This year’s Whitney Biennial (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Mar. 7–May 25) will see three curators from outside the museum oversee the United States’ most influential survey of contemporary American art, ranging from abstract painting and conceptual photography to sound art and video installations by artists such as Ken Okiishi. Closer to home, Sri Lanka’s third Colombo Art Biennale (on until Feb. 9) features a host of established and emerging artists in venues across the capital, while the Biennale of Sydney (Mar. 21–Jun. 9), now in its 19th edition, promises a lineup of more than 90 artists, a pop-up Danish village at Cockatoo Island, and exhibitions at a former rail yard. –Chris Kirkpatrick

This article originally appeared in the February/March 2014 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Biennial Blitz”)