February 11, 2026 | 10:38am
MANILA, Philippines — The Ayala Foundation has named Australia-based curator and writer Reuben Keehan as the incoming Artistic Director of Kontempo – Center for Contemporary Art, Philippines which will rise in Circuit Makati.
Plans for a contemporary museum in the area where the original Santa Ana Park racetrack once stood were initiated as early as 2018, though the pandemic delayed development until 2024.
Keehan’s appointment will take effect after standard clearance and compliance procedures of Kontempo are completed.
Since 2011, Keehan has served as the Curator of Contemporary Asian Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art or QAGOMA, playing a key role in shaping the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art from its seventh edition onwards, working closely with peers across the Asia-Pacific region including the Philippines.
In a statement, Keehan said he was deeply honored to be tapped as Kontempo’s Artistic Director, praising the Philippines as “a vital and dynamic force within contemporary art and culture in the region.”
“The idea of Kontempo as a connective hub that brings artists and audiences together, encourages dialogue across disciplines, and links the Philippines with the wider world is what drew me to this project,” Keehan added.
The Ayala Foundation’s chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in his own statement they were delighted to welcome Keehan to define and develop Kontempo and its program.
“His selection reflects our ambition to build an institution that is rooted in the Philippines, attentive to its communities, and in active dialogue with the international art world,” he said.
The executive also described Kontempo as “a space that fosters curiosity and creativity, where people of all ages can engage with contemporary culture through a rich, multidisciplinary range of artistic expression.”
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Art expansion
Kontempo is eyed to be a “world-class museum” and “permanent home for contemporary art” in the country, joining nearby cultural spaces the Samsung Performing Arts Theater and Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater.
It takes its name from the word “contemporary” though expressed through Filipino orthographic usage.
The center will present exhibitions, commissions, research, education, and community-facing programs, and form part of a broader creative campus connected to everyday urban life.
Kontempo will have an approxiamately 2,500-square-meter gallery space dedicated to three major galleries, 15,000 square meters of open green space designed for art installations, gardens, and public use, and a 400-square meter educational space.
The architects behind the structure are Los Angeles-based Thai designer Kulapat Yantrasat and Filipino architect Ed Calma, the latter having been behind The Mind Museum in Bonifacio Global City and the College of St Benilde’s School of Design and Arts building in Manila.
Yantrasat previously designed the newer wings of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris.
As it is situated by the Pasig River, construction of Kontempo — estimated to finish next year — is in support of the river’s Espalanade Project.
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