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Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country, in particular the Gadigal people on whose land the Biennale of Sydney is located. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture and pay our respect to Elders, past and present.

First Nations people are respectfully advised that this site includes works, names and images of deceased people. This includes cultural practices and artistic intellectual property of a sensitive nature.

Nil Yalter, Exile is a Hard Job, 1975–ongoing. Presentation at the 25th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Institut français and Trampoline Association in support of the French art scene, with generous assistance from French Australian Cultural Exchange Foundation, and assistance from the Embassy of France. Courtesy of the artist  © Nil Yalter. Installation view, 25th Biennale of Sydney, Rememory, 2026, Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery. Photograph: Maja Baska.

Nil Yalter, Exile is a Hard Job, 1975–ongoing. Presentation at the 25th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Institut français and Trampoline Association in support of the French art scene, with generous assistance from French Australian Cultural Exchange Foundation, and assistance from the Embassy of France. Courtesy of the artist © Nil Yalter. Installation view, 25th Biennale of Sydney, Rememory, 2026, Campbelltown Arts Centre. Photograph: Silversalt Photography.

Nil Yalter, Exile is a Hard Job, 1975–ongoing. Presentation at the 25th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Institut français and Trampoline Association in support of the French art scene, with generous assistance from French Australian Cultural Exchange Foundation, and assistance from the Embassy of France. Courtesy of the artist © Nil Yalter. Installation view, 25th Biennale of Sydney, Rememory, 2026, Campbelltown Arts Centre. Photograph: Silversalt Photography.

Nil Yalter
Born 1938, Cairo, Egypt
Lives and works in Paris, France

Exile is a Hard Job 1975 – ongoing
black and white prints on paper, glue, paint
Presentation at the 25th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Trampoline Association in support of the French art scene, with generous assistance from French Australian Cultural Exchange Foundation, and assistance from the Embassy of France
Courtesy of the artist 

First shown in the 1970s, Nil Yalter’s Exile is a Hard Job features a grid of photos from one of Yalter’s earlier documentary pieces about the Turkish workers’ community in Paris (Turkish Immigrants, 1977). Presented in various forms since its first showing, each iteration of Exile is a Hard Job features the title hand-painted in various languages local to surrounding communities. 

Taking its title from a poem by Nâzım Hikmet, an important Turkish poet who spent many years in exile in Russia, Exile is a Hard Job confronts the challenges of ostracisation and alienation connected to living as an immigrant. Yalter herself immigrated to France in 1965, where much of her practice centres the lives of undocumented and mis- or underrepresented peoples.