LOCATIONS

In 2020, the Biennale was exhibited in the vestibule, entrance lobby, Grand Court Galleries and Australian Galleries, in conversation with the collection, replacing works, covering works and intwining international First Nations narratives with those of the existing collection.

Housed in the historic Gunnery building in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Artspace is a former artists’ squat that is now a site for experimentation and advocacy. NIRIN at Artspace presented collectives and deep connections to collaboration.

In a unique new collaboration with the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), a threeweek satellite exhibition of the Biennale of Sydney was scheduled to open in July. Following renewed stage 3 restrictions in Melbourne the exhibition, titled NIRIN NAARM, was adapted into an online presentation via the ACCA website from 9–15 November 2020.

Located on the edge of Sydney, Campbelltown Arts Centre creates a secure platform for communities and artists to take risks and raise questions through the commissioning of new works. The NIRIN artists at C-A-C used powerful images, slogans, video and spatial experiences to document historical events that concern urgent messages of self-empowerment.

In line with decisions made by the National Cabinet, when museums and galleries re-opened the National Art School remained closed to the public and the works originally exhibited at the National Art School were relocated to Carriageworks. NIRIN at Carriageworks reflected on extinction, death, life, change and healing.

Inscribed on the UNSECO World-Heritage List, Cockatoo Island is Sydney’s largest island. NIRIN gathered a diverse range of artworks that navigate historical, political, and social contexts and stories from around the world, which responded to the industrial, convict and outdoor sites at Cockatoo Island.

Located at Sydney’s iconic Circular Quay, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) is a significant site in understanding the history of Australia under British occupation/invasion. The importance of this history allowed for a complex intervention throughout Levels 1 and 3 at the MCA.

The National Art School is Australia’s leading independent fine art school located at the old Darlinghurst Gaol site in East Sydney. NIRIN resonated with this site as a place of historic incarceration, navigating both colonial wounds and contemporary violence in complex ways.

NIRIN WIR – the expansive public program – was a major partnership with the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney that included a series of activations and creative partnerships with organisations across Sydney including Blacktown Native Institution, Parramatta Female Factory with PYT Fairfield, Bankstown Poetry Slam, FUNPARK Coalition (Bidwill), City of Sydney Libraries, Randwick City Council, tertiary institutions, grassroots organisations and more.