Biennale of Sydney

The Balnaves Foundation is a dedicated supporter of the Biennale of Sydney, Australia’s largest and most dynamic international art exhibition. The Biennale of Sydney has the reputation of producing exhibitions that give our community new ways of looking at the world and new ways of seeing and understanding art. Each event enlivens Sydney’s public spaces with contemporary art and stimulates people to engage with the City’s spectacular museums and the harbour. The Biennale of Sydney is instrumental in bringing many of the world’s leading and most established artists to Sydney. Since 1973 more than 1355 artists from over 82 countries have exhibited work as part of the Biennale of Sydney.

The free exhibition welcomes almost half a million visitors and is presented at some of Sydney's finest harbour side sites including; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Opera House, Artspace, Royal Botanic Gardens, Cockatoo Island and Sydney's only remaining undeveloped historical wharf - Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay. 

For the 2008 Sydney Biennale ‘REVOLUTIONS – Forms that turn’, The Balnaves Foundation contributed to a free ferry service so the public could get to the exhibitions on Cockatoo Island and Pier 2/3 at Walsh Bay. This ferry service was used by 86,846 people and contributed to a 38% increase of visitors to the 2008 Sydney Biennale.

‘THE BEAUTY OF DISTANCE: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age’ is the exhibition theme for the 17th Biennale of Sydney, 12 May – 01 August 2010. The exhibition will celebrate the beauty of distance by including art from around the world under the direction of David Elliott, Artistic Director.

Biennale Free Ferry, 2010
Image courtesy Biennale of Sydney

Cai Guo-Qiang, Inopportune: Stage One, 2004
Installation view of the 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010) at Cockatoo Island
Photograph: Sebastian Kriete

Peter Hennessey, My Hubble (The universe turned in on itself), 2010
Installation view of the 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010) at Cockatoo Island
Photograph: Sebastian Kriete

Rohan Wealleans, Works from left to right: He with Glands of Wasp, 2009; He of 109 names and one tusk, 2009; and Janicot Vader, 2009
Installation view of the 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010) at Cockatoo Island
Photograph: Sebastian Kriete

 For furthur information please visit the Biennale of Sydney website