News

The global First Nations biennale we had to have

ArtsHub sat down with Brook Andrew to unpack the motivations behind his selection of the first 33 artists for 2020 Biennale of Sydney, announced this week.

11 Apr 2019 12:00

Gina Fairley

[This is archived content and may not display in the originally intended format.]

Visual Arts

First artists announced for 2020 Biennale of Sydney; L to R: Léuli Eshrãghi, Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker (Director and CEO BOS) Kylie Kwong, Barbara McGrady, Gina Athena Ulysse, S J Norman, Lhola Amira, Tony Albert, Nicholas Galanin, Lisa Reihana, Brook Andrew (Artistic Director BOS 2020) Katarina Matiasek, Arthur Jafa, Latai Taumoepeau; image supplied.

NIRIN, the title of the 2020 Biennale of Sydney, is a Wiradjuri word meaning edge. It is a word that Artistic Director Brook Andrew – a First Nations man – grew up with; a word from his mother’s language.

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Join Now Login

Gina Fairley

Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina