2021 Asian Art Biennale will run from October 30th 2021 to March 6th 2022, at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts(NTMoFA). The international curatorial team are Nobuo Takamori (Taiwan), Ho Yu-Kuan (Taiwan), Tessa Maria Guazon (The Philippines), Anushka Rajendran (India), and Thanavi Chotpradit (Thailand). A total of 38 artists from 15 countries are participating to create a unique visual experience and discussion on future.

The theme of 2021 Asian Art Biennale is "Phantasmapolis", which is adopted from English sci-fi novel, Phantasmagoria. This coined word is composed of "phantasma" and "polis", meaning respectively "apparition or specter", and "city" in Greek. The viewers are invited to investigate the idea of "Asian Futurism", "the historical context of how sci-fi topics and materials have been utilized and represented in Asian modern and contemporary art, and to further ideate the multi possibility of future." Many artists, including two Korean artists, Kim Ayoung and duo Bang & Lee, reflect on the influence of COVID-19 pandemic on human life, through sci-fi perspectives.

“The top Asian cities serve as bridges between the world and the future and are themselves the epitome of the near-future world. [...] Through the works exhibited, we can say that Asian modernity is where utopia and dystopia overlap. [...] organically connects the past and the future, foreign countries and technology, illusion and reality, humbleness and glory.” Takamori said in his curatorial notes.

KIM Ayoung, At the Surisol Underwater Lab, 2020, single channel video, 17min 11sec. Courtesy of the artist (Commissioned by BusanBiennale2020). Image provided by AAB.

More information can be found in HERE