Public Program
A curated program of Art & Installations, Performances, Screening program, Craft exhibition, Prizes and Conversations unfolding across La Monnaie de Paris throughout the days of the fair.
West & South Asia
Unfolding across La Monnaie de Paris during the fair, Asia NOW’s curated program of installations, performances, screenings, and conversations brings West Asia and South Asia to the forefront, featuring major contributions from international institutions, foundations, art centers, and gallery-supported artists.
Among them: Anissa Touati, Researcher at Brown University, USA, Curator of the Biennale BCK in Greece; Arnaud Morand, Independent Curator; Head of Arts Afalula; John Tain, curator of the Lahore Biennale 2024; Natasha Ginwala, Artistic Director of Colomboscope, Curator of Sharjah Biennial 16: to carry and Hajra Haider Karrar, Guest Curator of Colomboscope Festival 2026.
Focus on West Asia
Under the Aegis of the Moon is a commissioned project by Chinese artist Han Mengyun and curated by Arnaud Morand, proposed by the French Agency for AlUla Development (AFALULA) — a performative installation that weaves together poetry and video to evoke the quiet majesty of the moon.
Structured around a sequence of poems that unfold in tandem with the lunar rise, the work pays homage to the night as a space of reflection, intuition, and revelation. It foregrounds the sincerity of poetic expression as something that demands presence, vulnerability, and aliveness. This poetic proposition is deeply rooted in the artist’s experience during a research residency in AlUla, where landscape, silence, and time coalesced as sources of creative clarity.
© Han Mengyun 2025
AFALULA (Saudi Arabia)
The Saudi Visual Arts Commission will present Ghosts of Today and Tomorrow by Ahaad Alamoudi.
© Ahaad Alamoudi, VAC
The Saudi Visual Arts Commission (Saudi Arabia)
Mohammed Al Faraj will transform the entrance of the Monnaie enveloping each column in prints of palm trees echoing the landscape of his native Al Hasa.
© Mohammed Al Faraj
Mohammed Al Faraj (Saudi Arabia)
Pascal Hachem (Lebanon) presents Threaded Whole, a performance centered on the idea of “growing memory,” revisiting the notion of community and exploring how memory is shaped through absence, rupture, and everyday objects.
© Pascal Hachem
Threaded Whole - Pascal Hachem (Lebanon, UAE)
Focus on South Asia
Curated by John Tain (curator of the Lahore Biennial in 2024) brings together intergenerational Pakistani voices.
Artists on view:
Hamra Abbas, Feroza Hakeem, Imran Qureshi, Fazal Rizvi, Mella Jaarsma
© Fazal Rizvi, How to Become a Rock – a fall, a poem, a wish, a score, a manifesto, 2024
The Lahore Biennale Foundation (Pakistan)
Reenactments of Lost Rhythms
Deeply resonant with thematic directions that shape the ninth edition of Colomboscope, this program brings together artistic positions that have previously been hosted and nurtured by its framework, alongside new ones that will be anchored in the upcoming edition.
© Basir Mahmood
Colomboscope (Sri Lanka)
Art & Farming
Coin of the Earth, Weave of Memory.
Desire Moheb-Zandi & Marion Flament
Curated by 91530 Le Marais
Powered by Soilonic
Presentation of Desire Moheb-Zandi’s new textile-based project, developed during a summer residency in Turkey. The work draws on Kilim weaving techniques and natural pigments, blending regenerative agriculture with ancestral Anatolian crafts from her native land. Curated by Victoire de Pourtalès.
91.530 Le Marais (France)
Since its inception, Asia NOW has championed craft as a vital thread between tradition and contemporary expression. This year spotlights three artists who have been finalists in different editions of the LOEWE Craft Prize.
Artists selected:
Racso Jugarap (Philippines) – Textile works exploring mythology, diaspora, and queer identity.
Sumakshi Singh (India) – Embroidered installations tracing memory and spiritual space.
Wan Bing Huang (China) – Surreal landscapes across drawing, animation, and installation.
© Sumakshi Singh, “Pichls Darwaza”, 2023
Contemporary Craft
Introducing the RAK ART FOUNDATION Prize
Awarded to two artists participating in Asia NOW 2025, this prize offers a one-month residency at The Art Station in Bahrain awarded by the RAK Art Foundation of Bahrain.
Selected artists will collaborate with local artisans to develop new work aligned with the Foundation’s values of heritage, continuity, and craft. The residency includes travel, accommodation, and a production fee, with an exhibition at the Foundation to follow.
The 2025 jury includes patron Benedicta Badia (France); Emre Baykal, Director of Arter Foundation (Turkey); Sara Raza, Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Tashkent (Uzbekistan/USA); Salma Tuqan, Director of Nottingham Contemporary (UK/Palestine); and curator Anissa Touati (France/Morocco), affiliated with Brown and Harvard.
Residency: between December 2025 and December 2026
Jury deliberation & winner announcement: October 23–24, 2025
Award Ceremony: Friday, October 24
© Sumakshi Singh, “Pichls Darwaza”, 2023
RAK Art Foundation Prize
The ceremony will take place during Asia NOW at the Monnaie de Paris for the second year in a row.
Awarded by the SHŌEN Fund, the Matsutani Prize grants €15,000 to an artist based in France, with 5 to 25 years of career, selected by a jury of artists, curators, and collectors.
For this 2025 édition, Liyu Yeo — curator and Asia NOW VIP Ambassador — will serve as guest rapporteur.
Jury:
Takesada Matsutani – Artist, Kate Van Houten – Artist, Nathanaëlle Herbelin – 2019 laureate, Jean- Philippe Bourgeno – Collector, Publisher, Tom Laurent – Art Critic
Finalists artists:
Liang Fu (Nicodim gallery), Daiga Grantina (Emalin gallery), Séquoia Scavullo (sans titre gallery), Natsuko Uchino (Galerie Allen)
© Sumakshi Singh, “Pichls Darwaza”, 2023
Matsutani Prize
