Asia NOW 2025

Details

Asia NOW opens from Tuesday, October 21 ( by invitation only), to Sunday, October 26, 2025, at the Monnaie de Paris.

Under the evocative title "Grow", this year’s Curatorial theme invites audiences to witness how perceptions take root and transform our understanding of the world encouraging us to move beyond the boundaries that have long defined East and West, and to consider how geography, culture, and history nurture the ways we see ourselves and others. Asia NOW foregrounds multiple voices, embracing the richness that emerges when diverse perspectives take root together.

Asia Without Borders
Asia NOW affirms its ambition to transcend the borders—real or imagined—that have long divided East and West. Embracing a multi-centric approach, we celebrate the global Asias for their communal spirit and collective practices. We envision Asia not merely as a geography, but as a methodology and a movement. They continue to challenge and reshuffle some of the traditional art fair rules in order to make Asia NOW an ever more vibrant and celebratory platform.

Curatorial Theme
GROW
In today’s global landscape, where the boundaries of regions and identities are increasingly fluid, Asia NOW offers fertile ground for dialogue, discovery, and connection. It brings together artists whose work reflects the dynamic realities of Asia and the Global Majority.

The public program resonates with Leela Gandhi’s research on “affective communities,” uncovering the subtle collaborations and shared stories that spark new forms of connection and understanding to emerge. Friendships, small acts of solidarity, shared emotions, and alliances that cross cultural, social, and personal boundaries will become fertile ground for ethical engagement. By embracing diverse perspectives and exploring the interplay between tradition and innovation, Asia NOW is inviting viewers to reflect on how these affective communities can become seeds of growth.

Gallery Sections
For its 11th edition, Asia NOW will welcome 70 galleries, including Esther Schipper, Sabrina Amrani, NIKA Project Space, carlier | gebauer, Kaikai Kiki, O Art Space and more.
Asia NOW also welcome new participants including GALLERY 2, Arario Gallery, Baik Art, KLEMM’S, Capsule Regeneration Art Gallery, and Stems Gallery.

FOCUS ON SOUTH ASIA PUBLIC PROGRAM
Of Mountains and Seas presented by THE LAHORE BIENNALE FOUNDATION (Pakistan)
Curated by John Tain
The project brings together artists from Pakistan and beyond to highlight the leading role the country—alongside others across the continent, most vulnerable to the climate crisis—can play in helping societies adapt through the wealth of local and indigenous knowledge.
On view in the Monnaie de Paris are works by Hamra Abbas, Feroza Hakim, Mella Jaarsma, Imran Qureshi, Fazal Rizvi, and a performance by Abuzar Madhu, which present a vision of ecological awareness from Asian perspectives.
Powered by the French Embassy of Pakistan, with the support of PIA

Reenactments of Lost Rhythms presented by COLOMBOSCOPE
Curated by Natasha Ginwala and Hajra Haider Karrar
Reenactments of Lost Rhythms is a constellation of activations that hold narratives of being and becoming. Anchoring traditions and infrastructures while attending to ruptures, the series unfolds through dialogue, performance, screening, and a sonic-visual interlude that draws upon embodied knowledge to articulate new languages of resistance and alliance building.
The program presented by Colomboscope features a presentation and conversation with Hajra Haider Karrar and Basir Mahmood, a performance by Chathuri Nissansala, a screening by Subas Tamang, and a sonic interlude by Rahema Zaheer.

KOCHI-MUZIRIS BIENNALE
In partnership with the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Shwetal Patel and Nikhil Chopra join a session moderated by Patel to discuss the upcoming edition, “For the Time Being,” and its layered reflections on temporality and place.
A video program curated by Shwetal Patel.