The 2018 Biennale of Sydney will be led by its first artistic director from Asia, Mami Kataoka.
Biennale of Sydney Chairman Kate Mills made the announcement saying, “We are delighted with Mami Kataoka’s appointment as artistic director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney. As one of the region’s most accomplished curators, Mami will bring a truly fresh perspective and an Asian sensibility to the exhibition in 2018, enabling Biennale artists and audiences to explore in greater depth our relationship with the Asia Pacific region and challenge conventional wisdoms.”
Mami Kataoka already has a history with the Biennale of Sydney (BoS). She was one of 13 international advisors who worked on the 20th BoS, which closed in June 2016.
“I am honoured to be appointed artistic director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney in 2018, especially being the first from Asia since the Biennale’s inauguration in 1973; this means a lot to me and hopefully to the region,” Ms Kataoka says. “As artistic director I am interested to ask how we can test the Biennale’s significance given the growing understanding of multiple modernities; the many socio-political contexts and accelerated complexities in the world conditions today.
Mami Kataoka has been the Chief Curator at the Mori Art Museum (MAM) in Tokyo since 2003 and she is a professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design Graduate School. Ms Kataoka was co-artistic director of the 9th Gwangju Biennale, 2012, and has worked on numerous other international projects.
The 21st Biennale of Sydney is currently planned for March 2018.
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