Cecilia Alemani, Curator of New York’s High Line, to Lead Taipei Biennial

The Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) has appointed Cecilia Alemani as curator of the 15th Taipei Biennial, set to open in 2027.

Best known internationally as the artistic director of the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, Alemani rose to international prominence with a curatorial practice that extends beyond traditional museum spaces. 

Since 2011 she has served as director and chief curator of High Line Art, the public art programme at New York’s High Line park, where she has commissioned ambitious public projects by artists including Carol Bove, Rashid Johnson and Adrián Villar Rojas. Her work has long explored how contemporary art can inhabit the public realm, fostering dialogue between artists, urban environments and diverse audiences.

“In our current global climate, platforms like the Taipei Biennial carry an even greater urgency,” Alemani said in a statement. “They are vital spaces for creative expression and cultural resilience, reminding us of the power of art to foster dialogue at a critical historical crossroads.”

Alemani’s commitment to openness and fluidity was evident in The Milk of Dreams, her widely acclaimed Venice Biennale exhibition.

Inspired by Leonora Carrington’s writings, the exhibition foregrounded transformation, hybridity and the instability of identity, while amplifying the voices of women artists and historically marginalised figures. The project cemented Alemani’s reputation as a curator interested in art’s capacity to imagine alternative ways of being.

A statement from TFAM highlighted the curator’s “remarkable ability to connect historical inquiry with contemporary urgencies while remaining deeply attentive to artists and audiences alike”.

Taipei Biennial will be Alemani’s first project in Asia. However, her curatorial practice has often used local contexts as starting points for broader international conversations. 

In 2018 she led Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires and in 2025 she served as curator of the 12th SITE Santa Fe International. In both roles she developed exhibitions rooted in the histories, communities and landscapes of specific places rather than the established circuits of global art capitals.

Founded in 1998 and hosted by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei Biennial is one of Asia’s longest running biennials. The last edition, titled Whispers on the Horizon, was curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof. Details of the 2027 edition are yet to be announced.