The curators of the 59th Carnegie International have unveiled the first group of participating artists for the highly anticipated 2026 exhibition, announcing 14 commissioned works from artists and one foundation. This initial reveal represents just a portion of the approximately 50 artists expected to participate in what organizers describe as the most collaborative and far-reaching Carnegie International to date.
The commissioned artists include prominent figures such as Torkwase Dyson, G. Peter Jemison, the collaborative duo Arturo Kameya and Claudia Martínez Garay, Alia Farid, Brooke O'Harra, and Ginger Brooks Takahashi. The Carnegie International, staged every four years at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be curated by Ryan Inouye, Danielle A. Jackson, and Liz Park for this 59th edition.
In an unprecedented expansion, the 2026 International will extend beyond the museum's walls to include four partner venues throughout Pittsburgh. These locations include the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, the Kasmin Science Center, the Mattress Factory, and the Thelma Lovette YMCA in Pittsburgh's Historic Hill District, allowing the exhibition to reach diverse communities across the city.
Museum director Eric Crosby emphasized the ambitious scope of the upcoming exhibition in an official statement: "The 59th Carnegie International—the most collaborative and far-reaching to date—will invite expansive inquiry into the art and ideas that define our moment as well as forge affiliations to realize new works by artists from around the globe. At the heart of this ambition are major commissions and deepened partnerships, both initiated to welcome new publics, perspectives, and possibilities."
Several artists will create site-specific works tailored to the partner venues. Torkwase Dyson will debut an innovative animation in the planetarium at the Kasmin Center, while Arturo Kameya and Claudia Martínez Garay will present a specially designed installation at the Mattress Factory. The Thelma Lovette YMCA will host "Be Holding," an operatic performance piece scheduled for the exhibition's opening weekend, representing a long-term collaboration between poet Roy Gay, composer Tyshawn Sorey, ensemble Yarn/Wire, and artist Brooke O'Harra.
Educational engagement will play a significant role in the exhibition through various workshops and interactive projects. Sanchayan Ghosh, based in Santiniketan, India, will conduct workshops at both the Carnegie Museum and the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, culminating in a permanent outdoor installation at the children's venue. O'Harra will also organize a comprehensive learning and tour-making project at the Carnegie Museum, extending the exhibition's educational impact.
The Carnegie Museum itself will be transformed through several major installations and interventions. Ginger Brooks Takahashi will plant a garden of perilla plants on the museum's grounds while presenting prints, a custom scent, and workshops inside the building. Abraham González Pacheco will create a large-scale mural, and Cinthia Marcelle will stage an architectural intervention that will alter visitors' experience of the museum space.
A particularly notable commission involves the Tokyo-based Sogetsu Foundation, established in 1927 by ikebana master Sofu Teshigahara. The foundation will create a large-scale ikebana installation in collaboration with the Sogetsu Pittsburgh Study Group, focusing on Teshigahara's international vision for his school of flower arrangement. The exhibition will also feature paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and calligraphy by Teshigahara, providing a comprehensive view of his artistic legacy.
G. Peter Jemison's commission represents one of the most innovative approaches to exhibition presentation. The Seneca artist from the Heron Clan will present new paintings about Irving, New York, where he was raised, while organizing an updated version of a 1975 exhibition he curated featuring Haudenosaunee artists. In a unique twist, he will transport works by seven invited artists—Jay Carrier, Katsitsionni Fox, Hayden Haynes, Tom Huff, Craig Marvin, Diane Schenandoah, and Randee Spruce—in a cargo van that will be parked outside the museum throughout the exhibition's run.
The three curators expressed their vision for the exhibition in a joint statement: "In meetings with artists, we have found inspiration in artistic languages that affirm existence as a political condition and that share the experience of the geographies we traverse as vast, complex, and dynamic. Working alongside artists, thought partners, and writers, we offer this International as one draft in the coming years that imagines how a twenty-first-century museum may bring people together in conversation and make abundant space for the inner callings and convictions of its publics."
The complete roster of participating artists includes Torkwase Dyson (born 1973, Chicago, Illinois; lives in Beacon, New York), Alia Farid (born 1985, Kuwait City, Kuwait; lives in Kuwait and Puerto Rico), Sanchayan Ghosh (born 1970, Kolkata, India; lives in Santiniketan, India), Jonathan González (born 1988, Queens, New York; lives in New York), Abraham González Pacheco (born 1989, San Simón el Alto, Mexico; lives in Tepoztlán, Mexico), Eric Gyamfi (born 1990, Bekwai, Ghana; lives in Accra, Ghana), G. Peter Jemison (Seneca, Heron Clan; born 1945, Silver Creek, New York; lives in Victor, New York), Liz Johnson Artur (born 1964, Bulgaria; lives in London, United Kingdom), the collaborative team of Arturo Kameya (born 1984, Lima, Peru; lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Claudia Martínez Garay (born 1983, Ayacucho, Peru; lives in Amsterdam and Lima), Cinthia Marcelle (born 1974, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; lives in São Paulo, Brazil), Shala Miller (born 1993, Cleveland, Ohio; lives in New York), Brooke O'Harra (born 1973, Salem, Oregon; lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), the Sogetsu Foundation (established 1927, Tokyo, Japan), and Ginger Brooks Takahashi (born 1977, West Virginia; lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The complete list of approximately 50 participating artists will be announced early next year, building anticipation for what promises to be a landmark exhibition in contemporary art.
