The 2026 Sydney Biennale, under the leadership of Emirati artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi, has sparked controversy, with critics claiming it would be a 'hate Israel jamboree' or a platform for pro-Palestinian politics. However, the festival itself, which opens this weekend across five key venues, is complex and nuanced, light on spectacle and slogans, and instead a polyphony of voices from over 80 artists from 37 countries. The theme, 'Rememory', taken from Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, reflects works that look to the past to find answers to present dilemmas and envision better futures. The wisdom of ancestors and ancient cultures is woven throughout.
One of the most spectacular artworks is tucked away rather than front and centre. US artist Nikesha Breeze has created an immersive installation, 'Living Histories', in White Bay power station. The installation reanimates the lived experiences of African American ancestors, using the Born in Slavery archive as its wellspring. The artwork is a monumental baobab tree made from 2,000 metres of white cotton cheesecloth, a replica slave cabin from reclaimed wood, and a gauzy maze of archival portraits printed on fabric.
The biennale is full of quietly powerful moments, such as Palestinian artist Taysir Batniji's palette of geometrically stacked blocks of olive-oil soap, carved with the Arabic phrase 'dawam el hal men al mohal' ('no condition is permanent'). There are also puzzling and frustrating moments, particularly at White Bay, where several video works are presented in awkward spaces.
Politics is everywhere in this biennale, as in life, but often understated. At the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Palestinian artist Khalil Rabah stages a quiet protest in the form of a massive, ornately embroidered traditional tunic. At the Art Gallery of NSW, Abdul Abdullah presents a triptych in the style of renaissance history paintings, but featuring young men in mid-2000s streetwear, restaging the 2005 Cronulla riots.
Among the biennale's most powerful works is a collaborative project by Kurdish Iranian journalist and author Behrouz Boochani, Iranian Australian artist Hoda Afshar and Kuku Yalandji/Waanji/Yidinji/Gugu Yimithirr artist Vernon Ah Kee, focusing on the experiences of Indigenous youth in detention. The installation 'Code Black/Riot' at Campbelltown Arts Centre features the testimonials of former staff members and child inmates of a facility in north Queensland.
Even when this biennale embraces beauty and spectacle, it is underpinned by politics. Japanese Australian artist Ema Shin's humongous textile heart is a retort to her own family tree, in which only the names of male family members and mothers of sons were recorded. Canadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga's fragrant installation 'Flowers For Africa' charts key moments of transition from colonial rule to independence across the continent.
In conclusion, the Sydney Biennale 2026 is a complex and nuanced festival that challenges the notion of politics being everywhere. It is a celebration of art and culture that reminds us of the tools for a better world already exist, and are at hand.
