Ken Lum

Ken Lum is an artist known for his participation in major international exhibitions such as Documenta, the Venice Biennale, Sao Paulo Bienal, Shanghai Biennale, Gwangju Biennale, Carnegie Triennial, and Whitney Biennial. He co-founded and was the first editor of the Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art. As a prolific author, he has written many essays and reviews for both academic and non-academic publications. Lum has delivered eight keynote speeches, including at the Bump Urban Art Conference in 2025, the 2024 Duldig Lecture on Sculpture, the 2022 Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics in Philadelphia, the 2010 World Museums Conference in Shanghai, and the opening of the 2006 Sydney Biennale. His collection, ‘Everything is Relevant: Writings on Art and Life 1991–2018,’ was published in 2020 by Concordia University Press.

Lum has completed numerous public art commissions. He co-curated Shanghai Modern: 1919–1945, the Sharjah Biennial 7 in the UAE, and Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia. He is also the co-founder and senior curatorial advisor of Monument Lab, a think tank focused on public art and history. Additionally, he served as Project Manager for the exhibition The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945–1994. A longtime professor, Lum currently holds the Marilyn Jordan Taylor Penn Presidential Professorship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Ken Lum is the Guest Curator of BUMP Festival’s 2026 Sculpture Program, and was the Keynote Speaker at their 2025 Urban Art Conference.