Biennale of Sydney. Overview of the Biennials 1973

Biennale of Sydney
Australia

Biennale of Sydney
Overview of the Biennials 1973 - 2004
Information by the organizer

2004

On Reason and Emotion
51 artists from 32 countries
Curator: Isabel Carlos

On Reason and Emotion, inspired by neurologist Antonio Damasio, features 51 artists from 32 countries and brings together sophisticated concepts and artworks that demand the viewer to use all their senses, and to be challenged to think and feel. The viewer is led through the city of Sydney creating a walkable circuit from one venue to another. The close proximity of venues in 2004 allows the Biennale of Sydney exhibition to lead the viewer through the city of Sydney, creating a walkable circuit between venues. Much of the exhibition will be sited within Sydney's major art museums and galleries, however a number of new projects will be created for specific sites at outdoor locations within the city, such as the Royal Botanic Gardens and the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.

Participating countries:
Angola, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Venezuela

2004

2002

(The World May Be) Fantastic
56 artists from 22 countries
Richard Grayson, Curator
(Advisory Panel: Susan Hiller, Ralph Rugoff and Janos Sugar)

This city-wide event encompassed 8 venues, including a vacant commercial building in Orwell Street, Potts Point. The exhibition focused on artists who use fictions, fakes, invented methodologies and experiments as a basis for their work. The projects celebrated the potential of the creative act to generate alternative worlds, suggesting that our everyday belief systems may be constructed, hallucinatory and changeable. Over 245,000 people visited the exhibition, exceeding all previous attendance records.

Participating countries:
Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, USA, Vietnam

2000

48 artists from 23 countries
Nick Waterlow, Chair of International Selection Committee
Selection Committee: Fumio Nanjo, Louise Neri, Hetti Perkins, Sir Nicholas Serota, Robert Storr, Harald Szeemann

This city-wide event encompassed 6 venues and also included a number of affiliated exhibitions and satellite events throughout the great Sydney area. Unlike previous Biennales, an International Selection Committee, comprised of internationally distinguished directors and curators and chaired by Nick Waterlow, selected works for the 2000 exhibition. Fumio Nanjo, ISC member, said of the final selection, "The participants of the Biennale of Sydney 2000 are artists who express and question their vision of reality in works which embrace changes and the possibility of change." This was one of the most popular of all Biennale exhibitions, attracting over 200,000 visitors.

Participating countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Congo, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mali, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA

1998

Every Day
101 artists from 28 countries
Jonathan Watkins, Artistic Director

This city-wide event encompassed 10 venues including heritage finger wharf Pier 2/3 and Goat Island. Numerous site specific works were created in Sydney in response to new locations and public sites. The exhibition examined notions of the temporal and spatial "every day" and artists' works came from inspiration closer to home, using simpler expressions and materials.

Participating countries:
Australia, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, USA

1996

Jurassic Technologies Revenant
48 artists from 24 countries
Artistic Director: Dr Lynne Cooke

Preceded by the Biennale of Ideas in 1995, the 10th Biennale of Sydney presented a re-appraisal of older reproductive technologies including photography, film and print media. The politics of identity, memory versus history, the fantastic and Gothic were key themes.

Participating countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, USA

1992/1993

The Boundary Rider
126 artists from 33 countries
Artistic Director: Tony Bond

The 9th Biennale reflected a shift away from Europe and the USA and over 90 per cent of the artists had not been seen in Australia before. Work of controversial artists such as Orlan, examined transgressions of conceptual and cultural boundaries. An extensive program of film, lectures and symposia explored the issues raised in this exhibition.

Participating countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Haiti, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, USA

1990

The Readymade Boomerang: Certain Relations in 20th Century Art
148 artists from 28 countries
Artistic Director: René Block

The 8th Biennale examined the distinctive historical connections of the "readymade" from the early 1900s to the 1980s, based on the work of Duchamp, Man Ray and Picabia. A comprehensive satellite program of music, performance, lectures, symposia and workshops at various Sydney venues, complemented the exhibition.

Participating countries:
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (East), Germany (West), Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Yugoslavia

1988

From the Southern Cross: A View of World Art c1940 - 1988
127 artists from 15 countries
Artistic Director: Nick Waterlow

The exhibition featured key early works of artists such as Leger, Klein, Balthus and Beckmann. Produced in association with the national Bicentennial Authority, the exhibition was shown in both Sydney and Melbourne. For the second time Pier 2/3 (a heritage finger wharf at Walsh Bay) became a central venue for the exhibition and the site for a spectacular Aboriginal piece involving 200 traditional burial posts. A special section on Japanese contemporary and performing art was presented.

Participating countries:
Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany (East), Germany (West), Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, USA, Yugoslavia

1986

Origins, Originality + Beyond
123 artists from 21 countries
Artistic Director: Nick Waterlow

The exhibition questioned the concept of what constituted originality in the work of artists as diverse as Malcolm McLaren, Eric Fischl and Carlo Maria Mariani. It explored the origins, death and resurrection of form and imagery, as well as the transition of modernism to post modernism.

Participating countries:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany (West), Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, USA, Yugoslavia

1984

Private Symbol: Social Metaphor
66 artists from 20 countries
Artistic Director: Leon Paroissien

The fifth Biennale focussed on the expression of private views and obsessions as well as broader political statements in the work of a diverse group of artists, including Haake, Kruger, Cragg and Gilbert and George.

Participating countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany (West), Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, USA, Yugoslavia

1982

Vision in Disbelief
209 artists from 17 countries
Artistic Director: William Wright

Celebrating the return to painting and more traditional forms of art, the exhibition also included separate performance, sound and video sections. The event was broad-based and included an extensive public program of lectures and conferences, as well as a dynamic satellite program of independent but related exhibitions.

Participating countries:
Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany (West), Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, USA, Yugoslavia

1979

European Dialogue
131 artists from 19 countries
Artistic Director: Nick Waterlow

Featuring 131 artists from 19 countries, European Dialogue questioned the predominance of New York as the centre of the international contemporary art world. The exhibition explored the direct links between Europe and Australia and the influence of European art on Australian art.

Participating countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany (East), Germany (West), Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, USA, Yugoslavia

1976

Recent International Forms in Art
80 artists from 10 countries
Artistic Director: Thomas G. McCullough

The Biennale was exhibited at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which remained the major venue for all subsequent exhibitions. It included 80 artists from 10 countries and focussed on new forms in sculpture including performance, mail art and video works, as well as more traditional forms.

Participating countries:
Australia, France, Germany (West), Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, USA

1973

The Biennale of Sydney
37 artists from 15 countries
Coordinator: Anthony Wintherbotham

The newly opened Sydney Opera House was the location for the predominantly Asian and Pacific region exhibition of 37 artists, focussed on contemporary architecture and new dimensions in sculpture and painting.

Participating countries:
Australia, Bangladesh, Germany (West) Great Britain, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Spain, Thailand, USA

Print version

Sydney