OCTOBER 10, 2025 – JANUARY 18, 2026

Speed Art Museum is proud to announce Vian Sora: Outerworlds, a multi-venue, mid-career survey of painter Vian Sora (b. 1976, Baghdad). Organized jointly with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Asia Society Texas in Houston, this exhibition will assemble approximately 20 of Sora’s major works, charting her growth as an artist over a period of seven years (2016-2024). Outerworlds is Sora’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States and will tell the story of how her multivalent paintings abstractly channel the tumultuous events of her life, ancient Mesopotamian history, Western art history, and Iraq’s diverse natural landscapes, including its deserts, rivers, and archeological sites. Vian Sora: Outerworlds will debut at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in June 2025, traveling to the Speed Art Museum in October 2025 and Asia Society Texas in April 2026. More Here