Overview
As announced back in April, 2022's Biennale of Sydney will focus on bodies of water, all under the theme Rīvus — which means 'stream' in Latin. But when the citywide event unleashes its 23rd program, it won't be bringing its H2O-centric artworks to one of its usual venues. Water might be on everyone's mind at the Biennale, but Cockatoo Island and its ocean surroundings aren't being called upon this time around.
Instead, the Biennale of Sydney 2022 has unveiled a list of exhibition venues that includes the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Circular Quay, Information + Cultural Exchange, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, National Art School in partnership with Artspace, The Rocks and Walsh Bay Arts Precinct including Pier 2/3. And, as also revealed earlier in the year, it'll still have a big presence by the harbour — setting up shop at The Cutaway at Barangaroo Reserve for the first time instead.
The full program won't be announced until February, if you're wondering what'll be catching your eye at all these spots. But the Biennale's Curatorium — which includes Artistic Director José Roca, Art Gallery of New South Wales Head of Learning and Participation Paschal Daantos Berry, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia curator Anna Davis, Information and Cultural Exchange First Nations programs producer Hannah Donnelly and Artspace curator Talia Linz — has provided a few sneak peeks. A big drawcard: The Waterhouse, the event's big public program that'll be filled with talks and experiences.
So, you'll be able to take self-guided walks as part of a series called Space In-Between, which'll also include site-specific exercises created at a number of the Biennale's venues by Roca, Julie Gough, Pablo Helguera, Astrida Neminas, Hanna Tuulikki and Tais Rose Wae. This includes mindful walking, where you'll pay particular attention to the surrounding landscape — and, in great news for wheelchair users and users of other mobility devices, the series will be fully accessible.
Liam Cameron
Also on the bill: Building Blocks, where you'll be able to learn more about art-making processes and the working methods behind them. A three-hour experience featuring Arts for the Commons, Cave Urban, Paula de Solminihac, Clare Milledge and Diana Scherer, it'll include a communal meal where everyone will be encouraged to share water stories together.
Then there's Gesture — with artists Angie Goto and Sue Jo Wright, who are deaf, guiding audiences through the exhibition purely by using their bodies to draw attention to artworks, spaces and everyone taking part.
Plus, two-day symposium River Conversations will get people talking about water — with attendees travelling down the Parramatta River on the first day, and spending the second at Barangaroo. The lineup has been curated in collaboration with water law and policy specialist Erin O'Donnell and legal anthropologist Alessandro Pelizzon, and will feature local and international First Nations voices such as Badger Bates, D Harding, Justice Md Ashraful Kamal, Bradley Moggridge, Dr Anne Poelina and Leanne Tobin.
As for who else is taking part across the three-month-long event, the Biennale also revealed its first roster of 59 participants earlier in 2021, with the list spanning folks from six continents and 33 countries — complete with a heavy local component — and including artists, designers, architects and scientists.
And if it feels like Sydney only just enjoyed the last Biennale, there's a reason for that. After the 2020 event was forced to take an unforeseen break due to the pandemic, it wrapped up later last year than initially planned.
The 23rd Biennale of Sydney will run from Saturday, March 12–Monday, June 13, 2022. Entry will be free, as always. We'll keep you posted on the whole artist lineup and exhibition program when it's announced in February.
Top image: The Biennale of Sydney's public program participants including (from left) Cave Urban (Sophie Lanigan, Juan Pablo Pinto,Mercurio Alvarado and Jed Long), DavidHaines and Joyce Hinterding and Clare Milledge, pictured with Lleah Smith (centre), Curator ofPrograms and Learning, at The Cutaway, Barangaroo. Photograph: Daniel Boud.