Rising Voices: Inside the V&A’s Landmark Exhibition Of Asian, Australian & Pacific Art

This weekend, a new exhibition is set to open at South Kensington’s beloved Victoria & Albert Museum, drawing together more than 40 artists from a whopping 25 countries. The thread that connects them? They are all from the Asia Pacific region, home to 60 percent of the global population but woefully underrepresented in the art world.

We say woeful because this part of the world is rich in cultural and linguistic diversity, and this has produced an incredibly dynamic creative landscape. As such, Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific presents more than 70 works spanning sculpture, photography, painting, ceramics, weaving and body adornment – and many of them have never before been exhibited outside of the APAC region.

Meet The Curator: Rising Voices, V&A

Presented in partnership with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, here co-curator Daniel Slater, the V&A’s director of exhibitions, gives us the curator’s guide to Rising Voices.

Takahiro Iwasaki / Reflection Model (Perfect Bliss), 2010–12. (© Takahiro Iwasaki/V&A)

The Background

Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific brings together forty artists from 25 countries spanning the full breadth of the Asia Pacific. It is unprecedented for works like this to be exhibited in London – and together they create an unexpected and entirely new experience for visitors.

The exhibition spans painting, sculpture, textiles, photography, and many other object types which unfold into room after room of discovery.

The exhibition has been years in the making – in partnership with Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. The project kicked-off in earnest just weeks after Australia’s borders reopened to visitors in early 2022. This was the point at which we could make the first research trip to begin inspecting and selecting works for display (in QAGOMA’s collection stores, which is always a thrilling experience).

Aline Amaru / La Famille Pomare (tifaifai) (Pa’oti style), 1991. (© Aline Amaru Estate/V&A)

What’s On Display?

One of the most exciting aspects of the exhibition is the sheer range of works on display – and the broad geographic expanse they cover. Visitors will encounter monumental installations alongside intimate works on paper, moving-image works alongside handcrafted textiles, and artists working with traditional techniques in entirely novel ways.

The very first gallery of the exhibition alone will give visitors the opportunity to discover Pacific textiles, painted bark clothes from Papua New Guinea, and even shark headdresses – before the exhibition moves through painting, photography, jewellery and large-scale sculpture.

Installation view of Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific exhibition, V&A South Kensington, London, UK

The exhibition is designed less as a sequence of isolated objects and more as a conversation. Across very different geographies and practices, certain ideas recur: the relationship between land and identity, the persistence of memory, the impact of displacement, and the tension between tradition and transformation. It is an exhibition of many distinct artistic voices that are strengthened by their diversity when seen together.

Visitors will be surprised by how emotionally varied the exhibition is. There’s an assumption that exhibitions of global contemporary art are often purely political or didactic. Rising Voices is certainly at times political, but it is also playful, intimate and a celebration of artists and the regions in which they make.

Ah Xian / China China, 1998 (© Ah Xian/V&A)

The Highlights

The highlight is the exhibition itself – en masse. The fact that these artworks have never been seen in the UK coupled with the many artistic languages they share creates a sense of genuine discovery that will excite, awe and move visitors.

Exhibition view from Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art (photo by the Victoria & Albert Museum)

While You’re There…

Obviously see Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, which will run until November, and our newly opened display of contemporary Japanese lacquer. And of course – the V&A garden!

The Debrief

For adult drinks, go to Ognisko. For pasta, go to Lena. For standing outside, go to the Queens Arms.

See It

During the week! Weekends are always busier, and this is an exhibition that really rewards slow looking. It’s not one you’ll want to rush through.

Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific runs from 16 May 2026 – 10 January 2027. Tickets for the exhibition are £17pp and can be booked at vam.ac.uk