24th Biennale of Sydney Features 88 Artists, Opens White Bay Power Station
The 24th Biennale of Sydney, titled Ten Thousand Suns, ignites its transformative power of art across six iconic Sydney locations.
The 24th Biennale of Sydney, titled Ten Thousand Suns, ignites its transformative power of art across six iconic Sydney locations.
From 9 March to 10 June 2024, the three-month exhibition is being presented free to the public.
Marking the Biennale of Sydney’s 50th anniversary year, the 2024 edition challenges Western fatalistic constructions of the apocalypse.
The 2024 edition will feature 88 artists and collectives from 47 countries.
Selected artists have practices firmly rooted in diverse communities and artistic vocabularies.
Prepare to witness the rebirth of history as the heritage-listed White Bay Power Station, a relic of the early 20th century and once a bustling coal power station, opens its doors to the public for the first time in over a century.
With the artistic direction led by Cosmin Costinaș and Inti Guerrero, the 24th Biennale of Sydney proposes celebration as both a method and a source of joy, inspired by legacies of collective resistance and coming together to thrive in the face of injustice.
With an exhibition of contemporary art at its core, the event draws from multiple histories, voices and perspectives, to explore connected thematic threads, from the celebration of the resurgence of First Nations technologies and knowledges, the history of Islam in Australia, to Queer resilience, and the international expression of Carnivale.
The program also explores the atomic era, a concentrated time of climate alteration through human exploitation, within the context of today’s moment of climate emergency and a refusal to concede to an apocalyptic vision of the future.
Quotes from the executive team
Artistic Directors Cosmin Costinaș and Inti Guerrero said: “Ten Thousand Suns departs from an acknowledgement of a multiplicity of perspectives, cosmologies, and ways of life that have always woven together the world under the sun. A multiplicity of suns conveys ambiguous images. It evokes a scorching world, both in several cosmological visions and very much in our moment of climate emergency. But it also conveys the joy of cultural multiplicities affirmed, of First Nations understandings of the cosmos brought to the fore, and of carnivals as forms of resistance in contexts that have surpassed colonial oppression.”
John Graham, Minister for the Arts said: “Combining the old and new, in its 50th year, the Biennale of Sydney represents the oldest continuous contemporary art dialogue between the world and our own artists and audiences. This edition takes place in the city’s newest art spaces as the White Bay Power Station opens its doors for the first time since 1983.
“Starting in March 2024 the 24th Biennale of Sydney is a three-month long free celebration of innovative contemporary art, bringing together 88 exceptional Australian and international artists. The festival will introduce audiences to a range of exhibition spaces across Sydney including the Art Gallery of NSW, and the recently refurbished Artspace at The Gunnery in Woolloomooloo.”
Music Press Asia’s To Watch at Sydney Biennale
Anne Samat, Malaysian — Anne Samat is a contemporary artist from Malaysia who works with fiber and weaving techniques from archipelagic Southeast Asia. Moving beyond the rules and acceptable practices of traditional weaving, Samat creates technically complex and visually arresting sculptural wall reliefs and anthropomorphic figures that engage with issues of gender and identity.
Citra Sasmita – Citra Sasmita is a contemporary artist from Bali whose work focuses on unravelling the myths and misconceptions of Balinese art and culture. She is deeply invested in questioning a woman’s place in the social hierarchy and seeks to upend the normative construct of gender. She is featuring her work from the Timur Merah Project “The Embrace of MY Motherland”.
Simon Soon, Malaysian — Simon Soon is a Senior Lecturer in art history, artist and curator based in Malaysia. His research interest spans the 19th- and 20th-century, including the multicultural histories of photographic studios in Singapore and Malaysia.
For more information about Biennale of Sydney 2024, visit their official website here.
