25th Biennale of Sydney

A highlight of the 2026 edition is the partnership with Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain to showcase First Nations artists. Bruce Johnson McLean, a curator from the Wierdi people of the Birri Gubba Nation, has commissioned 15 First Nations artists from around the world to create new works for the exhibition. Among them are Cannupa Hanska Luger from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, Carmen Glynn-Braun, a Kaytetye, Arrernte and Anmatyerr woman, and Secwepemcúl̓ecw artist Tania Willard, whose works address cultural memory and connection to land, tradition and family.

McLean is also responsible for curating Badu Gili: Story Keepers, another groundbreaking collaboration with Sydney Opera House. The project brings the work of Gooniyandi elder Mervyn Street from the Kimberley and Inuk artist Ningiukulu Teevee from Nunavut in Canada’s Arctic to the Opera House’s sails, with large-scale projections transforming the iconic structure into a canvas for Indigenous storytelling.

Other key artworks include the monumental Ngurrara Canvas II at the AGNSW – an 80-square-metre floor canvas made by Western Desert artists to support their Native Title claim in 1997. This will be the last time this landmark work is displayed in public before it returns to its homeland. At White Bay Power Station, Argentinian artist Gabriel Chaile presents a large-scale adobe clay oven – hand-built and air-dried on site – which will provide food to visitors as part of a cultural collaboration with Sydney’s Andina Peruvian Cuisine. Meanwhile, Melbourne-based textile artist Ema Shin exhibits a two-metre-tall handwoven heart at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, a tribute to the women who are absent from her family history.

In Western Sydney, a new sculptural work by Guatemalan artist Fernando Poyón at Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery features 1,500 cedarwood pencils that resemble corn stalks to reflect on Indigenous knowledge passed down through generations. At Campbelltown Arts Centre, you can find a multi-channel video work by Behrouz Boochani, Hoda Afshar and Vernon Ah Kee that centres the voices of Indigenous youth living in detention to confront colonial policies in Australia’s incarceration system.

The event will also feature a wide range of public programming, including performances, talks and art activations. The Lights On concert on March 13 at White Bay Power Station will kick off the festival, showcasing performances from Brooklyn-based DJ Haram, local DJ Maz, First Nations ensemble Hand to Earth and more. Over the opening weekend, free events will take place across Sydney, with Spotlight Artist Talks and performances from a diverse group of artists including Nikesha Breeze, Marian Abboud and Nancy McDinny. Art After Dark programs will take place at White Bay Power Station each Friday evening, along with history, art and youth tours throughout the festival.

In addition, the Biennale will host a series of commissioned projects, including Richard Bell’s RESET, a social practice initiative exploring a new constitutional model for Australia. Bell will lead public discussions at Sydney Town Hall on June 13, bringing together individuals from all walks of life to engage in dialogue around the future of the country.