Behold the Beauty of Biennale

Now, this is something awesome that you MUST put into your 2018 diary! You’ll definitely have your autumn entertainment sorted.

The 21st Biennale of Sydney is kicking off on the 16^th of March and, trust us, you definitely want to get involved. Check out the goodies on offer here.

The fantastic thing is that it runs over three months so you definitely have plenty of time to take in all the fun that you fancy.

Celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, Biennale rolls around every two years so don’t just casually say “I’ll do that next year”, DO IT NOW!

During the festival, art takes over Sydney. It will seem like everywhere you look, walk, and sit, there’s something to see. There are multiple free exhibitions, so there’s no excuse!

This year’s theme is ‘SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement’. We’re not sure exactly what that means but it’s certainly intriguing!

Biennale sees 70 artists exhibited over seven venues. The venues taking part include the Art Gallery of NSW, Artspace, Carriageworks, Cockatoo Island, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Sydney Opera House and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.

Running until the 11^th of June, Mami Kataoka’s first Biennale as artistic director is sure to wow us all.

Kataoka states, “The 21^st Biennale of Sydney examines the world today by borrowing the word ‘superposition’, the quantum mechanical term that refers to an overlapping situation.” She then goes on to describe that each artist has very much interpreted this concept in their own way so that’s even more of a reason to explore the festival.

To give you a head start on the top things to see, here are our four picks of the bunch.

Four works not to miss

Ai Weiwei

The headline artist this year is Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei. He will be delivering a keynote speech and screening his new feature-length documentary, Human Flow (both of which are sold out), he’s that popular! He is also exhibiting at Cockatoo Island where he is installing a 60-metre long boat/sculpture, entitled Law of the Journey, filled with over 250 figures made from the same materials as boats used by asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea as a comment on the global refugee crisis.

Brook Andrew 

Born in Sydney, Brook Andrew now predominately works in Berlin, Melbourne and Frankfurt. Brook will be showcasing five new sculptures at the Museum of Contemporary Art, alongside artworks by 17 other artists. Brook’s five sculptures each represent “one of the five elements of the universe according to the philosophy of Wuxing”.

Akira Takayama

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art will present a video that documents a “participatory event by Japanese theatre-director and artist Akira Takayama who has invited residents of Sydney to perform a song passed down through their family” at Sydney Town Hall. 

N.S Harsha

Harsha’s piece is being showcased at the Art Gallery of NSW and is a mighty one! The 12-metre long mirrored commission incorporates 900 hand-carved teak elephants.

words by emily carstairs