Dilapidated Isuzu crowns Australia’s largest visual arts festival
A dilapidated 1964 Isuzu that once drove around a family of eight has crowned the Sydney Biennale, Australia’s largest visual arts festival, featuring 66 contemporary works by 83 artists from 37 countries.
Artist Marian Abboud retrieved the unregistered car, which “had very dodgy brakes and a peculiar battery”, from her late father’s garage in Merrylands and towed it to White Bay Power Station, the centerpiece of the 25th edition of the festival, which opens on Saturday.
There are several televisions on the roof. Above are photos of her sisters posing inside or in front of the garage as a gesture of sisterhood.
“My father was the only one who knew how to fix the car, it was the car that took us everywhere, until he got embarrassed and wanted to have a flashy car, he called it a Rolls-Royce,” says Abboud.
Abboud Sister +++++ Family Formations III is one of several commissions from the festival that bridges the gap between personal testimony and grand scale.
However, the curator responsible for the biennial’s vision was not present at the media preview and insisted that the voices of global artists be at the centre.
In a highly unusual turn of events, artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi did not attend the media preview at White Bay Power Station on Tuesday. A spokesman said it was a deliberate curatorial choice to bring together artists whose work is displayed across five main exhibition venues.
“Hoor felt strongly that the media preview should be about the individual artists who created this print,” the spokesperson said. “He chose to let their work, their history, and their voices take center stage.”
Al Qasimi is one of the leading international curators and the first Arab to be appointed to this position in the festival’s 53rd year. She is also a member of the UAE royal family and the daughter of the ruler of Sharjah. His appointment had come under intense scrutiny from some Jewish advocates, including high-profile broadcaster Morry Schwartz, who said his pro-Palestinian views should disqualify him from the Biennale. He called on him to resign.
The Biennale said that Al Qasimi’s decision not to participate was entirely due to this philosophy of prioritizing the artist, rather than a reaction to any external event or comment.
“Hoor remains deeply committed to his role as artistic director and will continue to participate in the Biennale program in a way that best serves the exhibition and fosters an inclusive and welcoming environment for our audiences.”
This year’s theme of Al Qasimi is MemoryExcerpts from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, with works inspired by stories of displacement, migration and survival that shape future generations.
Biennial general manager Barbara Moore said Al Qasimi’s vision was broad and deeply human, bringing overshadowed voices into cultural conversations. At a time of great uncertainty, the Biennale was an invitation to pause and reflect on the issues that shape lives and challenged the media to make room for complexity and debate.
“Remembering reminds us that the past is not just behind us, it is something we carry forward,” he says.
There are numerous Palestinian artists and collectives, including the Chau Chak Wing Museum, where artist Khalil Rabah, who lives and works in Ramallah, sewed a traditional dress jacket inspired by an ancient Byzantine church mosaic discovered by Australian soldiers in Gaza during the First World War.
It was controversially placed at the Australian War Memorial, where part of the mosaic remains on display. The artist described his work as an “act of resistance” against “the forces of erasure that began with colonial politics in 1917 and continue today.”
Inside the White Bay Power Plant, not far from Abboud’s wrecked family car, stands a towering African baobab tree. Two stories and 20 feet of flowing cotton tulle, this structure combines 10 years of research, five years of in-depth research, and is filled with memories of elders in American archives who were born into slavery and recall the landscape of the slave trade.
Next to the baobab tree is a replica of a slave hut from the 1860s. “In the cabin, everything is touchable, uncontrollable, but falling apart,” says American artist Nikesha Breeze.
“It’s falling apart before your eyes. Roofs and walls are disappearing; that’s what’s happening in the United States right now,” Breeze says.
Living Histories Breeze’s largest work to date: “It was a very intimate history. I wanted to create a work that was huge, required a huge space, but would invite people into intimate conversation.”
The biennial exhibitions will also be held with a program of food, markets and night events spread across 13 venues at the Art Gallery of NSW, Penrith Regional Gallery and Campbelltown Arts Centre.
At AGNSW, viewers can see the 80 square meter landmark Ngurrara Canvas II. Created by more than 40 artists in 1996 to support a local claim, it will be the painting’s last public exhibition before returning permanently to Artists’ Land.
Sydney Biennale Valid between 14 March – 14 June.
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