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On this day in
1832 was born Paul Gustave Doré, French artist, engraver, and illustrator.
1872 Russian pianist and composer Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was born
1993 died Rudolf Nureyev , one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century
2004 died Francesco Scavullo, American photographer best known for his celebrity portraits. |
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Biennale of Sidney: Revolutions - Forms That Turn - works that spin, go in reverse, mirror, make noise and blow up!
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| Thursday, May 29, 2008 |
The Biennale of Sydney (funded in 1973 and ranked today as one of the world’s leading international festivals of contemporary art) presents its 2008 program, celebrating its 35th birthday with a sensational line up of artists and projects that will keep growing until opening day and beyond.
The 2008 Biennale of Sydney is presented at some of Sydney’s finest harbourside sites and visitors can take the Biennale ArtWalk from venue to venue along the water’s edge.
For the first time the exhibition will utilise the astonishing former prison and shipyard, Cockatoo Island. For the fifth time Sydney’s only remaining undeveloped historical wharf – Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay – will feature as a venue. Sydney’s leading arts institutions, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Artspace will again be dedicated to the country’s foremost international art event.
The free exhibition is expected to welcome more than a quarter of a million visitors, and more than 180 artists will participate with over fifty newly created artworks presented alongside some of the world’s most ground-breaking art from the avant-gardes of last century.
Celebrating this milestone exhibition, Australia’s leading international contemporary arts festival has drawn on the expertise of renowned curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev. Billed this year as a celebration of the defiant spirit, the exhibition will bring together some of the most revolutionary artists the world has ever known alongside the shining stars of today.
Tracey Moffatt, Marie Curie (from Under the Sign of Scorpio), a series of 40 images, archival pigment ink on acid-free rag paper, 43.2 x 58.4 cm Courtesy the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney |
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The theme of the 16th Biennale, Revolutions – Forms That Turn, suggests the impulse to revolt, a desire for change, and seeing the world differently. Many works in this year’s exhibition will be participatory, encouraging people to step inside art and discover new ways of looking and thinking about life today. Movement is a strong feature – works turn, spin, go in reverse, mirror, make noise and even blow up.
Renowned South African artist William Kentridge will present a new work which expands his celebrated animations. The MCA – Museum of Contemporary Art – will display Maurizio Cattelan’s famed suspended horse Novecento, while Cockatoo Island will see more than twenty artists’ projects realised. Dan Perjovschi will scribble his famous drawings on the façade of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and at Pier 2/3, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller will create a spectacular sound installation – Murder of Crows. Some of the twentieth century’s most revolutionary bworks are being brought to Sydney and to Australia for the first time. These create a vibrant historical context for the voices of today. They include works by renowned artists such as Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys, Jean Tinguely, Atsuko Tanaka and 2007 Venice Biennale Golden Lion winner, León Ferrari.
Artists will come from Asia and the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, Africa and the Pacific. Artists’ talks, performances (including a new work by Pierre Huyghe at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall), a symposium, film screenings, and family events will keep visitors engaged, delighted and challenged throughout the festival.
Further information
Biennal of Sydney 2008
Biennal of Sydney 2006 |
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