‘The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed’, a quote from leading science fiction author William Gibson is the source of inspiration for the 20th Biennale of Sydney, the largest contemporary visual arts event in the Asia-Pacific.
The Biennale is structured in thematic clusters with each participating venue designated as ‘embassies of thought’: Cockatoo Island (Embassy of the Real); Art Gallery of New South Wales (Embassy of Spirits); Carriageworks (Embassy of Disappearance); Artspace (Embassy of Non-Participation); Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (Embassy of Translation); and a bookshop (Embassy of Stanislaw Lem). For the first time, a former train station, Mortuary Station (Embassy of Transition) will also be a Biennale venue. In addition, a series of in-between projects have been commissioned for the Biennale including a project by artist collective Brown Council.
Artistic Director Stephanie Rosenthal said: “One of the key ideas this Biennale explores is how the common distinction between the virtual and the physical has become ever more elusive.
A focus on ‘in-between spaces’ is key: in terms of our interaction with the digital world, displacement from and occupation of spaces and land, and the interconnections and overlaps between politics and financial power structures.”
The Biennale will explore, in depth, the practice of 73 Australian and international artists including Richard Bell, Daniel Boyd, Marco Chiandetti, William Forsythe, Bharti Kher, Lee Mingwei, Mike Parr, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu, Xu Zhen and others. Around 70 per cent of the represented artists will present new commissioned works, including a series of performances and site-specific installations.
20th Biennale of Sydney
18 March to 5 June, 2016
Sydney
#20BOS
Bharti Kher, Six Women, 2013–15 (detail) plaster of paris, wood, metal, 123 x 61 x 95.5 cm each
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth, London, New York and Zurich
Photograph: Bharti Kher Studio
