Thai Art Collective Awarded Grand Prize at 2025 Taoyuan International Art Award

Celebrating Contemporary Creativity: Highlights from the 2025 Taoyuan International Art Award (TIAA)

Hosted by the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts (TMoFA) in Taiwan, the 2025 Taoyuan International Art Award (TIAA) shines as a beacon for global artistic collaboration and innovation. Established as a platform to promote diversity and experimentation in contemporary art, TIAA underscores its commitment to spotlighting emerging and mid-career talents worldwide through its rigorous international open call process and globally focused programming.

A Global Stage for Excellence

This year’s TIAA received an impressive 1,161 entries from artists across continents, with only 11 finalists ultimately selected following a preliminary review in June 2024. The panel of reviewers, composed of esteemed curators and art scholars, brought together a nuanced, multicultural perspective to identify visionary creators whose work resonates with today’s complex artistic and social landscapes.

The selected finalists—representing Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, the United States, Canada, and Belgium—are presenting their work in an official exhibition at the Taoyuan Arts Center, open through May 18, 2025. This curated showcase not only reflects the innovative edge of contemporary art but also serves as an exchange point between diverse cultural expressions and artistic ideologies.

Award Highlights and Winners

The highlight of the award bestowed the prestigious Grand Prize on Thai artists Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Kasamaponn Saengsuratham, Arjin Thongyuukong, and Krongpong Langkhapin for their collaborative work “Red Eagle Sangmorakot: No More Hero In His Story” (2025). The piece interrogates the hero archetype in pop culture and politics, unraveling narratives of heroism and myth through a distinct Southeast Asian lens.

The Sojourn Award, designated for outstanding practice developed during an artist’s extended stay in a cultural context outside their origin, went to Taiwanese duo Working Hard (She Wen Ying and Kuo Po Yu) for “Sleep in Fish (Ikan Kapan Bobok)” (2024), a poetic and immersive response to themes of migration and displacement shaped by their travels.

Honorable Mentions were awarded to three innovative projects:

– couch (Japan), composed of Hiroki Miyazaki and Reiko Asao, for “A fable of a fable ” (2021–2025), a multi-year exploration of folklore through multimedia storytelling.
– Kevin Corcoran and Jorge Bachmann (USA), for “Refrained Invocations (Encodings)” (2024–2025), a sound-based inquiry into ritual, memory, and digital transcendence.
– Lee Tek Khean (Malaysia), for “Gai Gaau” (2024), an evocative examination of urbanization and cultural loss in the rapidly transforming Malaysian landscape.

The Selected Award category recognized six additional standout pieces:

– Delayed Takeoff From Taoyuan (Lin Yan Xiang, Wang Cheng Hsiang), for “Urge Miracle to Stay” (2024)
– Tsai Yu Ting (Taiwan), for “See you next time” (2024)
– Aisuke Kondo (Japan), for “YELLOW PEEL” (2023)
– Erdem Taşdelen (Canada/Turkey), for “Demagogues: 7” (2025)
– Goh Uozumi (Japan), for “Social Choice and Its Enemies – ver.2” (2024)
– Robbe Maes and Reynout Dekimpe (Belgium), for “Welcome to Fieldkapelle” (2024)

Curating Global Conversations

One of the core strengths of the TIAA lies in its distinguished international jury, which annually brings together leading voices in contemporary curatorship and critical theory. The 2025 preliminary jury included figures such as Abby Chen (Asian Art Museum of San Francisco), Reuben Keehan (Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art), Sunjung Kim (Art Sonje Center, Seoul), Wang Po-Wei (Digital Art Foundation, Taiwan), and Lu Pei-Yi (National Taipei University of Education).

The final on-site review committee was convened by Acting Director of the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts, Chang Chih-Min, who was joined by David Teh (National University of Singapore) and Zoe Chia-Jung Yeh (Hong-Gah Museum, Taiwan), adding critical insight and regional balance.

Toward 2027 and Beyond

The 2025 TIAA exhibition is a must-visit for those interested in the future of international art. Beyond the celebration of excellence in artistic achievement, TIAA fosters meaningful dialogue across borders, disciplines, and generations, elevating East Asia as a dynamic hub for contemporary cultural expression.

As the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts continues to expand its global reach, the open call for the 2027 edition promises to build on this success. With