22nd Biennale of Sydney: NIRIN

The 22^nd Biennale of Sydney is artist- and First Nations-led, presenting an expansive exhibition of contemporary art that connects local communities and global networks.

Under the artistic direction of Brook Andrew, the exhibition includes  artworks across six sites: National Art School, Art Gallery of NSW, Artspace, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Cockatoo Island and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

Artists: Tony Albert (Australia); Randy Lee Cutler (Canada); Noreen Hudson, Vanessa Inkamala and Ivy Pareroultja from Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) Art Centre (Australia); Hannah Catherine Jones (UK); Teresa Margolles (Mexico); Andrew Rewald (Australia); and Lucienne Rickard/​Adrift Lab (Australia).

‘The urgent states of our contemporary lives are laden with unresolved past anxieties and hidden layers of the supernatural,’ said Brook Andrew. ​‘NIRIN is about to expose this, demonstrating that artists and creatives have the power to resolve, heal, dismember and imagine futures of transformation for re-setting the world. Sovereignty is at the centre of these actions. I hope that NIRIN (edge) gathers life forces of integrity to push through often impenetrable noise.’

NAS Artist Insider interviews

Tony Albert talks about creating his first work in glass, inspired by the original stained glasswindows in the National Art School’s historic Chapel
https://​archive​.nas​.edu​.au/​t​o​n​y​-​a​l​b​e​r​t​-​i​n​t​e​r​v​i​e​w​-​n​irin/

Randy Lee Cutler and Andrew Rewald talk about collaborating from opposite sides of the world and their shared interest in the secret life of minerals
https://​archive​.nas​.edu​.au/​a​r​t​i​s​t​-​i​n​s​i​d​e​r​-​r​a​n​d​y​-​l​e​e​-​c​u​t​l​e​r​-​a​n​d​r​e​w​-​r​e​wald/

Lucienne Rickard talks about bringing her yearlong drawing performance project Extinction Studies to Sydney for the Biennale
https://​archive​.nas​.edu​.au/​a​r​t​i​s​t​-​i​n​s​i​d​e​r​-​l​u​c​i​e​n​n​e​-​r​i​c​kard/

Image: Teresa Margolles, Untitled, 2020, mixed-media installation. Installation view (2020) for the 22^nd Biennale of Sydney, National Art School. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich. Photograph: Zan Wimberley.