The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) officially announced the curator for the fourth edition of the Lahore Biennale at a press launch held in the historical premises of Jinnah Library in Lahore, setting the tone for what is expected to be a globally engaged and conceptually ambitious edition in spring 2027. The event brought together artists, academics, cultural workers and institutional partners to reflect on the foundation’s evolving role within Pakistan’s cultural landscape and to outline its future direction.
Opening the session, LBF Director Qudsia Rahim highlighted the foundation’s achievements since its inception, positioning the biennale not merely as a recurring exhibition but as a long-term cultural platform. She spoke about LBF’s commitment to public art, noting the acquisition of permanent artworks installed across Lahore, an effort that continues to embed contemporary art within the everyday urban fabric of the city.
Qudsia Rahim also reflected on the foundation’s expanding intellectual and ecological concerns, particularly referencing the previous edition’s seven-day Climate Congress. The congress brought together 75 experts from diverse disciplines, foregrounding climate change as a cultural, political, and artistic issue rather than a purely scientific one. This emphasis on discourse, research, and cross-disciplinary exchange has become a defining feature of the biennale’s recent editions.
Further underscoring its international reach, LBF shared that it has engaged with 39 institutions globally, including collaborations with Harvard and Cornell Universities. These partnerships have contributed to research initiatives, academic exchanges and the production of high-quality publications that extend the biennale’s impact beyond the exhibition period. Such efforts signal the foundation’s intention to operate simultaneously at local, regional and global scales.
The major highlight of the evening was the formal introduction of Nav Haq as the curator for Lahore Biennale 04. Introducing him, Qudsia Rahim emphasized Haq’s extensive curatorial experience and his long-standing engagement with artists and institutions across Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
Nav Haq is an internationally respected curator, writer, and editor, currently serving as Associate Curator at M HKA – Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp. His practice is known for engaging critically with questions of globalization, migration, postcolonial identities and the political dimensions of contemporary art. Over the years, he has curated exhibitions and projects across major international platforms and has been deeply invested in exploring how art circulates across geographies shaped by unequal power relations.
For LB04, Nav Haq has proposed “Internationalism in Art” as the guiding conceptual framework. Rather than framing internationalism as a neutral or celebratory idea, his approach seeks to critically examine how artistic exchange operates today; who gets visibility, who remains marginal and how histories of colonialism, displacement and transnational movement continue to shape cultural production.
In the context of Lahore, a city marked by layered histories, linguistic plurality, and complex relationships with both regional and global art worlds, internationalism becomes a particularly charged concept. Haq’s vision suggests a biennale that does not simply import global narratives but actively questions them, foregrounding South Asian perspectives while remaining open to dialogue across borders. The upcoming edition aims to explore internationalism not as homogenization, but as friction, translation and negotiation.
The press launch also acknowledged the continued support of the Bank of Punjab, whose role in funding public art projects and facilitating academic collaborations was recognized as vital to the foundation’s sustainability. Their patronage has enabled LBF to maintain free public access to its exhibitions while expanding its educational and research-based initiatives.
Among the notable speakers was Professor Iftikhar Dadi, who reflected on his decade-long association with the Lahore Biennale Foundation. Dadi highlighted the importance of sustained institutional memory and critical thinking in shaping a biennale that remains responsive to both local urgencies and global conversations.
The event concluded with an emphasis on accessibility, education, and long-term cultural impact. As the Lahore Biennale moves toward its fourth edition, the announcement of Nav Haq as curator signals a moment of consolidation and ambition, one that positions LB04 as a site for critical international exchange rooted firmly in the cultural and political realities of Lahore.
With spring 2027 on the horizon, the foundation’s vision suggests a biennale that will continue to challenge, question and expand how contemporary art is experienced in Pakistan and beyond.