Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey: Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila

On Thursday, 9 July 2026, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila will open Your curious journey, a significant traveling exhibition by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967). Marking the final leg of an extensive international tour—following presentations at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), and Museum MACAN in Jakarta—the exhibition marks the end of a multi-year regional dialogue.

Your curious journey offers a comprehensive survey of Eliasson’s three-decade practice, centering on themes of perception, embodiment, and the climate emergency. The exhibition features pivotal works such as Beauty (1993), where water and light create a rainbow that shifts based on the viewer’s position, and Yellow corridor (1997), an immersive space utilizing monofrequency lights to challenge physiological perception. By working with scientific phenomena and natural elements—light, wind, water, and moss—not merely as subjects, but as active materials, Eliasson examines how we engage with our surroundings. After the landmark exhibition concludes its journey in Manila, the works will return to the artist’s studio in Berlin. The MCAD show serves as a final invitation for the public to explore how art can address global challenges and the constant state of flux in our environment.

Installation view: Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila, Philippines, 2026.

Photo by Adrian Ardiente