Sydney, Australia: The Biennale of Sydney has today announced further artists, artworks and public programming highlights for its 25th edition, titled Rememory, being presented free to the public from 14 March to 14 June 2026.
With the program curated by internationally acclaimed Artistic Director Hoor Al Qasimi, the 25th Biennale of Sydney: Rememory, takes its title from celebrated author Toni Morrison, exploring the intersection of memory and history as a means of revisiting, reconstructing, and reclaiming histories. Through Rememory, artists from Australia and around the world reflect on their own roots while engaging with Sydney and its surrounding communities and histories, exploring global themes that connect us.
The edition will highlight marginalised narratives, share untold stories, and inspire audiences to rethink how memory shapes identity and belonging, amplifying stories from First Nations communities, and the divergent diasporas that shape Australia today. A dedicated program for children and young audiences will provide space and exploration for these stories to be passed on to the next generations.
A major international art festival and the largest contemporary art event of its kind in Australia, the 25th Biennale of Sydney expands its reach across five major exhibition sites: White Bay Power Station, Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney, Campbelltown Arts Centre, and Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery. This expanded footprint reflects a deliberate focus on inclusivity and access, particularly across Western Sydney, and will be further amplified through public programs hosted at additional venues throughout the Inner City and Greater Sydney, including Blouza Hall, Centenary Square, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, Marrickville Town Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, National Centre of Indigenous Excellence Redfern, Parramatta Artist Studios, Redfern Town Hall and Sydney Town Hall.
Announced today are an additional 33 artists and collectives for the 2026 edition, bringing the number of presenting artists, collaborations and collectives to 83. The artists come from 37 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Guatemala, India, USA, Argentina, Lebanon, France, Ireland, Ethiopia, Algeria and Taiwan.
Audiences will experience dynamic artworks, large-scale installations and site-specific projects by international artists such as Nikesha Breeze, Dread Scott, Nahom Teklehaimanot, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Joe Namy and Sandra Monterroso, alongside Australian artists including Abdul Abdullah, Dennis Golding, Helen Grace, Wendy Hubert, Richard Bell and Merilyn Fairskye & Michiel Dolk.
As Visionary Partner, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has worked with the Biennale of Sydney to commission 15 First Nations artists from around the world to create new work for the edition. These artists include Ángel Poyón, Angélica Serech, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Carmen Glynn-Braun, Edgar Calel, Fernando Poyón, Frank Young & The Kulata Tjuta Project, Gabriel Chaile, Gunybi Ganambarr, John Harvey & Walter Waia, John Prince Siddon, Nancy Yukuwal McDinny, Rose B. Simpson, Tania Willard and Warraba Weatherall. They will work closely with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain First Nations Curatorial Fellow Bruce Johnson McLean, from the Wierdi people of the Birri Gubba Nation, to realise their artworks. This is part of the ongoing partnership between the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and the Biennale of Sydney, which also includes a creative collaboration with the Sydney Opera House for the recently launched Badu Gili: Story Keepers.
Artistic Director Hoor Al Qasimi said: “Rememory is shaped by artists and cultural practitioners who understand memory as something living—where history informs the present and repeats itself in different forms. Through their practices, histories that have been fragmented, erased or suppressed are revisited and reassembled, not as linear accounts but as shared and evolving acts of remembering. Drawing on personal, familial and collective experiences, the artists in this edition reveal how the past remains present, inviting audiences to engage actively with memory as a space of responsibility, reflection and possibility.”
Barbara Moore, Chief Executive Officer, Biennale of Sydney said: “At its core, the Biennale of Sydney brings people together through art, offering cultural experiences that invite audiences to encounter different perspectives, listen deeply, and engage in meaningful connection. Rememory creates space to reflect on the ideas and histories that shape our world, while fostering dialogue across cultures, communities, and generations. Through free and inclusive access, this edition invites everyone to experience Sydney as a vibrant, global cultural city.”
John Graham, NSW Minister for the Arts, said: “The Biennale is a high point in our city’s cultural life. It will create unforgettable visual arts experiences for locals and visitors, and elevates Sydney’s contribution to the global contemporary art dialogue. It’s free and absolutely everyone is welcome, so I hope as many people as possible come and immerse themselves in this celebration of art.”
Steve Kamper, NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism, said: “The Biennale of Sydney is the kind of cultural experience that sets our city apart—inviting visitors to go beyond iconic landmarks and discover the stories, artists and communities that make Sydney unique. Events like this play a vital role in bringing new audiences to Sydney and strengthening its position as a world-class cultural destination, supporting our ambition to grow the visitor economy for the benefit of the thousands of businesses and jobs that rely on it.”
ARTWORKS FOR REMEMORY ANNOUNCED TODAY:
- The great Ngurrara Canvas II, by the Ngurrara artists of the Great Sandy Desert Western Australia, is to have its final presentation away from the artist’s country as there are no future plans for it to travel again. Presented at the Art Gallery of NSW, the 80 square meter floor canvas is one of the largest and most spectacular Aboriginal paintings, made by Western Desert artists. It was made in 1997, for presentation to the National Native Title Tribunal to demonstrate Ngurrara people’s connection to country for Native Title purposes. Traditional owners including two dance troupes will travel to Sydney for a special public performance.
- Argentinian artist Gabriel Chaile draws on his Spanish, Afro-Arabic, and Indigenous Candelaria heritage to present a monumental adobe clay sculptural oven, hand-built and air-dried onsite at White Bay Power Station. Interested in the relationships around food and community activities, Chaile’s oven will be activated during the opening weekend and other key moments of the festival to feed registered visitors to the site in an intra-Latin American collaboration with Sydney’s Andina Peruvian Cuisine.
- Melbourne-based textile artist Ema Shin exhibits her largest work to date, a two-meter-tall 3D handwoven heart, at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Inspired by a treasured family tree kept by her grandfather spanning 32 generations and including only the names of male family members and women who have given birth to sons, Shin’s works are a meditation on the historic and cultural erasure of women, and a tribute to the women who are absent from her family history.
- Canadian and French artist Kapwani Kiwanga presents a selection of floral arrangements from the Flowers of Africa series at the Art Gallery of NSW. Through extensive research into archives, Kiwanga locates images representing defining moments of independence throughout the African continent and recreates the floral arrangements featured. As they wilt, the work is transformed into a reminder of the fallibility and false-fixedness of the archive.
- In a new sculptural sound installation at White Bay Power Station, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota artist Cannupa Hanska Luger literally and metaphorically gives voice to our animal kin. Using a series of ceramic whistles shaped into the likeness of the threatened native dingo, Luger’s new work will howl throughout the space, acting as a vessel for First Nations voices.
- Interdisciplinary Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh presents two activations for the 25th Biennale of Sydney. At Blouza Hall in Granville on 15 March, Al Solh presents a community-based performance installation featuring the creation of a large vat of tabbouleh to feed attendees, exploring ideas of gathering, food rituals, musicality, rhythm, and tabbouleh as a site of resistance, alongside an iteration of her ongoing drawing series I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous, working with members of the Arab diaspora in Australia displayed at Campbelltown Arts Centre.
- At Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery, Guatemalan artist Fernando Poyón presents a new sculptural installation made up of 1,500 cedarwood pencils to resemble milpas (corn stalks). Focusing on the wellspring of Indigenous knowledge passed down, and nourished, by the artist’s grandmother, mother and the Earth itself, the work sprouts in representation of a culture constantly renewing and shifting with the cycles of the seasons as much as the changes of the contemporary world.
- UK-born Norway-based artist Nora Adwan presents a new ceramic installation at Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery where sound travels around the space through 40 speakers concealed in ceramic pomegranate sculptures, steered by humidity sensors responding to the outdoor climate, to create a unique meditative space.
- Acclaimed Vietnamese American artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen‘s practice explores the power of memory and its potential to act as a form of political resistance. The artist ruminates on the post-traumatic reverberations of the Vietnam War by presenting his film The Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon at the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
- American artist Dread Scott will present his photographic series Lockdown (2000, 2026) at Campbelltown Arts Centre. Over a series of black and white portraits and recorded conversations, made during brief meetings in US prisons, Lockdown tells the story of a society that imprisons over two million people from the viewpoint of those locked down.
FURTHER PUBLIC PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS:
A dynamic public program will be presented alongside the artworks, kicking off with the opening night concert Lights On at White Bay Power Station on 13 March 2026. Audiences will be able to explore the exhibition while enjoying vibrant performances including Brooklyn-based DJ Haram, playing their signature sound mixing club beats and percussion. Other performances throughout the evening include prolific local DJ and co-host of the weekly Latin American music show Mi Gente/My People on FBi radio Maz alongside Baile Funk collective INBRAZA Baile, groundbreaking inter-cultural First Nations fronted contemporary music ensemble Hand to Earth activating the resonant potential of the cavernous space of the Turbine Hall, American artist Niecy Blues, who merges soul, ambient and spoken word, and a preview performance of Joe Namy’s Automobile.
During the opening weekend from 14-15 March, free performances, talks and art activations will take place. A series of Spotlight Artist Talks, where artists present alongside their works, will include exhibiting artists Natalie Davey, Edgar Calel, Carmen Glynn-Braun, Ángel Póyon and more. Performances will activate the artworks of Nikesha Breeze and Marian Abboud, and a special musical performance by Indigenous artist Nancy McDinny with her son, daughter and sister, alongside her new series of paintings depicting the dramatic roll clouds of her Country for the exhibition. At Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery, Wendy Hubert’s Indigenous plant garden installation will host talks and yarning circles.
On 15 March at Blouza Hall, ahead of Mounira Al Solh’s community-based performance, The Children’s Choir will give their public debut performance of نُغَنّي للحياة Songs for Life |
جوقة الأطفال تقدم أمسية غنائية كورالية A Choral Offering. The Choir is a singing, movement and music-making project that supports the wellbeing and participation of children from refugee backgrounds in cultural life.
A member of the Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang communities, Richard Bell presents a large-scale social practice and participatory project called RESET. The project will consist of up to three events held in regional locations, culminating at a final event at Sydney Town Hall on Saturday 13 June, inviting public participants from all walks of life to come together for discussion, seeking to develop a new constitutional model for the future.
In partnership with the Inner West Council, six new performance commissions will be presented under the title Working Memory from 11-12 April at White Bay Power Station. Artists include collective Body of Work (Charlotte Farrell, Emma Maye Gibson (Betty Grumble), Imbi, Natesha Somasundaram, and Megan Holloway), Lauren Brincat & Zoe Theodore, Jacqui O’Reilly & James Brown, Amrita Hepi, Redmond Reyes & Kit-Wu Bylett, and a roaming puppetry performance by artists Cynthia Florek, Lulu Barkell, Oliver Durbridge (Highly Strung Puppets), and Theodore Carroll.
To celebrate Africa Day in May, artists Rebecca Williams and Adechoon will curate a large-scale festival featuring market stalls and food from across the African continent, alongside live performances and music with a focus on Afro-artists based in Western Sydney on Saturday 23 May. The duo will also curate a special Art After Dark program on 22 May 2026.
Every Saturday and Sunday throughout the 25th Biennale of Sydney, White Bay Power Station will host the Memory Lane Food Markets that bring Rememory to life. The markets celebrate food as living memory, where dishes are shaped by family, migration, land and identity — inviting visitors to experience the Biennale not just once, but week after week across the full season.
A range of additional programs will take place throughout the Biennale of Sydney, including curated Art After Dark programs at White Bay Power Station each Friday evening, general art tours, history tours of White Bay Power Station in partnership with Museums of History NSW, Family Days, Youth programs, education programs and access programs.
Artists as part of the 25th Biennale of Sydney (2026) are:
(Artists with an * beside their name announced today)
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Abdul Abdullah (Australia / Thailand)
Angélica Serech (Maya Kaqchikel, Guatemala)
Chang En Man (Paiwan, Taiwan)
Dindga McCannon (USA)*
Elverina Johnson (Yarrabah, Australia)
Frank Young and The Kulata Tjuta Project (Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, Australia)
Kapwani Kiwanga (Canada / France)
Kuba Dorabialski (Poland / Australia)
Maritea Dæhlin (Norway / Mexico)
Merilyn Fairskye (Australia) & Michiel Dolk (Netherlands / Australia)
Nahom Teklehaimanot (Ethiopia / Kenya)
Ngurrara Artists (Walmajarri, Mangala, Juwaliny, Wangkajunga, Manjilarra / Great Sandy Desert, Australia)
Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo, USA)
Sandra Monterroso (Maya Q’qchi’, Guatemala)
Taysir Batniji (Gaza, Palestine / France)
Yaritji Young (Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, Australia)
Campbelltown Arts Centre
Basel Abbas (USA / Palestine) and Ruanne Abou-Rahme (USA / Palestine) *
Basil Al-Rawi (Ireland / Iraq) *
Behrouz Boochani (Kurdistan / Iran / Aotearoa (New Zealand)), Hoda Afshar (Iran / Australia) and Vernon Ah Kee (Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji and Gugu Yimithirr, Australia)
Dread Scott (USA)
Feras Shaheen with Jonny Scholes *
Helen Grace (Australia)
Joana Hadjithomas (Lebanon / France) and Khalil Joreige (Lebanon / France)
Mounira Al Solh (Lebanon / Netherlands) *
Nasri Sayegh (Lebanon) *
Nil Yalter (Turkey / France) *
Norberto Roldan (Philippines) *
Vicente Telles (USA) *
Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney
Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński (Austria) *
Behrouz Boochani (Kurdistan / Iran / Aotearoa (New Zealand)), Hoda Afshar (Iran / Australia) and Vernon Ah Kee (Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidinji and Gugu Yimithirr, Australia)
Benjamin Work (Tonga / Aotearoa New Zealand)
DAAR (DECOLONIZING ARCHITECTURE ART RESEARCH) (Palestine)
Derek Ogbourne (United Kingdom) *
Dorothy Cross (Ireland) *
Ema Shin (Japan / Australia)
Khalil Rabah (Palestine) *
Lamia Joreige (Lebanon)
Michael Rakowitz (USA)
Niamh McCann (Ireland)
Richard Bell (Kamilaroi/Kooma/Jiman/Gurang Gurang, Australia)
Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn (Vietnam / USA)
Warraba Weatherall (Kamilaroi, Australia)
Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery
Chang Wen-Hsuan (Taiwan / Netherlands) *
Deirdre O’Mahony (Ireland)
Fernando Poyón (Maya Kaqchikel, Guatemala)
John Harvey (Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Saibai Island, Torres Strait, Australia) & Walter Waia (Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Saibai Island, Torres Strait, Australia)
Keith Piper (United Kingdom) *
Khalid Albaih (Romania / Norway / Qatar / Sudan) *
Kulpreet Singh (India) *
Massinissa Selmani (Algeria / France)
Monica Rani Rudhar (Australia)
Nil Yalter (Turkey / France) *
Nora Adwan (Palestine / Ireland / Norway / UK) *
Wendy Hubert (Yindjibarndi Country, Australia)
White Bay Power Station
Abdullah Al Saadi (United Arab Emirates) *
Ángel Poyón (Maya Cakchiquel, Guatemala)
Autumn Chacon (USA) *
Bertille Bak (France) *
Bouchra Khalili (Morocco / Austria)
CAMP (India)
Cannupa Hanska Luger (Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North Dakota / New Mexico, USA)
Carmen Glynn-Braun (Kaytetye, Arrernte, Anmatyerr, Australia)
Chen Chieh-jen (Taiwan R.O.C.)
Daisy Quezada Ureña (USA)
Dennis Golding (Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay/Biripi, Australia)
Edgar Calel (Kaqchikel, Guatemala)
Emily Jacir (Mediterranean)
Frank Sweeney (Ireland) *
Gabriel Chaile (Argentina / Lisbon)
Gunybi Ganambarr (Yolŋu (Ŋaymil) people, Australia)
Hou I-Ting (Taiwan)
Hui Ye (China / Austria) *
Joe Namy (USA / UK / Lebanon)
John Prince Siddon (Walmajarri, Australia)
Kiri Dalena (Philippines)
Marian Abboud (Australia)
Marianne Keating (Ireland / United Kingdom) *
Maritea Dæhlin (Norway / Mexico)
Nancy Yukuwal McDinny (Garrwa / Yanyuwa, Australia)
Natalie Davey (Australia)
Nikesha Breeze (United States)
Nil Yalter (Turkey / France) *
Peter Kennedy (Australia) *
Richard Bell (Kamilaroi / Kooma / Jiman / Gurang Gurang, Australia)
Tania Willard (Secwepemcúlecw, Canada)
Tuan Mami (Vietnam) *
Marrickville Town Hall
Gabriela Golder (Argentina) *
Centenary Square, Parramatta
Joe Namy (USA / UK / Lebanon)
Blouza Hall
Mounira Al Solh (Lebanon / Netherlands) *
The Children’s Choir (Australia) *
Sydney Town Hall
Richard Bell (Kamilaroi / Kooma / Jiman / Gurang Gurang, Australia)
Key Dates
Tuesday 10 March 2026: Media Preview
Friday 13 March: Lights On opening night
Wednesday 11 – Friday 13 March 2026: Vernissage (Professional Preview)
Saturday 14 March – Sunday 14 June 2026: 25th Biennale of Sydney open to the public
Admission is free.
For further information on the Biennale of Sydney, please visit biennaleofsydney.art.
Ends
MEDIA CONTACTS: For more information contact Articulate:
Jasmine Hersee, jasmine@articulateadvisory.com, 0451 087 196
Siân Davies, sian@articulateadvisory.com, 0402 728 462
Sasha Haughan, sasha@articulateadvisory.com, 0405 006 035
Kym Elphinstone, kym@articulateadvisory.com, 0421 106 139
IMAGES: Available to download here.
The Biennale of Sydney is supported by
ABOUT THE BIENNALE OF SYDNEY
The Biennale of Sydney is a leading international contemporary art event. It plays an indispensable role in Australia’s engagement with the world, and a meaningful role in the life of the nation. For over 50 years, the Biennale has been a unifying force in the Australian arts sector, embedding boldly creative art exhibitions and experiences in the everyday life of Sydney and putting the artistic excellence of Australia front and centre on the world stage. The Biennale of Sydney has commissioned and presented exceptional works of art by more than 2400 artists from more than 130 countries and territories. The Biennale of Sydney is committed to free access for all. https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/
ABOUT HOOR AL QASIMI
Hoor Al Qasimi is President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, the independent public arts organisation she established in 2009 as a catalyst and advocate for the arts in the UAE and beyond. She has expanded the Foundation’s scope to include major international exhibitions; residencies; commissions; publications; grants; performance and film festivals; architectural research and restoration; and educational programming.
In 2003, she co-curated Sharjah Biennial 6 and has remained Biennial Director ever since. She was elected President of the International Biennial Association (IBA) in 2017. Al Qasimi was also curator of Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (2023).
Al Qasimi has curated major solo exhibitions at Sharjah Art Foundation, presenting works by CAMP (2022), Khalil Rabah (2022), Tarek Atoui (2020–2021), Zarina Bhimji (2020–2021), Amal Kenawy (2018–2019) and Yayoi Kusama (2016–2017) as well as a major touring retrospective of work by Hassan Sharif (2017 – 2021). She co-curated Kamala Ibrahim Ishag: States of Oneness, Serpentine Gallery, London (2022–2023), Bani Abidi’s survey at MCA Chicago (2021–2022); and a major touring exhibition of work by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (2016 – 2017).
Al Qasimi curated the UAE Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale (2015), the second Lahore Biennale (2020) and Dream Projects, Dream City Festival, Tunis (2023).
President and Director of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Al Qasimi also serves as President of the Global Studies University, Sharjah, which includes The Africa Institute and The Asia Institute. In 2025, Al Qasimi curated the sixth Aichi Triennale, the first non-Japanese person to do so.
ABOUT FONDATION CARTIER POUR L’ART CONTEMPORAIN
The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain is a space for artistic dialogue and experimentation that places the relationship between creation and exhibition at the heart of its institutional project, working in close collaboration with artists.
Since its creation in 1984 by Alain Dominique Perrin, then-President of Maison Cartier, it has exhibited artists from all walks of life, breaking down barriers between practices and fields of thought. Built over the years through a groundbreaking international programme, the Fondation’s collection reflects its multidisciplinary nature and the breadth of themes addressed in direct connection with contemporary issues.
The Fondation Cartier carries out its activities and commitments with the desire and ambition to make contemporary creation accessible to the widest possible audience. Through exhibitions projects and a programme of encounters and debates, live performances and talks, it creates bridges between cultural venues and fosters a genuine space for multicultural dialogue. With a new exhibition space, conceived by the renowned architect Jean Nouvel, on Place du Palais-Royal in Paris, the Fondation Cartier is reinventing itself in order to experiment and share with artists and audiences alike ever new ways of conceiving art.
Find out more here: www.fondationcartier.com