The Biennale of Sydney has announced further artists and artworks for its 24th edition titled Ten Thousand Suns, presented free to the public from 9 March to 10 June 2024.
The largest contemporary art event of its kind in Australia, the 24th Biennale of Sydney will be presented at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace, Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney Opera House, UNSW Galleries and at the iconic and recently restored White Bay Power Station.
With the artistic direction led by Cosmin Costinas 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, to Queer resilience, and carnival traditions across the world.
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.
Marking the Biennale of Sydney’s 50th anniversary year, the 2024 edition challenges Western fatalistic constructions of the apocalypse and embraces a hopeful outlook around a possible future lived in joy, produced in common and shared widely.
The 2024 edition will feature 96 artists and collectives from 50 countries and territories including Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Niue, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine. Selected artists have practices firmly rooted in diverse communities and artistic vocabularies.
Audiences will experience dynamic artworks, large-scale installations and site-specific projects by international artists such as Frank Bowling, Andrew Thomas Huang, Adebunmi Gbadebo, Pacific Sisters, Trevor Yeung, Sana Shahmuradova Tanska, Maru Yacco and Anne Samat, alongside Australian artists including Gordon Hookey, Tracey Moffatt & Gary Hillberg, Serwah Attafuah, William Yang, VNS Matrix, Kirtika Kain, Joel Sherwood Spring and Juan Davila.
As a Visionary Partner, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has worked with the Biennale of Sydney to commission 14 First Nations artists, including (but not exclusively) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to create new work for the edition.
These artists include Mangala Bai Maravi, Doreen Chapman, Megan Cope, Cristina Flores Pescorán, Freddy Mamani, Gail Mabo, Dylan Mooney, Orquídeas Barrileteras, John Pule, Eric-Paul Riege, Darrell Sibosado, Kaylene Whiskey, Yangamini, and Nikau Hindin in collaboration with Ebonie Fifita-Laufilitoga-Maka, Hina Puamohala Kneubuhl, Hinatea Colombani, Kesaia Biuvanua and Rongomai Grbric-Hoskins.
They have worked closely with the inaugural Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain First Nations Curatorial Fellow Tony Albert to realise their artworks. This is part of the ongoing partnership between the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and the Biennale of Sydney, which also includes a creative collaboration with the Sydney Opera House for the recently launched Badu Gili: Celestial.
“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,” said Artistic Directors Cosmin Costinas and Inti Guerrero.
“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.”
“The 24th Biennale of Sydney works with these different layers of meaning, acknowledging the deep ecological crises derived from colonial and capitalist exploitation while refusing to concede to an apocalyptic vision of the future.”
“The 24th Biennale of Sydney proposes instead solar and radiant forms of resistance that affirm collective possibilities around a future that is not only possible, but necessary to be lived in joy and plenitude,” said Costinas and Guerrero.
The Biennale of Sydney has announced further artists for Ten Thousand Suns including: Carrolup Child Artists: Arthur Bropho, Alma Cuttabut, Parnell Dempster, Phillip Jackson, Gregory Kelly, Edie Wallam, and five once known child artists, Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum, Magdalena Meak, Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano, Pauline Yearbury, r e a, Robert Gabris, Rotimi Fani-Kayode.
“With just four weeks to go until we throw open the doors to the 24th Biennale of Sydney, the excitement is palpable,” said Barbara Moore, Chief Executive Officer, Biennale of Sydney.
“It is an absolute thrill and honour to be announcing the full list of artists participating in Ten Thousand Suns, and where you can catch this incredible contemporary art during the three months of the festival.”
“Entry to the exhibition is free, opening the doors wide to all, and inviting you to immerse yourself in the boundless creativity that transcends borders. This Biennale promises not only the most dynamic contemporary art from around the globe, but also a rich tapestry of music, food, talks, tours, and performances.”
“As we count down to the opening night event, Lights On – a momentous occasion that unveils White Bay Power Station after more than a century, I invite you to be part of this unmissable experience. The Biennale of Sydney awaits, ready to ignite your senses and kindle the spirit of artistic exploration,” said Moore.
The Biennale of Sydney opens to the public: 9 March – 10 June 2024. For more information and full program, visit: www.biennaleofsydney.art for details.
Image: Anne Samat, Never Walk In Anyone’s Shadow, 2023 Rattan sticks, kitchen and garden utensils, beads, ceramic, metal and plastic ornaments, 365.75 x 731.5 x 25.5 cm Photography: Brian Holcombe. Courtesy of the artist and Marc Straus, New York