Hou Hanru is an art critic, writer and curator based in Paris and Rome. He was Artistic Director of MAXXI (National Museum of 21^st Century Arts), Rome (2013- 2022). He has curated more than 150 exhibitions around the world including biennales and triennials in Johannesburg, Venice, Shanghai, Gwangju, Guangzhou, Mexico City, Tirana, Istanbul, Lyon, Auckland, and Shenzhen. From 1997 to 1999, he co-curated with Hans Ulrich Obrist the exhibition Cities On The Move, which toured from Secession, Vienna to CAPC/Arc-en-rêve, Bordeaux; PS1, New York; Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek; Hayward Gallery, London; various venues in Bangkok; and Kiasma, Helsinki.

He is an advisor for numerous cultural institutions including Times Museum, Guangzhou; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; and The Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York. He frequently contributes to journals, books, and catalogues on contemporary art and culture, and lectures and teaches at numerous international institutions. His books include Hou Hanru (Utopia@Asialink and School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne, 2014), On the Mid-Ground (English version published in 2002, by Timezone 8, Hong Kong, and Chinese version published in 2013, by Gold Wall Press, Beijing), and Curatorial Challenges (conversations between Hou Hanru and Hans Ulrich Obrist in Art-It magazine as “curators on the move”, Japan, 2006-2012; Chinese version, Gold Wall Press, Beijing, 2013).

On Kawara (1932-2014) developed a uniquely nuanced artistic language over more than six decades, engaging with chronological time as a measure of human existence. As a pivotal figure in the conceptual art movement, he created a body of work that serves as a meditative examination of time and place, embracing both the specific and the universal.

Born in Kariya, Japan, Kawara emerged as an influential member of the postwar avant-garde after moving to Tokyo in 1951. His artistic journey took a decisive turn with his departure from Japan in 1959, leading him first to Mexico City, where his studies and travels proved foundational to his later practice. After a period between Paris and New York, he settled in the latter while maintaining a nomadic practice that would span the globe