Many new art initiatives are underway at airports around the world to the delight of thousands of travellers. The Wise Traveller catches up with the latest developments and exhibitions.
Atlanta
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s Terminal T North will become a year-long exhibition space for a Georgia Tech project featuring immersive works.
Transport, Transform, Transcend: Innovations in Materials and Movements will showcase groundbreaking works from researchers who are merging science, technology, and design to reimagine traditional notions of movement, materiality, and meaning.
Artists, including Georgia Tech researchers, have been involved in the installation, curated by Birney Robert, curator and strategist for external engagement for Georgia Tech Arts.
The exhibition features eight immersive projects. Challenging boundaries and exploring movement, they unveil works such as AI-powered dance, robotic percussion, parametric textiles, circular design, and plastic-made displays, all of which represent catalysts for transformation.
The exhibition transforms one of the world’s most dynamic transit spaces into a platform for exploring how art and technology intersect, inviting airport visitors to see, feel, and experience motion not only as a physical act, but as a force for empathy, sustainability, and transformation.
Hong Kong
A new immersive art exhibition, ‘Aeroplane Chess’, has been introduced to passengers at Terminal One at Hong Kong International in the seating area between check-in aisles D & E on Departures Level (L7).
The artwork, a collaboration between creative studio StickyLine and the Hong Kong Arts Centre, is a reworking of Fei Xing Qi, a popular Chinese cross-and-circle board game similar to Ludo, where players race their airplane pieces around the board to reach the centre first.
The Airport Authority Hong Kong said the new addition features the game’s iconic colourful patterns and builds a vibrant, geometric 3D landscape that invites travellers to embark on a journey shaped by movement, connection and discovery.
Seattle
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) hosts one of the largest public art collections in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2025, as part of a project to replace the old Bag Carousel 1 with a new checkpoint, a blank wall space was left on the back side of the new checkpoint, next to Bag Carousel 2. This provided space for a salon-style wall that stretches more than 30 feet and features over 20 individual works. Made of different materials, such as wood, glass and textiles, each one tells a different story to a diverse audience.
The SEA Gateway Project has three more installations on the go. “Jonah” by Matthew Szösz, located on Skybridge 5, will feature two prismatic walls made up of roughly 500 triangular panels of semi-reflective dichroic glass. They will line both sides of the walkway between Bag Claims 14 and 15.
Meanwhile, “Horizon” by Barry Johnson will be located on the north end of the Alaska Ticketing Lobby. This baggage enclosure wrap will feature cast metal figures sitting in space, hugging the walls, and will wrap around the corners.
“Migration” by Ed Marquand and Angelina Villalobos is primed for early 2026. It is an installation of a giant moving mosaic glass piece that will greet visitors as they enter the airport. It will be fixed to a new retaining wall along the upper Departures Drive.
London
Sounds in and around Heathrow Airport have been used for a soundtrack by Grammy-nominated Jordan Rakei. He was given unprecedented access to the airport to create the seminal new summer soundtrack, featuring rhythms ranging from the beats of baggage belts to the hum of escalators.
It has been designed to give passengers a mood-matching mix to kick start their journeys and was played throughout the terminals over the summer. The track also features sounds from movie scenes, including the engines whirling on the tarmac where Die Another Day was filmed.
‘Music for Heathrow’ is an ode to Brian Eno’s seminal 1979 album, Music for Airports, credited with launching the entire genre of ambient music, which was also designed to be listened to ahead of a flight.
Athens
Athens International Airport hosted “All Aboard,” a large-scale contemporary exhibition by nonprofit Artefact Athens, and the first international visual arts programme ever held at a Greek airport.
Featuring 40 artists from different generations and nations, the exhibition occupied the Express Facility building. Artefact Athens described it as a multifaceted experience that transformed a space of waiting into one of reflection and transition.
Using installations, sculptures, videos, performances and paintings, artists explored motion and stillness as existential conditions, questioning whether travel represents progress or escape.
New York
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and JFK Millennium Partners (JMP), the company building and due to operate the new Terminal 6 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), has unveiled plans for local artists to be featured in the terminal’s inaugural ‘Queens in Flight’ rotating community art program when the first gates open in 2026.
Local artists Kim Okoli, Llannski, and Garfield Harry will have their artwork prominently displayed in gate areas throughout the terminal’s departures concourse, joining permanent art installations from 19 world-renowned artists.
The Queens in Flight artists’ artwork will also be available for travellers to purchase on a first-come, first-served basis via QR codes located on their display case.
“Throughout the Port Authority’s $19 billion transformation of JFK International Airport, we have worked with our private partners to design and build world-class terminals that will create a sense of place that is unique to New York and the borough of Queens,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton.
“Artworks by Queens-based artists and new concessions featuring products from Queens will enliven the new terminal and enrich the unique passenger experience at Terminal 6.”
Singapore
For a change-up, Changi Airport has informed the public that they can now register online to visit T5 In the Making, an exhibition offering a behind-the-scenes look at the vision, planning and design of the upcoming Terminal 5.
The exhibition will run from January to March 2026 at Terminal 3 arrivals hall, said organisers, the Ministry of Transport, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Changi Airport Group.
The exhibition showcases how Changi Airport’s newest terminal is being conceived and built, ahead of its planned opening in the mid-2030s. Registration is open on the exhibition’s official website on a first-come, first-served basis. Each registrant may book a visit slot for up to five visitors. Walk-in visits will also be accepted, subject to availability.
Spread across five zones, the exhibition traces Changi Airport’s journey from its early days in Paya Lebar to its expansion in Changi, before delving into the scale, design and innovations planned for T5.
Visitors will be able to explore interactive displays, experiential zones and detailed scale models highlighting the airport’s future ambitions. It is open daily from 10am to 8pm, with each visit taking about 60 minutes. Admission is free.
Andy Probert is a freelance journalist whose work about global travel news, aviation, business and human-interest features has appeared internationally in print and digital formats.
