Maria's House (detail), 2020, mixed media, dimensions variable. Photograph: Maria Thereza Alves. Courtesy of the artist. Copyright © Maria Thereza Alves

14. March 2020 - 08. June 2020 Add to Calendar

Sydney Biennale

Exhibition Sydney

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sydney Biennale will close its public exhibitions from Tuesday 24 March 2020 until further notice. The Sydney Biennale can be found online: https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/

Funded artists: Maria Tereza Alves and Vajiko Chachkhiani

The 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020), titled NIRIN, features the work of 2 prominent artists living and working in Germany: Maria Tereza Alves, Vajiko Chachkhiani.

Maria Tereza Alves will present a new research commission at UNESCO World Heritage listed site, Cockatoo Island, based on a study on the psychological effects of racism of local Indigenous populations in the city of Dourados, Brazil. The study will be published as an artist book in Guarani, Terena (the languages of the Indigenous peoples from the reservation), Portuguese and English.

Vajiko Chachkhiani will present an epic sculptural installation at Cockatoo Island. The installation will be a floating graveyard inspired by the story of China’s “Nail Grave” with viewing platforms from above and below.

The contributions to the Sydney Biennale by Maria Tereza Alves and Vajiko Chachkhiani were supported by the exhibition funding programme of ifa.

The online programme of the Sydney Biennale: https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/

Impressions of the Exhibition

Maria Thereza Alves

A Casa da Maria (Maria’s House), 2020; and OIKOVYTERI ITEKO'A MÔĪNGUEVYA (Decolonization continues). Installation view for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020), Art Gallery of New South Wales, commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with support from Open Society Foundations. © Maria Thereza Alves, photo: Zan Wimberley.

Maria Thereza Alves

A Casa da Maria (Maria’s House), 2020; and OIKOVYTERI ITEKO'A MÔĪNGUEVYA (Decolonization continues), commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with support from Open Society Foundations, © Maria Thereza Alves, photo: Zan Wimberley.

Maria Thereza Alves

Vajiko Chachkhiani

Army without the General, 2020, commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney, supported by the Bundanon Trust. © Vajiko Chachkhiani; Daniel Marzona, Berlin; SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo, photo: Jessica Maurer.