If the word we, the 59th Carnegie International

Carnegie Museum of Art

May 2, 2026–Jan. 3, 2027

Organized every four years by Carnegie Museum of Art, the Carnegie International is the longest-running exhibition of international art in North America. The 59th edition is the most collaborative and far-reaching to date—a clear expression of the museum’s founding commitment to the art and artists of our time, at once grounded in our locality and extending globally.

Titled If the word we, the 59th Carnegie International considers the first-person plural as an open and evolving proposition—one shaped by listening, translation, and transformation—bringing together artistic practices that engage shared experience, circulation, and worlds in transition. Drawing from a commissioned catalogue essay by writer Haytham el-Wardany, the exhibition approaches “we” not as a unified subject but as a complex and porous position, attentive to contradiction and change. Across a wide range of media, from painting, photography, and sculpture, to installation, video, performance, and theater, participating artists traverse cultural, political, intellectual, and spiritual geographies that extend beyond national boundaries. The projects emerge through everyday acts, materials, and environments, offering spatially expansive portraits of collective life in the present.

Organized by Ryan Inouye, Danielle A. Jackson, and Liz Park, the Kathe and Jim Patrinos curators of the 59th Carnegie International, the upcoming edition will engage contributors and partners across Pittsburgh and around the world, transforming the museum’s programs, partnerships, and spaces in imaginative ways. Works will be featured at the museum and four partner institutions—including the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Kamin Science Center, and Mattress Factory—situating the exhibition within the cultural landscape of Pittsburgh’s North Side, as well as at the Thelma Lovette YMCA in Pittsburgh’s Historic Hill District.

By embracing many forms and sites, If the word we underscores the breadth of approaches shaping contemporary art and creative practice today. Come experience a Carnegie International that highlights art’s invitation to expand our perspectives, conversations, and relationships with one another.

the participating artists; 
@feavilaaa
@maithilibavkar
@dineo_seshee
@salouaraoudachoucair
@seoyoung.chung
@dangadang.radio
@torkwasedyson
@ellemarjaeira
@alia_farid
@thirdlyrelevant
@obranegra
@kearramaya
@priyeshgothwal
@d_gnidrah
@hiratajason
@hong_hyun_sook
@hyun_nahm
@ichsan_firman
@gpeterjemison_art
@lizjohnsonartur  
@arturo_kameya 
@_jasleen.kaur_ 
@liyifanyifanli
@cimarcelle 
@claudiamartinezgaray 
@messineo.rj 
@freddie.june
@joarnango
@sarahndele
@brookeoharra
@pinilla_gabriela
@khalilrabah
@anaraylander
@millerrobinson
@walterkscott
@mohit_shelare
@silat.wichi
@reinasugi
@brookstakahashi
@ikebana.sogetsu
@krazykosmickid
@wu_tsang
@jonyu_brush
@zhaoxao

Chung Seoyoung (b. 1964, Seoul, South Korea; lives in Seoul, South Korea) works across sculpture, drawing, text, video, sound, and performance. 

Her practice opens pathways for sculpture to manifest as a comprehensive and expansive medium. She has long engaged with the relationship between objects, language, and sculpture and considers her objects—which she calls “social evidence”—to be the result of countless human actions and events in a chain reaction. Her work detaches objects encountered in life from their situation and time and brings them to the place of sculpture. Chung studied sculpture at Seoul National University and the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany. 

She has participated in numerous exhibitions including 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (2024); 7th Changwon Sculpture Biennale (2024); SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul (2014); Gwangju Biennale (2008, 2002, 1997); and Landscape of Differences at the Korean Pavilion, 50th Venice Biennale (2003). 

Recent solo exhibitions include With no Head nor Tail (Tina Kim Gallery, New York, 2024); What I Saw Today (Seoul Museum of Art, 2022); and Knocking Air (Barakat Contemporary, Seoul, 2020).