Major gallery misses out as Sydney's biggest arts festival heads west
The Biennale's theme was inspired by Al Qasimi's father's work as a historian. He is Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi the ruler of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and founder of the Sharjah Biennial, through which Al Qasimi established her international reputation as a curator.
'Rather than focusing on linear storytelling, I hope to highlight how we can become active participants in retelling our collective stories by revisiting and reinterpreting past events,' Al Qasimi said.
'I really wanted to have a title that could connect differently with people. The idea could be the rememory of a certain location or place, the rememory of certain moments in an individual's life, or certain moments that have happened like computer culture. The title is wide enough to encompass a lot of stories without limiting it to one voice.'
The biennale is being planned at a febrile time in the arts world, amid turmoil in the Middle East and in the aftermath of a controversial decision to cancel artist Khaled Sabsabi from the Venice Biennale. Sabsabi is a Biennale of Sydney board member.
Al Qasimi said the work by Biennale artists would not directly touch on the war in Gaza, unless tangentially in artists' explorations of colonisation and occupation.
The biennial would not focus on 'one moment' but 'what is the right project for the right space and for the right place, for example White Bay'. 'I'm really trying to make sure that the building is part of the exhibition rather than just an exhibition space,' she said.
Packing Room Prize winner Abdul Abdullah, Yaritji Young, Marian Abboud, Dennis Golding, and Warraba Weatherall will be among the Australian artists to exhibit alongside international artists including the Gaza-born, Paris-based Palestinian multidisciplinary artist, Taysir Batniji.
'I'm really excited about Deirdre O'Mahony, an Irish artist who has worked a lot around agriculture and food sustainability,' Al Qasimi said.
'I've invited Merilyn Fairskye and Michiel Dolk, they were the same artists who painted the eight murals on the railway pylons [at Woolloomooloo reserve] to come together to paint a new piece.'
Create NSW has committed $1.6 million to support the 25th Biennale. Some 771,000 people attended the 2024 edition, Ten Thousand Suns, in a record-breaking run over three months and six sites, including White Bay.
Last month the Biennale announced the new funding raising initiative, ArtSeen, directed at young art lovers. Donations of $500 will enable supporters to gain exclusive access to a year-round program of artist-led events, performances, and discussions in the year before the festival.
Cotter, said the MCA was 'a longstanding partner and supporter of the Biennale of Sydney, and we are delighted to be program partner for the 25th edition in 2026'.
'Hoor Al Qasimi is a globally renowned curator, and we are excited to see her Biennale for Sydney as artistic director.'
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