STIR kept a close eye on the innovative and field-shaping art produced and exhibited across Asia in 2024. From covering unique and intricate practices to exploring some of the most compelling biennales in the region, we strove to bring you the very best art from across the continent. Read on for a list of our favourite stories.

1. Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art presents Takashi Murakami’s vibrant world

Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art in Kyoto City, Japan, celebrated its 90th anniversary this year with Takashi Murakami Mononoke Kyoto, a large solo show focusing on the acclaimed Japanese artist. Mononoke ran from February 3 – September 1, 2024, and presented 170 artworks.

The exhibition in Kyoto showcased Murakami’s vibrant ‘Superflat’ style, which treats historical Japanese art as well as contemporary art from the nation as existing side-by-side on a flat plane where they intermingle freely.

Takashi Murakami and Superflat have been instrumental in bringing greater attention to Japanese art in the United States and have prompted Japanese artists to blend fine art and pop art.

2. Exploring the stunning silk-based works of Liang Shaoji

In early July, STIR covered the fascinating practice of Chinese artist Liang Shaoji, whose work centres around a unique materiality. Shaoji rears and uses living silkworms to create intricate installation art on a massive scale.

Shaoji has garnered great acclaim in the Chinese art scene as well as internationally for the rigorous and mesmerising nature of his art. The artist must maintain perpetual control over the environmental conditions in which he rears silkworms, particularly concerning temperature and humidity. To add to the difficulty of his practice, he also alters these conditions to keep with the stages of the silkworm life cycle, which include incubation, the growing phase, up to five instances of moulting and finally, the worms’ cocoon spinning stage.

3. In ‘Bridge to Lanka’, experimental photographs reimagine a turbulent island

From July 11 – August 24, 2024, Jhaveri Contemporary in Mumbai showed Bridge to Lanka, a group show featuring photography by Sri Lankan photographer Lionel Wendt (1900 – 1944) and British-Sri Lankan and French-Sri Lankan photographers Cassie Machado and Vasantha Yoganathan.

The exhibition suggested an intergenerational dialogue among the photographic works of Wendt and his contemporary counterparts, contextualised by love, longing, the history of Sri Lanka and the mythologies of South Asia.

4. Debashish Paul presents narratives of queer repression and resurgent hope at Emami Art

Indian artist Debashish Paul presented his debut solo exhibition at Emami Art, Kolkata, in 2024. The show, titled Thousand Years of Dreaming, ran from September 6 – October 26, 2024, and centred around the artist’s title film, Hazaro Saalon ka Sapna (2024).

Paul’s film is a fantastical and deeply moving depiction of queer love and desire in India and features the artist and his lover in an imaginary wedding on the banks of the Ganges. The two are garbed in costumes designed by Paul, which were also featured at the show. These are vibrant latex ensembles that go over the body like a second skin and are intricately studded with all manner of temple ephemera.

5. Studio Ghibli comes to the ArtScience Museum in Singapore

The landmark travelling exhibition The World of Studio Ghibli arrived at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, in 2024. The show opened in the island nation on October 4, 2024, and will run through February 2, 2025.

The World of Studio Ghibli presents a monumental offering of set pieces, interactive art and more from the acclaimed Japanese animation studio that has won hearts around the world for its lush, hand-drawn animation and affable characters.

6. Pirate Utopias and Pansori: The 12th Busan and 15th Gwangju Biennales

The Busan Biennale ran from August 17 – October 20, 2024, while the Gwangju Biennale (Asia’s oldest contemporary art biennale) was held from September 7 – December 1, 2024.

The Busan Biennale 2024’s theme was Seeing in the Dark and positioned itself between notions of Pirate Utopias and Buddhist enlightenment. ‘Pirate Utopias’ was coined by the late writer Peter Lamborn Wilson and used by contemporary anthropologist David Graeber to refer to self-governed anarchic societies. The exhibition saw Pirate Utopias and Buddhism as two paths forward to engaging with the prevalent sociopolitical issues of our times.

Meanwhile, the Gwangju Biennale 2024 maintained a close focus on sound art, encapsulated by its theme, PANSORI - A Soundscape of the 21st Century. ‘Pansori’ is a form of traditional Korean musical storytelling that originated in the 17th century and continues to be popular today. The art exhibited in the biennale used sound as a central metaphor to explore the space shared by “humans, machines, animals, spirits and organic life”.

7. The Bangkok Art Biennale embraces Mother Nature

The Bangkok Art Biennale is running from October 24, 2024 – February 25, 2025. Its theme is Nurture Gaia, and the exhibition seeks to address the ongoing climate emergency through a feminist lens, taking inspiration from feminine mythological characters from all over the world.

Now in its fourth edition, the art biennale continues the legacy of Womanifesto, which is a biannual art movement launched in Thailand in 1995 to rethink feminist narratives in art history.

This was our best of 2024 roundup from STIR’s coverage of compelling artistic practices and projects in Asia.

STIRred 2024 wraps up the year with curated compilations of our expansive art, architecture and design coverage at STIR this year. Did your favourites make the list? Tell us in the comments!