IBA Stage: Hawai’i Triennial 2025 – Wassan Al-Khudhairi

Hawai’i Triennial 2025 Curator Wassan Al-Khudhairi. Photo Orlando V. Thompson

IBA Stage: Hawai’i Triennial 2025
March 27, 2025 (Thursday)
7:00 pm (Hawai’i/GMT-10)

We are delighted to welcome Wassan Al-Khudhairi as one of the guests for the upcoming IBA Stage where we will reflect on the curatorial vision behind the Hawai‘i Triennial 2025. Al-Khudhairi, a curator and writer based in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, brings with her a globally informed yet deeply grounded perspective to her curatorial practice.

With a career spanning institutional roles in the United States, the Middle East, and Asia, Al-Khudhairi she has developed a recognized curatorial approach which will certainly emerge also in our conversation. Most recently, she served as the Ferring Foundation Chief Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, where her programming included exhibitions and commissions by artists such as Hajra Waheed, Martine Gutierrez, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, and Hayv Kahraman, among many others. During her tenure, she also co-produced the Radio Resistance podcast, a critical extension of the group exhibition Stories of Resistance, which amplified narratives of defiance and resilience through the work of over 20 artists.

Her curatorial approach is grounded in a commitment to cross-cultural dialogue, a perspective shaped by her leadership roles in major institutions worldwide. She was the co-curator of the 6th Asian Art Biennial in Taiwan (2017) and co-Artistic Director of the 9th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea (2012). At the Birmingham Museum of Art, as the Hugh Kaul Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, she spearheaded Third Space: Shifting Conversations About Contemporary Art, the museum’s first large-scale exhibition of its contemporary collection, which explored the complexities of cultural exchange and hybridity.

Notably, Al-Khudhairi was the Founding Director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar, overseeing its inauguration in 2010. There, she curated landmark exhibitions such as Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art and Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab, further cementing her reputation for shaping ambitious and socially engaged projects.

As she joins IBA Stage alongside her fellow curators of the Hawai‘i Triennial 2025, Al-Khudhairi will share insights into the evolving narrative of the Triennial and its relationship with the unique cultural and geopolitical context of Hawai‘i. We look forward the discussion to find out more about her approach and the overall vision for Hawai’i Contemporary 2025.

To have the possibility to hear and discuss with the individuals behind biennials has been a key component of what we believe IBA can offer to our members and the wider public and we value your participation through our live streams. As always IBA Stage events are meant as a moment to hear about a project through its makers and have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session at the end of the presentation.

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