Low Kee Hong to Lead Sydney Biennale as Singapore-Linked Curators Take International Stage

Low Kee Hong has been appointed artistic director of the 26th Biennale of Sydney, which will open on 11 March 2028.

Low is currently creative director of Factory International in Manchester, where he oversees the organisation’s curatorial team and helps to lead the Manchester International Festival. For Sydney, the Singaporean curator plans to expand the biennial across music, architecture, performance, literature, food and fashion, while retaining contemporary art exhibitions at its centre.

“My hope is to create an edition that feels generous, proposing new ways of assembly and rebuilding communities,” Low said in the announcement.

He succeeds Hoor Al Qasimi, whose recently closed 2026 edition, Rememory, faced political pressure and accusations of antisemitism, and lost a major sponsor over controversy following remarks made by DJ Haram during its opening programme.

Low told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that boycotts, cancellations and funding withdrawals had become “part and parcel” of working in cultural institutions, emphasising the necessity to protect spaces for nuanced conversation.

Low was founding director of the Singapore Biennale, helping to launch its inaugural edition in 2006. Established by the National Arts Council, the biennale formed part of a wider state-backed effort to position Singapore as a global hub for contemporary art.

His appointment comes four days after Sri Lankan-born, Singapore-based curator Shabbir Hussain Mustafa was selected to direct the 2028 Aichi Trienniale in Japan. Currently chief curator of Singapore Art Museum, Mustafa has previously worked at the National University of Singapore Museum and National Gallery Singapore. Mustafa will become Aichi’s second successive artistic director from outside Japan, also following Al Qasimi, who became the first international curator to lead the trienniale in 2025.

The appointments place two figures whose careers were substantially shaped by Singapore’s art institutions at the helm of major biennials in Japan and Australia. Meanwhile, Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen is directing the 16th Gwangju Biennale opening this September—giving Singapore-connected cultural figures notably prominent roles across the Asia Pacific region.