A warm ocean breeze will reach wintry London in early 2026, when the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) hosts an exhibition of highlights from the 30-year history of the Brisbane Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT).
The exhibition, which has not yet been named, is produced by the V&A in partnership with the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). The triennial takes over QAGOMA every three years and is Brisbane’s flagship arts festival, attracting artists from across the region. Curators in London and Brisbane will have many works to choose from – QAGOMA has acquired 1,300 pieces from the triennale since its inception in 1993.
QAGOMA director Chris Saines was in London this week for the museums joint announcement of the show. “For three decades, the APT has been the cornerstone of our gallery program, bringing together the work of more than 650 artists and groups from 50 countries in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said in a statement.
Through its triennial acquisitions, QAGOMA has built “an extraordinary and unparalleled collection of contemporary art from Asia and the Pacific that represents the unique creative voices of world-renowned contemporary artists as well as collaborations with local communities and art creators,” adds Saines.
Building on these collections, the V&A exhibition will feature “work ranging from large-scale sculptural installations to miniature paintings to works on barkcloth and intricate body adornment,” according to the press release. Some of the artists featured are expected to travel to London for the opening in 2026.
The V&A collaboration is only the second time that works from the triennial have toured internationally, following a 2019 exhibition in Santiago, Chile.
Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, says: “The APT presents a truly global and cross-cultural offering of contemporary practice across all disciplines and regions, and we look forward to sharing it with our international audience in London.
Over the years, the triennial has included works of art ranging from major metropolises in Asia to isolated atolls in the Pacific and remote indigenous communities in Australia. It has attracted over four million visitors to date. The most recent edition, APT10was held at QAGOMA from December 2021 to April 2022.
