Where: Tokyo, Japan 

This unusual exhibition at the Mori Museum of Art examines how artists have responded to tragedies around the world, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001, the global financial crisis of 2008, and the tsunami-triggered Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011.

Featured artists include international stars such as Gillian Wearing, Isaac Julien and Mona Hatoum, as well as prominent Japanese counterparts Yoko Ono, Tatsuo Miyajima and the Chim Pom art collective, among many others. 

Catastrophe and the Power of Art runs until January 20 at Mori Art Museum, 52F/53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; mori.art.museum

Where: Kerala, India

Artist Anita Dube is curating this edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which is often described as the largest art exhibition in South Asia. This year’s event features works by big-name artists, including William Kentridge, Jitish Kallat and Guerilla Girls, as well as pieces by rising stars.

The show is spread across multiple venues in and around the city of Kochi in the Indian state of Kerala. 

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale runs from December 12 to March 29, 2019 at various locations around Kerala; kochimuzirisbiennale.org

See also: 10 Hong Kong Art Exhibitions To See In November

Where: Vienna, Austria

The 450th anniversary of the death of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, one of the 16th century’s greatest Netherlandish painters, takes place in 2019. To mark the occasion, the museum is bringing panels from other collections to join the 12 it owns for a stunning overview of Bruegel’s oeuvre. 

Only about 40 of his complex, multilayered paintings survive, so to see so many in one place is a rare treat. 

Bruegel runs until January 13, 2019 at Kunsthistorisches Museum, Maria-Theresien-Platz, 1010 Wien, Austria; khm.at

Where: New York, United States

Remarkably, this exhibition at the Whitney Musueum of American Art is the first Warhol retrospective to be held in the US since 1989. Starting with Warhol’s work as a commercial illustrator in the 1950s, the show traces the artist’s career through to the height of pop art in the 1960s and on to his experimental video work and use of readymades in the 1980s. 

Andy Warhol—From A To B And Back Again runs from November 12 to March 31, 2019 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort St, New York, NY 10014, USA; whitney.org

Where: London, England

King Ashurbanipal of the Assyrian empire, who lived from roughly 669 to 631 BC, was the most powerful man on earth at the time.

This major exhibition explores his reign through the British Museum’s unmatched collection of art and objects from the Assyrian empire, which in its heyday stretched from the eastern Mediterranean to the mountains of Iran. 

I Am Ashurbanipal: King Of The World, King Of Assyria runs from November 8 to February 24, 2019 at The British Museum, Great Russell St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DG, UK; britishmuseum.org

See also: 5 Works To See At Michael Lau's Exhibition At Duddell's London

Where: Los Angeles, United States

Showcasing more than 250 works made over the past two thousand years, this exhibition at LACMA is the first comprehensive survey of art from Sri Lanka ever organised by an American museum.

With its assortment of 19th-century photographs, striking textiles and decorative objects made from gold, silver and ivory, it has something for everyone.

The Jeweled Isle: Art From Sri Lanka runs from December 9 to June 23, 2019 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036, USA; lacma.org

Where: Canberra, Australia

This exhibition features more than 80 pre-Raphaelite paintings, more than half of them lent by Britain’s Tate museum and many of them never exhibited in Australia before. The many highlights include John Everett Millais’ "Ophelia" and William Holman Hunt’s "The Awakening Conscience". 

Love & Desire: Pre-Raphaelite Masters From Tate runs from December 14 to April 28, 2019 at the National Gallery of Australia,  Parkes Pl E, Parkes ACT 2600, Canberra, Australia; nga.gov.au

Where: London, England

Scandinavians Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset have worked together since 1995, creating intriguing sculptures, installations and performances that explore social and sexual politics.

This exhibition, their first survey show in the UK, showcases a series of sculptures and installations from across their career.

Elmgreen & Dragset: This Is How We Bite Our Tongue runs until January 27, 2019 at Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX, UK; whitechapelgallery.org

Where: Beidaihe, China

In October, Beijing's Ullens Centre For Contemporary Art opened its first museum outside of the Chinese capital. Called UCCA Dune, this new outpost is located in a futuristic, purpose-built arts centre that's buried under a sand dune in the Beidaihe district, a popular seaside destination about three and a half hours' drive from Beijing.

UCCA Dune's inaugural show, After Nature, features nine Chinese artists whose work investigates the natural world and humanity's impact on the environment. Among the artists taking part is Hong Kong-based Trevor Yeung, who earlier this year donated work to both the Ambassadors Ball auction and Asia Art Archive's fundraiser. 

After Nature runs until April 4, 2019 at UCCA Dune, Aranya Gold Coast Community, Beidaihe District, Hebei , China; ucca.org.cn