The Biennale of Sydney is back. Australia’s largest and most respected contemporary visual arts event starts on March 21st and promises to be better than ever. From getting lost in a life sized Danish village, to a room covered in pulsating, wildly coloured vinyl tape, the Biennale invites Sydney siders and tourists to experience contemporary art first hand.
The Biennale of Sydney 2014 revolves around the thought-provoking theme of ‘You Imagine What You Desire’ and will run until June 9th. Curated by Juliana Engberg and presented at inner-city and harbourside locations across Sydney, the Biennale will display the work of more than 90 artists from 31 countries.
‘You Imagine What You Desire is an energy filled biennale that presents a grand multiplicity of things,’ says Engberg. ‘It is an exploration of the world and contemporary aesthetic experience through inventions, desires and propositions.’
The artists involved have create their works ‘so that we might, temporarily, step aside from our commonplace experiences and feel something uncanny and unusual. Artists bring awareness to our world in transformation. They seek the possibilities of better worlds.’
A highlight of the festival will be Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s City of Forking Paths (2014), which uses a smartphone or mobile device to visually navigate a route from Customs House through the Rocks. As you walk, you are invited to follow the video and audio on screen, which has been previously recorded at the same location, with invented scenarios and incidents to discover along the way.
Tori Wrånes Stone and Singer is also a stand out, a piece of character-driven audiovisual kookinessm featuring a troupe of dancing creatures, and a brass section supporting her from the rafters.
Rescu. Recommends: Make a day trip to Cockatoo Island and enjoy contemporary art in the sunshine, against the stunning backdrop of Sydney Harbour. Cockatoo Island offers a number of exciting pieces – inside the resonant Turbine Shop, Eva Koch presents an all-encompassing projection of Gljufrabui, the Icelandic waterfall, accompanied by a roaring soundtrack. Another space on the island has been transformed into an anthropomorphised wonderland, in the style of a typical Danish village, by artist duo Randi & Katrine.
The 19th Biennale of Sydney 2014
What: A cross Sydney exhibition of more than 200 artworks ranging from site-specific installations to sensory, multi-media projects, providing invigorating and mind-altering experiences for visitors of all ages.
When: March 21st to June 9th
Where: Five venues, the Art gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Carriageworks, Artspace, and World-Heritage Listed former shipyard and prison, Cockatoo Island.
More information: biennaleofsydney.com.au
