The 59th Carnegie International
If the word we
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.
