QAGOMA and V&A launch ‘Rising Voices’ exhibition in London
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) will present Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific, a major international exhibition showcasing contemporary works from across the region.
Opening May 16, 2026, at the V&A in South Kensington, London, the exhibition features more than 70 artworks by 40 artists drawn from the QAGOMA Collection. The exhibition highlights contemporary artistic movements and cultural perspectives from Asia, Australia and the Pacific, with a strong focus on First Nations voices, ancestral knowledge and community-driven practices.
Developed over several years in collaboration between QAGOMA and the V&A, Rising Voices builds on the legacy of QAGOMA’s Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, which has shaped the institution’s collection since 1993.
The exhibition includes works by influential artists such as Brenda Fajardo, Heri Dono, Judy Watson and Montien Boonma, whose celebrated installation Lotus sound will travel internationally for the first time. Other featured artists include Ah Xian, Michael Cook, Naomi Hobson, Ken Thaiday Sr, Sofia Tekela-Smith and Lola Greeno.
Curators said the exhibition explores how artists across the region engage with identity, cultural continuity, colonial histories and contemporary social realities through a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, textiles, weaving, jewelry and installation art.
The exhibition also reflects extensive behind-the-scenes planning involving conservation, cultural consultation and international logistics. QAGOMA teams worked to ensure artworks containing organic materials such as feathers, shells and native grasses complied with international trade regulations while preserving artists’ intentions and cultural protocols.
As part of the gallery’s sustainability goals, many works will travel by temperature-controlled sea freight using reusable museum-standard crates designed to reduce environmental impact.
QAGOMA Curatorial Manager Tarun Nagesh said the exhibition represents “the rising of a multitude of voices” connected across time, culture and geography.
Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific will run at the Victoria and Albert Museum from May 16, 2026, through Jan. 10, 2027.
