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Biennale of Sydney

DISCOVER ART IN SURPRISING PLACES UNTIL 5 JUNE

The doors are open to the #20BOS. With more than 200 artworks presented by 83 artists, the 20th Biennale transforms Sydney into a site of creative exploration over the coming months.

Leading contemporary artists, curators, writers and thinkers from around the world visited Sydney for the Opening Week of the 20th Biennale and participated in over 50 events, artist talks and performances.

For behind the scenes videos, artist interviews and further insights into the Opening Week of #20BOS visit: ABC Lateline, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning HeraldABC News Breakfast, ABC Arts NewsThe AustralianNY Arts MagazineTime Out, Channel Ten Eyewitness News, Channel 9 News and The Daily Telegraph.

With 17 sites around Sydney (and two digital / textual sites, knowing where to start your trip to the Biennale is the hard part! So we've put together four itineraries to help you plan. 

#1 An afternoon in the inner-city and inner-west: Spend an afternoon exploring the Biennale in Camperdown, Chippendale and Redfern.

#2 A day on Sydney Harbour: See the Biennale while spending a day on Sydney Harbour. 

#3 A quick trip: City East: A guide to the Biennale for those on the run. 

#4 Biennale Bike Route: Visit all the major locations and In-between Spaces via Sydney cycleways, shared paths and low-traffic streets. 

Experience the Embassy of Disappearance at Carriageworks, interpreted by young poets as they recite poetry in response to the exhibition. Presented in partnership with The Red Room Company, this special event unveils the results of poetry workshops held at Carriageworks, where local primary school students used language to engage, distill and represent the disappearing (and reappearing) worlds around them. These poems will form part of The Red Room Company’s The Disappearing 2.0 project.

Saturday, 2 April at 12–1pm
Carriageworks

FREE

Especially commissioned for the Embassy of Spirits, ghost telephone is a one-month long daily chain performance, comprised of new interlinked works from a set of internationally renowned artists. Don't miss the final two weeks of performances:


Philipp Gehmacher
1.30–4.30 pm
28 March – 3 April
Lower level 2 
John Kaldor Family Galleries 

Benoît Lachambre
12–3 pm 
2–11 April 
Lower Level 2 
Contemporary Galleries: When Silence Falls  

Hahn Rowe
10am and 1pm
10–15 April
Ground Level – Moving between Old Courts and 20th Century Australian Galleries
 

As part of the 20th Biennale, Nina Beier stages The Complete Works. Beier has worked with internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer Meryl Tankard, who was one of Pina Bausch’s leading performers in the Wuppertaler Tanztheater and artistic director of Australian Dance Theatre.

Sunday, 10 April at 2 pm
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

FREE

Wrap drinks at 86 George Street, Redfern with Brown Council. Photograph: Leila Joy

Brown Council creates an evolving archive of performance art told from a multiplicity of perspectives. Through participatory performance, re-enactment and lectures, Making History examines how feminist methodologies and alternative historiographical approaches can be used to reimagine past acts and events in the here-and-now.

Participants include Amy Ireland, Anne Marsh, Diana Smith, Eugene Choi, Frances Barrett, Francesca da Rimini, Mike Parr, Richard Bell, Salote Tawale with Get to Work, Sunday School and Virginia Barratt.

On the coming Saturday, Richard Bell has been invited by Brown Council to present a lecture for Making History. Everyone welcome!

Saturday, 9 April at 4 pm
86 George Street, Redfern

FREE

Looking for a creative adventure for the family this Sunday? Hop on the Hyundai Free Biennale Ferry and spend the day at the Embassy of the Real for the first Festival Day!

Festival Days are for families and people of all ages. Explore what is real and unreal, physical and fictive, in our increasingly digitised era through workshops and art stations across Cockatoo Island inspired by the artists and ideas in the exhibition. 

BOOK NOW for the Hyundai Free Biennale Ferry from Campbell's Cove Wharf to Cockatoo Island, and receive a free Biennale Map and a copy of the Kid's (Non) Passport*!

Sunday, 3 April
Sunday, 1 May
Sunday, 29 May

*The Biennale Map and Kid's (Non) Passport will be distributed on the Hyundai Free Biennale Ferry

There are a number of ways to get to the 20th Biennale via public transport. All of the major locations are easily accessible from public transport points so either hop on a train, bus, bicycle or ferry. 

Use the online Trip Planner to plan your visit.

Arunanondchai Korakrit, 'Painting with history in a room filled with people with funny names 3', 2015 (video still), HD video, 25 mins. Courtesty of the artist, CLEARING New York/Brussels and Carlos/Ishikawa, London.

We’re looking for a Grants Coordinator to join the team! Must haves: strong written and oral communication skills, highly organised and ability to work well with stakeholders at all levels.

If this sounds like you, download the Information Pack for details of how to apply.

Application closes at 5 pm on Wednesday, 13 April.

Our friends at Artist Profile are offering Biennale subscribers a Special Subscription Offer for Artist Profile: Save Up to 38%. Just enter the following promo code to claim your discount: MA/ARTB16

In the current issue, Sara Sweet previews the 20th Biennale of Sydney, the region’s oldest and foremost curated international visual art event, as well as a nationally curated event – Magic Object 2016, the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. Already open is the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, in Brisbane, the most original international visual arts project focused on Asia and the Pacific. So in 2016, visitors to Australia and locals are being offered a remarkable visual arts feast.