the Nirin Sydney Biennale at Cockatoo Island has reopened this week!
Ibrahim Mahama’s fabulous transformation of the Turbine Room with his No friend but the mountains 2012-20
the scale of this work is astounding, that’s Old Man Crow halfway down the hall
our friend Cathy taking a video
every bag is stitched into the whole like a giant patchwork
woven into place
holding memory
these bags looked like they were encrusted with sea shells
detail not sure if they are shells or metal tags
Latai Taumoepeau The Last Resort 2020
“Surrounded by a wall of sacks filled with empty glass bottles. They are stitching up the sea. Wearing brick sandals on their feet and armed with an ‘ike (Tongan mallet) exclusively used to beat mulberry bark into large ceremonial cloth called ngatu or tapa. They smash and crush the glass into the present future. Empty torn sacks adorn their necks as a lei or sisi, usually a garland of fresh tropical flowers and leaves worn as a body adornment in formal Pacific Island presentations, also used to welcome guests and keep their necks cool. They are stitching up sea at/as the last resort.”
the sound of breaking glass
Manuel Ocampo
“The paintings of Manuel Ocampo are not stories, nor do the webs of images and symbols that he weaves together point to a specific thing. Rather, the meaning implied by the signs and visual vocabularies employed by the artist is accumulative, presented to audiences in a way that remains deliberately opaque. The artist says this method of presentation is emblematic of the way he works, from a position of uncertainty that ensures his paintings remain open to a spectrum of interpretations. Within this, Ocampo and his work are able to retain a degree of autonomy, away from any pre-conceived assumptions and desires of those who look at his work within arenas of contemporary art.”
Here’s links to lots more photos & videos on
instagram
facebook
Nirin Sydney Biennale website
It's Crow Time 