The PowerPoint presentation has been banned from the vast program of public activities organised for next year’s Biennale of Sydney.
In the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns, artistic director Jose Roca says he couldn’t think of anything less appealing to audiences than lectures and slide presentations.
“After living two years in virtuality we really need to be out there experiencing – cold, hot, sun, bumping into people, direct conversations,” he says. “In the Biennale you will see a lot of beauty, and materials used in particular ways that create bodily as well as conceptual experiences.”
Lleah Smith, the curator of programs and learning for the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, which kicks off next year in March. Credit:Kate Geraghty
The Biennale of Sydney is Australia’s largest curated celebration of contemporary art. Next year’s iteration will be the city’s 23rd.
For the first time since 2006, Cockatoo Island will not host the event. Chief executive officer Barbara Moore said, “For each edition of the Biennale of Sydney, the participating venues are decided in close collaboration with the artistic director and in keeping with the curatorial intent.
“For the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, it was important to artistic director Jose Roca and the curatorium to have all venues easily accessible for pedestrians, either by foot, bike, wheelchair or pram.”
Cave Urban creative director Juan Pablo Pinto (left) and project director Jed Long at the Cutaway at Barangaroo, where their suspended bamboo instillation Flow will be showing as a part of the 23rd Biennale of Sydney. Credit:Kate Geraghty
The participating venues, unveiled on Wednesday, are the Art Gallery of NSW, Barangaroo foreshore and the Cutaway, Circular Quay, the Information and Cultural Exchange at Parramatta, the Museum of Contemporary Art, National Art School in partnership with Artspace, The Rocks and Walsh Bay Arts Precinct including Pier 2/3.
The Biennale’s title is rivus, meaning stream in Latin, and the event draws its artistic inspiration literally and metaphorically from the health and wealth of the world’s rivers, oceans and estuaries. Running alongside the artistic program are more than 400 associated public events. These include 132 school visits, a school holiday program, curated films, a two-day symposium and “radical learning encounters”.
