Photo: Paul Green
The 17th Biennale of Sydney was held in 2010 at seven venues across Sydney – the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cockatoo Island, Pier 2/3, the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace Visual Arts Centre and the Opera House.
With the theme The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age, the Biennale explored the affirmative power of art in the face of unprecedented threats such as conflict, famine, inequity, environmental despoliation and global warming.
A record-breaking half a million visitors attended the venues with an estimated 408,000 additional visitors enjoying the Biennale’s outdoor works in the Royal Botanic Gardens and countless more experiencing Roxy Paine’s large-scale work, Neuron, on the front lawn of the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay.
The 17th Biennale featured works by 166 artists from 36 countries and more than 150 free public events across the seven venues. It provided access to the finest and most cutting edge contemporary art from around the world and also featured an extensive free program of artists’ talks, performances, forums, film screenings, family events, guided tours and other special events.
The total economic contribution of the 16th Biennale of Sydney in 2008 has been estimated at $53 million (Access Economics report, March 2010), and the 19 per cent increase in visitation from 2008 to 2010 will markedly enhance these very positive results.
The 18th Biennale of Sydney will take place in 2012. The Biennale of Sydney is supported by Arts NSW.
Visit the Biennale of Sydney website
