Brook Andrew appointed Artistic Director of Biennale of Sydney

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Date 10 March 2020

Brook, studying for a DPhil in Fine Art, is the Artistic Director of the 22nd edition of the Biennale of Sydney, the longest running in the Asia-Pacific region and one of the world’s four most important art biennials alongside Venice, Istanbul and São Paulo

The inaugural Biennale of Sydney was held in 1973 as part of the opening celebrations for the Sydney Opera House, and since then has showcased the work of nearly 1800 artists from more than 100 countries. Today it is considered one of the leading international contemporary art events, recognised for commissioning and presenting innovative, thought provoking art from Australia and around the globe.

On Brook's appointment as Artistic Director, Kate Mills, Chairman of Biennale of Sydney, commented: ‘The artist is at the centre of our work at the Biennale of Sydney. We are therefore delighted to announce the appointment of one of Australia’s most distinguished artists, Brook Andrew, as Artistic Director of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney. He has consistently modelled national and global collaboration and the sharing of knowledge in both his artistic and exhibition-making practice.’

Brook Andrew said: ‘I am honoured to be appointed Artistic Director of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney 2020. As Artistic Director, I am interested in shining a light on the active, stable and rich pre-existing collaborations and connectivity of Indigenous and Edge cultures. I aim to work together with artists, collectives and communities, from Australia and around the globe, to reconfigure the world as we see it and reveal rich local and global rhizomes and unique individual cultural expressions in one place.’

The 22nd edition will be titled NIRIN. Meaning edge, NIRIN is a word of Brook’s mother’s Nation, the Wiradjuri people of western New South Wales. The Biennale website states that ‘NIRIN is a word of endless interconnected centres; a space to gather and to share, to rejoice, disrupt, and re-imagine. Through their own interpretations and experiences, more than 100 artists from around the world will be inspired by, and reflect on, the world today, challenging dominant narratives and proposing exciting new futurisms and paths to healing.’

The exhibition is free and open to the public from 14 March until 8 June 2020, at six sites in Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace, Campbeltown Arts Centre, Cockatoo Island, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, and the National Art School. 

You can find out more on the Biennale of Sydney website.