BIENNALS:20th Biennale of Sydney
Alongside the Venice and São Paulo Biennales and Documenta, it is one of the longest running exhibitions of its kind and was the first biennale to be established in the Asia-Pacific region. The Biennale of Sydney presents a 3-month exhibition, with an accompanying program of artist talks, performances, forums, family events, guided tours and other special events.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: 20th Biennale of Sydney Archive
The Biennale of Sydney’s theme in 2016 is based on a famous quote from William Ford Gibson, the father of cyberpunk, “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed”. The Curator Stephanie Rosenthal has assembled a collection of 83 artists from 35 countries that have created work that speak of this idea, that we have now surpassed science fiction’s original visions of our future. This year 83 artists from 35 countries are presenting their work across 7 “Embassies of Thought” and multiple “in-between spaces” around the city. More than half of the 200 artworks in the exhibition have been specially commissioned for the 20th Biennale of Sydney. More than a third of artworks are presented at venues in Sydney’s inner west. In addition to artworks presented across the 7 embassies, the 20th Biennale commissioned 12 site-specific projects taking place at locations throughout inner Sydney. Carriageworks (Embassy of Disappearance), brings together works by artists exploring themes of absence and memory, including disappearing languages, histories, currencies and landscapes. Cockatoo Island (Embassy of the Real), with the former convict settlement and shipyard offers a space for artists to explore how we perceive reality in our increasingly digitised era. Artists will consider the spaces between the virtual and physical, as well as the physicality of the human body. Artists exhibiting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ (Embassy of Spirits) explore the intersection between the spiritual and the philosophical, including works concerned with personal and religious rituals. The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (Embassy of Translation), brings together a selection of works that contextualise historical positions, concepts and artefacts, alongside contemporary concerns and working methods. Artspace (Embassy of Non-Participation) is a former artists’ squat now renowned as a site for experimentation. For the 20th Biennale of Sydney, artist duo Karen Mirza and Brad Butler have taken over Artspace, considering the act of “non-participation” as an active and critical position. A first time venue for the Biennale of Sydney, Mortuary Station in Chippendale has been reimagined as the (Embassy of Transition). Works by two artists, Marco Chiandetti and Charwei Tsai are on presentation here, and in different ways they each engage with cycles of life and death, as well as rites of passage. The roving bookshop (Embassy of Stanislaw Lem) takes form as a roving book-stall that will reappear at various locations throughout the Biennale, second-hand copies of Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem’s will be available for visitors to both peruse and purchase. Performance is an integral part of the 20th Biennale, presented at each embassy and at in-between locations. The Biennale is supplemented by a comprehensive schedule of public programs including daily guided tours, artist and curator-led talks, lectures, workshops, salons, reading groups and gatherings.
Info: Curator: Stephanie Rosenthal, 20th Biennale of Sydney, Duration: 18/3-5/6/16, www.biennaleofsydney.com.au
