Since 1895, Biennale Exhibitions travel the world showcasing the best contemporary artists and the most ground-breaking artworks. I feel very lucky to be in Sydney this year and to experience every little piece of this amazing artistic event.

THE BEAUTY OF DISTANCE Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age is the theme of the 17th Biennale of Sydney, curated by Artistic Director David Elliott, and “present diverse cultures on the equal playing field of contemporary art, where no culture can assume superiority over any other.”

“Distance allows us to be ourselves despite the many capacities we share. We are all the same, yet different and it is our differences that make us – according to the circumstances – beautiful, terrifying, attractive, boring, sexy, unsettling, fascinating, challenging, funny, stimulating, horrific or even many of these at once.

More importantly, the idea of distance expresses the condition of art itself. Art is of life, runs parallel to life and is sometimes about life. But, for art to be art, it must maintain a distance from life. Without distance, art has no authority and is no longer special. As art depends on the beauty of distance, beauty in art – a resolution of energy, thought and feeling in aesthetic form – depends on distance as well. Beauty itself can, at times, be terrible as well as alluring. Art can reflect the sweetest or strongest of emotions, it can also express the most traumatic events but, unlike life, nobody gets hurt.”

From May 12 to August 1, more than 440 works by 166 artists and collaborators from 36 countries will be showcased for free to the public in different venues throughout Sydney, from Cockatoo Island, Pier 2/3, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Sydney Opera House to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Artspace and the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Grand Court).
It is all very exciting and I can’t wait to have a walk around the city, a picnic in the Botanic Gardens and couple of hours drawing in the galleries… and of course, report on everything this amazing Biennale has to offer.

Stay tuned for more!

For more information on venues, programs, artists and workshops visit 17th Biennale of Sydney website.

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