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22Nd Biennale of Sydney

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22Nd Biennale of Sydney 22ND BIENNALE OF SYDNEY 2020 EXHIBITION REPORT THE BIENNALE OF SYDNEY ACKNOWLEDGES THE GADIGAL PEOPLE OF THE EORA NATION; BOOROOBERONGAL PEOPLE OF THE DHARUG NATION; THE BIDIAGAL AND GAMAYGAL PEOPLE, ON WHOSE ANCESTRAL LANDS AND WATERS NIRIN GATHERED. THE BIENNALE IS A SAFE PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO HONOUR MUTUAL RESPECT AND THE DIVERSITY OF EXPRESSION AND THOUGHTS THAT EMPOWER US ALL. CONTENTS 06 HIGHLIGHTS 09 ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 10 22ND BIENNALE OF SYDNEY 14 ARTISTS 22 LOCATIONS 24 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS 29 PATRONS AND PARTNERS 38 AUDIENCE 42 MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS 46 PUBLICATIONS 48 FINANCE 50 MESSAGES OF SUPPORT 52 CHAIRMAN’S AND CEO’S REPORT 56 FOUNDING PATRON AND PARTNERS 58 PATRONS AND TEAM 62 VOLUNTEERS 64 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 66 IMAGE CREDITS HIGHLIGHTS DAYS OPEN JUNE TO OPEN MILLION TO THE OCTOBER 2020 PUBLIC 136 OVER digital visitation 4MAJOR ART EVENT INTERNATIONALLY TO ST REOPEN FOLLOWING GLOBAL ISOLATION ARTISTS ARTWORKS 1 MEASURES (MOVING AN ENTIRE EXHIBITION MID-SHOW) OF VISITORS ATTENDED THE 101704 28% BIENNALE FOR THE FIRST TIME 36% 74,000 of the Biennale’s digital audience visitors under 35 years is from international locations including North America, the UK, 86 79FIRST New Zealand and Japan NEW ARTWORK NATIONS ST COMMISSIONS ARTISTS MAJOR INTERNATIONAL 886 1ART SHOW TO GO VIRTUAL Instagram posts VISITATION TO and stories THE PHYSICAL EXHIBITIONS 5000+ 310,086 PEOPLE USED THE 40 BIENNALE’S ONLINE OF VISITORS% SAY LEARNING RESOURCES 600+ EVENTS SCHEDULED THE BIENNALE OF SYDNEY IS ONE OF BIENNALE OF BIENNALE OF SYDNEY EDITION TO BE DOCUMENTED THEIR MAIN REASONS ST SYDNEY EDITION ST IN ITS ENTIRETY, WITH 360-DEGREE VIEWS ACROSS FOR VISITING SYDNEY TO HOST AN INAUGURAL 1 ALL SITES AVAILABLE ONLINE 1ART AUCTION (WITH 70% OF PROCEEDS GOING TO PARTICIPATING ARTISTS) 6 22nd Biennale of Sydney Exhibition Report 7 The urgent states of our contemporary lives are laden with unresolved past anxieties and hidden layers of the supernatural. NIRIN exposed this, demonstrating that artists and creatives have the power to resolve, heal, dismember and imagine futures of transformation for re-setting the world. Optimism from chaos drove artists in NIRIN to resolve the often hidden or ignored urgency surrounding contemporary life. Sovereignty is at the centre of these actions, and it shines a light on environments in shadow. Brook Andrew Artistic Director 22nd Biennale of Sydney 22ND BIENNALE OF SYDNEY Under the artistic direction of acclaimed Indigenous Australian artist, Brook Andrew, the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, titled NIRIN, was an artist- and First Nations-led endeavour, presenting an expansive exhibition of contemporary art and events presented across Sydney and Melbourne, and globally via digital platforms that connect local communities and global networks. The Biennale opened to the public on 14 March 2020 to unprecedented acclaim. But the impact of COVID-19 was swift. After just 10 days open to the public, in line with the advice from Government authorities, the Biennale of Sydney closed its public exhibitions on 24 March 2020. The Biennale of Sydney takes over two years to produce with an extraordinarily dedicated team. Closing the exhibitions and cancelling or postponing a program of 600 events resulted in half of the team being Stood Down. But the Biennale is a responsive, resilient About the Biennale of Sydney organisation. It is impossible to recreate the physical The Biennale of Sydney is a leading international experience of an exhibition online, particularly one contemporary art event. It plays an indispensable as expansive and dynamic as NIRIN, but when role in Australia’s engagement with the world, museums and galleries were forced to close their and a meaningful role in the life of the nation. doors, the Biennale went online to amplify the The Biennale presents the most dynamic voices of marginalised artists and share the stories contemporary art from around the globe in venues of our global communities. across Sydney (and beyond) with exhibitions that Following an announcement by the NSW ignite and surprise people, sparking dialogue, Government that museums and galleries would cultivating connections and inspiring action through be permitted to reopen in June, the Biennale of meaningful, shared arts experiences. The Biennale Sydney reinstated its team and rallied partner arts of Sydney amplifies the voices of artists and tells organisations to open without delay and extend the the stories of our global communities, as they exhibition period for NIRIN. drive momentum for lasting cultural change. Through works that extended the impact of the Established in 1973, it is one of the oldest and Black Lives Matter protests – works intrinsically tied largest biennials in the world, and the largest to moments of Indigenous struggle against police exhibition of its kind in Australia. The Biennale violence – or those that imagined a future where of Sydney has commissioned and presented the statues that celebrate colonial figures have long exceptional works of art by 1900 artists from been forgotten, buried beneath the earth, NIRIN 100 countries. demonstrated how artists have the power to inspire As we approach our 50th anniversary in 2023, and lead through difficult global times. each edition helps foster and develop a lasting This was more powerful than ever anticipated legacy for the Biennale in Sydney, New South in 2020. Wales, Australia and the world. 10 22nd Biennale of Sydney Exhibition Report Ayllu, like NIRIN, is a word that resists the language of the conquerors. In Quechua language, ayllu means a ‘cosmic family’ where blood ties are not necessarily involved, but communal and ancestral connections with the earth, the rivers, mountains, plants, animals and our spiritual creatures. These words are not enough to describe the meaning of the word ayllu. It’s definition is unattainable in the same way NIRIN contains meaning that is imperceptible to the senses. They are non-western words that speak of memories of pain but also of the pleasure of resistance in subalternised communities. Colectivo Ayllu ARTISTS ADRIFT LAB Canada/Australia/United Kingdom BRIAN FUATA New Zealand MUSA N. NXUMALO South Africa PEDRO WONAEAMIRRI TONY ALBERT Australia FUNPARK COALITION Australia MANUEL OCAMPO Philippines (WITH PATRICK FREDDY CHARLOTTE ALLINGHAM Australia NICHOLAS GALANIN USA ERKAN ÖZGEN Turkey PURUNTATAMERI) Melville Island/ MARIA THEREZA ALVES STUART GEDDES AND PARRAMATTA FEMALE FACTORY Andranangruwu, Paluwiyanga (Australia) Brazil/Germany/Italy TRENT WALTER Australia AND PYT FAIRFIELD Australia 15 SCREENS: BOPHANA LHOLA AMIRA South Africa JOSEP GRAU-GARRIGA TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE Norway/Canada AUDIOVISUAL RESOURCE CENTRE: JOËL ANDRIANOMEARISOA (1929-2011) Spain/France ROSANA PAULINO Brazil SAROEUN BLONG, VUNNENG Madagascar/France LENG, CHHOUK LOEURN, LEAN LAWRENCE ABU HAMDAN LAURE PROUVOST ARTREE NEPAL Nepal Jordan/Lebanon France/Belgium/United Kingdom MANG, VET MOURNG, RANY PHOK, SAMMY BALOJI AZIZ HAZARA Afghanistan BHENJI RA Australia PRING PROEL, SITHORT RET, POAV Democratic Republic of Congo/Belgium LILY HIBBERD Australia RAMIN HAERIZADEH, ROKNI SEV (Cambodia), MOARA BRASIL AND BANKSTOWN POETRY SLAM Australia SARAH HOUBOULT Australia HAERIZADEH AND HESAM JANAÚ (Brazil), THE COLLI CREW DENILSON BANIWA Brazil LUCAS IHLEIN AND RAHMANIAN Iran/United Arab Emirates (Australia), VICTORIA HUNT (Australia/ BE. Australia New Zealand) REHAB NAZZAL (Palestine) DION BEASLEY AND KIM WILLIAMS Australia READING OCEANIA Australia , , ILTJA NTJARRA / MANY HANDS LISA REIHANA New Zealand LUCIENNE RICKARD (Australia), JOHANNA BELL Australia ART CENTRE Australia ANDREW REWALD Australia/Germany GLEN STASIUK (Australia), ADRIAN NAMILA BENSON Papua New Guinea INFORMATION & CULTURAL DEMIAN DINÉYAZHI´ AND STIMSON (Canada), JAMES TYLOR SISSEL M. BERGH Norway EXCHANGE (I.C.E.) Australia R.I.S.E.: RADICAL (Australia), SALOTE TAWALE (Fiji/Australia), HUMA BHABHA Pakistan/USA IRAQUEER BLACKTOWN NATIVE ARTHUR JAFA USA INDIGENOUS SURVIVANCE HANNAH CATHERINE JONES & EMPOWERMENT USA (Iraq/Sweden) INSTITUTION Australia United Kingdom FÁTIMA RODRIGO GONZALES Peru KARIM BLEUS Haiti EMILY KARAKA New Zealand SHAHEED / WITNESS / KASHMIR ANNA BOGHIGUIAN Egypt/Canada BRONWYN KATZ South Africa India/Kashmir MOHAMED BOUROUISSA Algeria/France KYLIE KWONG Australia JUSTIN SHOULDER Australia BREAKING BREAD South Africa TAREK LAKHRISSI France STARTTS (NSW SERVICE FOR THE ERIC BRIDGEMAN AND HAUS IBRAHIM MAHAMA Ghana TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION Papua New Guinea/Australia YURIYAL KULIMOE’ANGA STONE MAKA OF TORTURE AND TRAUMA TANIA BRUGUERA Cuba Tonga/New Zealand SURVIVORS) Australia Georgia/Germany VAJIKO CHACHKHIANI NOŊGIRRŊA MARAWILI ADRIAN STIMSON ELICURA CHIHUAILAF Darrpirra/Yirrkala (Australia) Canada/Siksika Nation (Canada) Mexico/Spain NAHUELPÁN Chile TERESA MARGOLLES ANDERS SUNNA Sápmi/Sweden MISHECK MASAMVU Zimbabwe COLECTIVO AYLLU SUOHPANTERROR Argentina/Chile/Ecuador/Spain/Venezuela KATARINA MATIASEK Austria Sápmi (Finland/Sweden/Norway) VICTORIA SANTA CRUZ MAYUNKIKI Japan ELLE-MÁIJÁ TAILFEATHERS Kainai First Nation (Canada)/Sápmi (Norway) (1922-2014) Peru BARBARA MCGRADY Australia LATAI TAUMOEPEAU Australia RANDY LEE CUTLER Canada JOHN MILLER AND ELISAPETA Australia JOSE DÁVILA Mexico HETA New Zealand TENNANT CREEK BRIO WARWICK THORNTON Australia KARLA DICKENS Australia JOTA MOMBAÇA Brazil Haiti/USA PRÉFÈTE DUFFAUT (1923-2012) Haiti MOSTAFF MUCHAWAYA Zimbabwe GINA ATHENA ULYSSE AHMED UMAR Sudan/Norway LÉULI ESHRĀGHI Australia ZANELE MUHOLI South Africa Australia ANDRE
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