Biennale of Sydney 2016
Bringing together 73 artists from 37 countries, the 20th edition of the Biennale of Sydney uses speculative fiction as a curatorial springboard from which to chart dystopian visions and modern-day myths. VAULT unearths the highlights.
The 20th Biennale of Sydney has procured its title from the father
of the sci-fi subgenre cyberpunk, William Ford Gibson. The author
of the 1984 cult classic, Neuromancer coined the term ‘cyberspace’, and is credited with predicting the popularity of reality television, and for crafting the conceptual framework for various virtual environments, including the World Wide Web. Gibson’s exclamation, “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed,” has served as inspiration and a signpost of our times for the Biennale’s artistic director, Stephanie Rosenthal.
Imported from Haus der Kunst and following on from a more recent spell as chief curator at London’s Hayward Gallery, Rosenthal has assembled a fleet of contemporary artists who feel we have bypassed science fiction’s initial prophecies of our future. “We actually have much more tools and technology involved in our lives than one would have thought,” explains Rosenthal. “There’s also a lot about accessibility. I say ‘we’, but it’s just a very privileged part of the population that has access to the Internet.”
To accompany VAULT’s guide to the Biennale of Sydney, we’ve mapped the best places to eat, drink, shop and sleep in the harbour city.
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