Held every two years, the Biennale of Sydney stages a three-month exhibition, plus a programme of special events, public tours, artist talks, film screenings and international guest lectures across Sydney “ and admission to the exhibition and these events is FREE. In 2010, the 17th Biennale of Sydney will be situated across the heart of the city in a series of venues:
Cockatoo Island – Cai Guo-Qiang’s ‘Inopportune: Stage One’ (2004) is the spectacular centrepiece of the many artworks displayed on the island for the Biennale. Free ferries to the island are running from Commissioners Steps, Circular Quay.
Pier 2/3 – Paul McCarthy and other leading artists are exhibiting in the cavernous Pier 2/3 space. The Pier can be accessed on foot or via free ferry from Commissioners Steps, Circular Quay.
Museum of Contemporary Art – the Biennale of Sydney continues its longstanding association with the MCA, which has dedicated all four levels to showcasing the work of 94 Australian and international contemporary artists. Artists include Louise Bourgeois, the Chapman Brothers, Brett Graham, Steve McQueen, David Noonan, Roxy Paine, Shen Shaomin, Fred Tomaselli and Bill Viola.
Sydney Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Artspace, and The Art Gallery of NSW – Works by Japanese artist Hisashi Tenmyouya and Chinese artist Wang Qingsong.
What about the idea of “songs of survival”?
It’s making an analogy between art and music, and between folk art and folk music. When you become urban you forget these old ways; you have rationalist knowledge and new systems of doing things. And basically we’re going back to a pre-Enlightened way of looking at things. At least, recognising that encyclopaedias are close cousins of prisons.
For instance, indigenousness is a subject you can’t avoid in Australia, quite rightly. There’s a lot of indigenous art in the show – because it’s good art, not because it’s indigenous! We’re showing Inuit artists from northwest Canada, traditional and also non-traditional.
