Post-colonialism and power and are at the cutting edge for the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Penny Craswell discovers.
February 11th, 2010
Artistic Director, David Elliott presented the program of groundbreaking work from around the world to an assembled who’s who of Australia’s visual art community.
Elliott’s experience as a leading director of contemporary art museums (including the Istanbul Modern, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm) and curator of a series of ground-breaking exhibitions has resulted in a democratic, pluralist program, encompassing works from across the globe.
Drawing these works together under the title ‘The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age’, Elliott demonstrates his skill as a cultural historian, drawing together art that examines the human condition.
Themes covered in the exhibition include power, history, racism, terror, poverty, superstition and the experience of the ‘other’.
“Distance can be a very good and necessary thing,” Elliott says. “Distance gives us space and freedom.”
Making use of Cockatoo Island once more, the exhibition will include new works by approximately 50 Australian and international artists.
“The aim of this biennale is to bring together work from diverse cultures, at the same time, on the equal playing field of contemporary art, where no culture can assume superiority over any other.”
Biennale of Sydney
biennaleofsydney.com.au
Hero image: Chinese-born, New York-based Cai Guo-Qiang’s major installation for Cockatoo Island’s Turbine Hall is ‘Inopportune: Stage One’ (2004), a series of exploding cars that comments on beauty, horror and terrorism
Brook Andrew’s ‘Jumping Castle War Memorial’ (2010) contains a single, male presence and is decorated with a pattern based on Wiradjuri design – those over 16 years who choose to jump will have to consider if they are stomping on Australian indigenous culture.
New Zealand artist Daniel Crook’s video ‘Static No. 12 (tai chi forms)’ (2009-2010) captures and distorts a man performing Tai Chi.
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Within the intimate confines of compact living, where space is at a premium, efficiency is critical and dining out often trumps home cooking, Gaggenau’s 400 Series Culinary Drawer proves that limited space can, in fact, unlock unlimited culinary possibilities.
XTRA celebrates the distinctive and unexpected work of Magis in their Singapore showroom.
In this candid interview, the culinary mastermind behind Singapore’s Nouri and Appetite talks about food as an act of human connection that transcends borders and accolades, the crucial role of technology in preserving its unifying power, and finding a kindred spirit in Gaggenau’s reverence for tradition and relentless pursuit of innovation.
To honour Chef James Won’s appointment as Gaggenau’s first Malaysian Culinary Partner, we asked the gastronomic luminaire about parallels between Gaggenau’s ethos and his own practice, his multidimensional vision of Modern Malaysian – and how his early experiences of KFC’s accessible, bold flavours influenced his concept of fine dining.
Meeting Green Star requirements, Screenwood ensures great design is also sustainable design.
The free four-month public program nurtures the relationship between design and contemporary culture, with playful crisscrosses of diverse creative disciplines embedding ideas of architecture in the public mind. Indesign Live reporter Linsey Rendell looks at what’s in store for visitors attending MPavilion 2015.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Ross Gardam’s installation, LUMINESCENT DUALITY, was a Milan 2025 standout. We took a tour of the space with the Australian designer to gain some deeper insights into the pieces on show.
Global e-commerce tech company ROKT has a revitalised, art-filled workplace in Sydney thanks to Hammond Studio’s reuse-focused design.