“A Walking Guide to Asian Art: South Asia Special Edition” at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Until January 11; Art from India and Six Other Countries

The special exhibition “A Walking Guide to Asian Art: South Asia Special Edition – Beyond Conflict: A Journey Along Veins of Light” is on view at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Hakata Ward, Fukuoka) until Monday, January 11, 2027. It covers seven countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. Part 1 introduces eight South Asian artists through works in the collection and new and recent works, and Part 2 shows about 200 works from the museum’s collection. Admission is 1,000 yen for adults.

Why South Asia now? Asian art in Fukuoka since 1979

The exhibition is the second in “A Walking Guide to Asian Art,” a series of collection exhibitions the museum is holding in fiscal 2026. The series travels through three areas, East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, and the East Asia edition was held from April 18 to August 30. The South Asia edition adds new and recent works made for the exhibition to the collection and is held as a larger-than-usual “special edition.” The next, the Southeast Asia edition, begins on February 4, 2027.

The museum describes itself as “the only museum in the world that systematically collects and exhibits modern and contemporary Asian art.” It opened on March 6, 1999. Its parent institution, the Fukuoka Art Museum, has introduced modern and contemporary Asian art since “Asian Art Exhibition Part 1,” held to mark its opening in 1979. According to the museum’s history, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also took part in Part 2 in 1980.

In the 1990s, the Fukuoka Art Museum also held solo exhibitions of Rasheed Araeen of Pakistan (1993) and Dhruva Mistry of India (1994). The 4th Asian Art Show in 1994 introduced Bangladeshi rickshaw painting in a special section.

The museum says the exhibition invites visitors on a journey to look at the invisible connections that lie deep beneath national, religious and historical conflicts.

What can visitors see? Part 1, “Encounter,” and Part 2, “Unraveling”

Part 1, “Encounter,” focuses on eight contemporary South Asian artists. It traces each artist’s creative path by adding new and recent works to works from around the 2000s in the museum’s collection. The artists introduced for Part 1 on the exhibition page are the following three (as of October 20).

• Dhali Al Mamoon (Bangladesh), “Erasure” (2012, collection of the artist)

• Aisha Khalid (Pakistan), “The Garden of Love Is Green Without Limit” (2019, collection of the artist): The museum describes her as an artist who works from small miniature paintings to large installations using fabric and needles

• Jihan Karim (Bangladesh): “Eye (I)” (2016) is shown as a reference work

According to the related events page, “In the Water” (2026, collection of the artists) by Iftikhar Dadi and Elizabeth Dadi (Pakistan) is also on display.

Part 2, “Unraveling,” shows about 200 works from the museum’s collection around three themes: “Art Alive in the Streets,” “Beyond Conflict” and “Living Tradition and Mythic Worlds Today.” Works introduced include “Wounded Heart” (2005) by Hema Upadhyay of India and “Roadscape” (2012/2014) by Pradeep Thalawatta of Sri Lanka. “Woman” (1972) by Quamrul Hassan of Bangladesh is also on view.

The museum names three highlights. The first is a cross-sectional presentation of its South Asian collection. The second is the juxtaposition of collection works with new and recent works to survey past, present and future. The third is showing, through the three themes, the cultural connections that lie “beyond conflict.”

Related events: an artist talk and gallery tours

On the opening day, September 19, Iftikhar Dadi and Dhali Al Mamoon gave an artist talk about the new works made for the exhibition and the works on display. There was also a live performance and talk by musician Shuta Hasunuma and U-zhaan, a player of the North Indian percussion instrument tabla. The main upcoming events are as follows.

• Aisha Khalid artist talk, “The Garden of Love Is Green Without Limit”: Saturday, November 7, 14:00–15:30, Ajibi Hall (8th floor). She will trace her artistic world through works from the past to the present. With consecutive Japanese–English interpretation; free, no registration required

• Curator’s Pick ★ Gallery Tours: Tuesday, November 3, 13:00–13:40 (Asia Gallery, free) and Saturday, November 28, 13:00–13:40 (Special Exhibition Gallery, admission required). Curators introduce their favorite works with anecdotes. No registration required for either

Tickets, prices, opening hours and access

Admission is 1,000 yen for adults and 800 yen for high school and university students; junior high school students and younger are free. To see Part 2 (Asia Gallery) only, it is 200 yen for adults and 150 yen for high school and university students. Holders of a disability certificate or similar and one caregiver, and holders of a medical care recipient certificate for a designated intractable disease or similar, are free.

An annual passport for all three exhibitions in the series costs 1,000 yen for adults and 800 yen for high school and university students and allows unlimited entry during the runs. In other words, for the same price as this exhibition, visitors can also see the Southeast Asia edition from February 2027. It is sold at the museum shop “Ronghua” on the 7th floor and online until January 11, 2027.

Gallery hours are 9:30–18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays), with last entry 30 minutes before closing. The museum is closed on Wednesdays (the next weekday if a holiday) and over the New Year holidays, December 26 – January 1.

The museum is on the 7th and 8th floors of the Riverain Center Building in Shimokawabata-machi, Hakata Ward, directly connected to Exit 6 of Nakasu-Kawabata Station on the subway. By subway, it is 3 minutes from Hakata Station, 1 minute from Tenjin Station and 9 minutes from Fukuoka Airport Station. By Nishitetsu bus, get off at “Kawabatamachi / Hakataza-mae.”

Editor’s perspective

Although this is a “special edition” with new works added, the exhibition centers on the museum’s collection, with about 200 works in Part 2 alone. Part 1, which places works from around the 2000s in the collection alongside new and recent works by the same artists, can be seen as showing the link between the collection and current artmaking.

In Fukuoka, the museum’s parent institution, the Fukuoka Art Museum, is showing “The Karun Thakar Collection: Indian Chintz – Stories That Traveled the World” until December 20. It is a time when South Asian art can be compared from the perspectives of both contemporary art and textiles. Elsewhere in Kyushu, “For Placards” at the Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto (until November 29) is also made up of works that pose questions to existing systems and structures.

Overview

Name: Special Exhibition “A Walking Guide to Asian Art: South Asia Special Edition – Beyond Conflict: A Journey Along Veins of Light”
Dates: Saturday, September 19, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027
Hours: 9:30–18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Wednesdays (the next weekday if a holiday), December 26 – January 1
Venue: Asia Gallery and Special Exhibition Gallery (7th floor), Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
Address: Riverain Center Building 7F/8F, 3-1 Shimokawabata-machi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka
Admission: Adults 1,000 yen, high school and university students 800 yen, junior high school students and younger free (Part 2 in the Asia Gallery only: adults 200 yen, high school and university students 150 yen)
Organizers: Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, The Nishinippon Shimbun, Fukuoka City Foundation for Arts and Cultural Promotion
Inquiries: 092-263-1100
Official website: https://faam.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/exhibition/26076/
*Information as of October 20, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Hakata Riverain, home to the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (photo: Soramimi, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum official website (as of October 20, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team