Natalie King And Sujan Chitrakar Named As Artistic Directors Of Kathmandu Triennale 2026
The Siddhartha Arts Foundation, in conjunction with the Kathmandu Triennale, is delighted to announce the appointment of Sujan Chitrakar and Natalie King as the Artistic Directors for the Kathmandu Triennale slated for February 2026.
A Collaborative Artistic Vision
Appointed as a dynamic duo, Sujan Chitrakar and Natalie King bring a harmonious blend of local insight and international experience to the forefront. Chitrakar, with his deep-rooted understanding of Kathmandu’s unique landscape and culture, complements King’s extensive global expertise, particularly from the Global South. Together, they aim to establish novel understandings and alignments, drawing inspiration from Nepal’s strategic position in South Asia.
Exploring Coexistence at the Kathmandu Triennale 2026
The 2026 edition of the Kathmandu Triennale is centered around the theme of ‘Coexistence.’ This theme seeks to highlight the interconnectedness and kinship between all beings, cultures, ecologies, faiths, and ideologies. It encourages a global ethic of shared responsibility and connection, urging us to adopt varied perspectives in our daily interactions and creative expressions.
Curatorial Concept and Inquiry
The curatorial concept of the Triennale raises pertinent questions: How can we effectively communicate in an increasingly noisy and uncertain world? What role can local ecologies and communities play in shaping our collective understanding? How can ancestral wisdom and indigenous practices inform our perceptions? The exploration of tenderness, intimacy, hope, and envisioning a world of coexistence form the crux of this inquiry.
The Evolution of the Kathmandu Triennale
Organized by the Siddhartha Arts Foundation, the Kathmandu Triennale stands as Nepal’s leading international contemporary art platform. It has evolved from its inception as the Kathmandu International Art Festival, with a focus on women’s status and climate change in its early editions. Transitioning into the Triennale format in 2017, the event has delved into themes such as urban creativity, decolonisation, migration, and displacement, further establishing Kathmandu as a global arts hub.
Sujan Chitrakar is a Kathmandu-based artist, art educator, and curator working as Associate Professor at Kathmandu University. His works deal with the intricate subtleties of shared human experiences. As an educator, he has nurtured some of today’s most important Nepali emerging, contemporary artists as their mentor at Kathmandu University Art+Design. He played instrumental roles in supporting both editions of the Kathmandu International Art Festivals, which were precursors to the Kathmandu Triennale. He was also a member of the curatorial team of Photo Kathmandu.
Natalie King is an Australian curator and Enterprise Professor of Visual Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. She was the Curator of Yuki Kihara: Paradise Camp, Aotearoa New Zealand at the 59th Venice Biennale 2022 and Powerhouse Museum, Sydney 2023. In 2017, King was Curator of Tracey Moffatt: My Horizon, Australian Pavilion, the 57th Venice Art Biennale. She has curated exhibitions for the Singapore Art Museum; Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo; National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan. In 2020, King was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for “service to the contemporary visual arts”. She is President of AICA-Australia (International Association of Art Critics, Paris).
