The Biennale has activated this historic post-industrial space that juts over the water in the Harbour Bridge’s shadow over decades. However, in 2022 it returns to Pier 2/3 for the first time in ten years, after its major redevelopment as part of Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, which is now home to nine major resident arts companies.
Many of the works in this space respond to “briny” environments, where saltwater meets freshwater. Many of the participants showing here also use their practice to serve as cross-cultural eco-activism and truth-telling exercises. Eighteen individual and group participants are showing in Pier 2/3 alone, and some are highlighted below.
Cuban artist Yoan Capote presents Requiem (Plegaria), an imposing gold leaf-coated depiction of a seascape. As one moves closer to the painting’s metallic surface, it is revealed that the ripples of the ocean are actually made up of hundreds of fish hooks impaled into the surface, giving the at-first peaceful image a sinister edge.
Casino Wake Up Time, a collective of Indigenous women in Northern NSW working in traditional Bundjalung weaving, presents a colourful suspended installation that explores stories of removal.
British-Finnish artist, composer and performer Hanna Tuulikki presents a new video work looking at the mythical seal-human-hybrid beings known as selkies Her research has unveiled the selkie myth as a vessel for grief, and she explores this in her work and sings a piece she composed that explores multispecies communication.
The Torres Strait 8, a collective on the frontlines of advocacy for the climate crisis in Torres Strait, participates with a hybrid art-as-protest piece featuring campaign materials created as part of the Our Islands Our Home Campaign. The collective’s participation in the Biennale continues to magnify the campaign's fight for justice for the communities of Zenadh Kes in holding the Australian Government accountable on climate change policy.
A body of work from Brooklyn artist Duke Riley, including a newly commissioned plywood engraving, features images and stories from the Newtown Creek in Brooklyn, one of the most polluted waterways in the United States. It's also home to many people that illegally moor their vessels there.
And Thai artist Imhathai Suwatthanasilp creates delicate works from human hair, fish scales and termite wings.
The Biennale of Sydney is showing at Pier 2/3 daily from 10am to 5pm, with extended hours until 9pm on Wednesdays. The exhibition is free to visit. To beat the queues, you can register here.
