The ‘Fremantle Biennale’ is a festival of site-responsive contemporary art, which transforms the West Australian city into an immersive art gallery for two weeks every two years. The third iteration, titled ‘CROSSING 21’, on show from 5 to 21 November across multiple sites, explores Walyalup’s (Fremantle’s) intrinsic past and present relationship with the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River); tracing its shores from Walyalup to Dyoondalup (Point Walter) and through to the Derbarl Nara (Coogee Beach), with a focus of activity between the two iconic bridges. This is a place of alchemy where histories intersect and collide, where the bilya (river) meets the wardan (sea) in a place of confluence.
Andrew Sunley Smith, Overload. Courtesy the artist and Fremantle Biennale, Western Australia
When the world is experiencing health, social, economic, and environmental crises, ‘CROSSING 21’ looks to art as a form of connection. Eighteen artworks and performances respond to Fremantle’s built, natural and historic environment, each aiming to facilitate new conversations and share collective stories. Highlights include; Moombaki, a fleet of over 160 drones taking flight over water in an epic spectacle of light, movement and sound, to tell ancient and living stories of place by emerging Nyoongar artist Ilona McGuire & Elders. Andrew Sunley Smith’s Overload comprises a submerged, marooned vessel excessively loaded with local limestone rock spall, designed to symbolise commerce and export. And for Outside In, Amrita Hepi sets up an international hotline for messages and song requests for a loved one you are missing and haven’t seen due to the nature of confinement. A lone and lit podium will become the site for re-dancing the collected dedications in a continuous audio and performance work during the Biennale.
