Slow Moving Waters

Overview

For many, it felt like 2020 was the year that time stood still. So, you won't have any trouble relating to the works showcased in the TarraWarra Biennial 2021 exhibition, Slow Moving Waters. Running from Saturday, March 27, to Sunday, July 11, the show centres on ideas of slowness and drift, and the way these concepts are mirrored in the winding Yarra River, which curves its way near the museum's grounds.

Here, 25 Australian artists present new works embracing slowness, bucking against the accelerated rush that can be all too present in today's modern world. Among them, you'll spy pieces embracing the scale of time, or exploring the idea of idleness, with many works designed to change and evolve over the course of the exhibition.

Megan Cope, 'Currents II' 2018, courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane.

You'll catch a live art installation by Quandamooka artist Megan Cope featuring slowly melting plant extracts, and an ever-moving sculpture work by Robert Andrew, which pens the same word over and over again in cursive script. Needlepoint designs by Louisa Bufardeci show some of the ways that a place can stick to us, while Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones shares the story of how the Birrarung (Yarra River) came to be, using a series of sound recordings and installations spread throughout the whole exhibition.

Robert Andrew, 'Continuing Depths of Connection' 2018–19, courtesy of the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. Photographed by Louis Lim.

Top image: Yasmin Smith, 'Seine River Basin' 2019, (commissioned for Cosmopolis #2 - Rethinking the Human, Centre Pompidou, Paris) courtesy of the artist and The Commercial, Sydney. Installation view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, photographed by Elle Fredericksen.