Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific brings to the V&A in London a broad and articulated selection of contemporary artistic practices from one of the most complex and dynamic regions of the global landscape. Developed in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, the exhibition draws on more than thirty years of research, acquisitions and relationships built through the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, one of the key international platforms observing the region’s artistic scenes. The exhibition brings together works by artists from East and Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific, with particular attention to the voices of First Nations and Indigenous communities. Painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video and practices rooted in traditional materials coexist within a path that avoids a homogeneous reading, instead highlighting differences, fractures and cultural specificities. Many of the works address themes related to memory, colonialism, relationships with land, the transmission of knowledge, and ongoing social and environmental transformations. Rising Voices focuses on the present rather than historical reconstruction, showing how artists from very different contexts use contemporary languages to rework traditions, identities and unresolved conflicts. In this sense, the exhibition aligns with the V&A’s broader effort to rethink its approach to the contemporary, expanding beyond a Euro-American axis and recognising the central role of the Asia Pacific region in the global artistic debate. The result is a plural and unresolved panorama that conveys the complexity and energy of a scene in constant transformation.
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