exhibitions at a number of prominent institutions, including Mudam—The Contemporary Art Museum of Luexembourg (2025), Art Sonje Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (all in 2024), the Singapore Art Museum (2023). He has also participated in major international exhibitions such as the Singapore Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), the 10th Shanghai Biennale (2014), Aichi Triennale (2019), and Sharjah Biennial 14 (2019). His films have been screened at some of the world’s leading festivals, including the Venice International Film Festival (2009), the Cannes Film Festival (2009), and the Berlin International Film Festival (2015).

As a curator, Ho Tzu Nyen co-curated the 7th Asian Art Biennale, The Strangers from Beyond the Mountain and the Sea (2019), hosted by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. The project explored Asia through a geographic framework closely aligned with recurring themes in Ho’s practice. By illuminating marginal regions and permeable boundaries, the exhibition articulated a vision of continual transformation and emergence, and was met with critical acclaim.

With Ho Tzu Nyen at the helm as Artistic Director, the 16th Gwangju Biennale aims to foreground collective artistic practices and solidarities that respond to the intersecting crises of our time—from climate change and unpredictable pandemics to democratic backsliding—while moving beyond the sense of individual paralysis these conditions so often provoke.

“Just as much as the Gwangju Biennale holds global significance, its local context has long been a meaningful point of engagement for participating artists,” said Lee Sang-Gap, Acting President of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation. He added, “Under the direction of Ho Tzu Nyen, who is deeply attuned to the cultural diversity of Asia, this edition will offer a renewed perspective on the Biennale, both globally and within its regional context.”

“It’s a dream come true to return to Gwangju, not as an artist but as Artistic Director, and to embark on such a unique journey in this remarkable city,” said Ho Tzu Nyen in response to his appointment to lead the 16th Gwangju Biennale. He added, “This edition will bring together the energies, propositions, practices, and ideas that have inspired and propelled me over the past two decades. It will be an opportunity to explore how the practice of artistic transformation resonates with Gwangju’s legacy of democratic change. Rather than delivering a single message, this Biennale will seek to generate propositions for change that are shared and shaped by all of us.” 

Press contact: Gwangju Biennale, pressletter@gwangjubiennale.org