Apr 13 2021

Biennale of Sydney 2022 Announces Title and First Artist List

by Pamela Wong

CAROLINA CAYCEDO is among the first batch of participants announced for the 2022 Biennale of Sydney. Pictured, the artist’s Yuma, or the Land of Friends, 2014, digital print on acrylic glass, and satellite images, 580 × 473 cm. Installation view at the 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, Museen Dahlen, 2014, Berlin. Courtesy the artist.

On April 13, the Biennale of Sydney (BoS) revealed the title and the first batch of participating artists for its 23rd edition, slated for March 12 to June 13, 2022. Titled “rīvus” (stream in Latin), the exhibition will be located along the waterways of the Gadigal and Burramattagal people, in an attempt to envision conceptual wetlands and ecosystems via the artworks and programs planned. The full venue list will be released later this year.

Led by artistic director José Roca, the curatorial team, named The Curatorium for BoS 2022, explained in a press release that they see waterways as “dynamic living systems with varying degrees of political agency.” Elaborating further on the title, the team said that “Indigenous knowledge has long understood non-human entities as living ancestral beings with a right to life that must be protected. But only recently have some plants, mountains and bodies of water been granted legal personhood . . . rīvus will enable aqueous beings – rivers, wetlands and other salt and freshwater ecosystems – to share a dialogue with artists, architects, designers, scientists, and communities.”

A total of 59 multi-disciplinary artists and collectives from 33 countries and regions has been confirmed. The 2022 edition will feature, among other participants, Indigenous artists from the Asia-Pacific such as textile sculptor Aluaiy Kaumakan from Taiwan’s Paiwan Nation, and Mata Aho Collective, comprising four Māori women artists from Aotearoa New Zealand, who incorporate traditional weaving methods in their large-scale fiber-based installations.

The initial lineup of participants for BoS 2022 is as follows:

A4C Arts for the Commons (Ecuador / Italy)

Ackroyd & Harvey (England)

Robert Andrew (Yawuru, Australia)

Ana Barboza and Rafael Freyre (Peru)

Badger Bates (Barkandji, Australia)

Milton Becerra (Venezuela / France)

Cave Urban (Australia)

Hera Büyüktaşcıyan (Turkey)

Tania Candiani (Mexico)

Yoan Capote (Cuba)

Casino Wake Up Time (Bundjalung, Kamillaroi, Australia)

Carolina Caycedo (Colombia / United States)

Alex Cerveny (Brazil)

Erin Coates (Australia)

Cian Dayrit (Philippines)

Melissa Dubbin & Aaron S. Davidson (United States)

Matias Duville (Argentina)

Clemencia Echeverri (Colombia)

Embassy of the North Sea (North Sea / The Netherlands)

Juliana Góngora Rojas (Colombia)

Julie Gough (Trawlwoolway, Australia)

Senior Craftsman Rex Greeno and son Dean Greeno (Palawa, Australia)

David Haines & Joyce Hinterding (Australia / England)

Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe (Yanomami, Venezuela)

Dale Harding (Bidjara / Ghungalu / Garingbal, Australia)

Joey Holder (England)

Marguerite Humeau (France)

Aluaiy Kaumakan (Paiwan Nation, Paridrayan Community, Taiwan)

Pushpa Kumari (India)

Eva L’Hoest (Belgium)

Mata Aho Collective (Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungungu ki Wairarapa, Aotearoa New Zealand)

Clare Milledge (Australia)

Yuko Mohri (Japan)

Moogahlin Performing Arts with Aanmitaagzi Big Medicine Studio (Murrawarri, Biripi, Australia; Ojibway / Mohawk, Mi’kmaq, Turtle Island; Canada)

New Landscapes Institute (Australia)

New-Territories _ S/he _f.Roche (France)

Leeroy New (Philippines)

Wura-Natasha Ogunji (Nigeria / United States)

Mike Parr (Australia)

Marjetica Potrč (Slovenia)

Caio Reisewitz (Brazil)

Tabita Rezaire (France / French Guiana)

Duke Riley (United States)