Such a bi-annual delight! I love getting my camera out and heading to Cockatoo Island for the Sydney Biennale. Seeing this industrial island with miles of history from a convict prison to a school and reformatory for girls, to a ship building yard during WW2, covered with living breathing art installations is mind blowingly beautiful, stimulating and uplifting. Grab a coffee as soon as your feet hit land and wander aimlessly, follow your feet. You'll be delighted. Video installations in ammunition shelters miles of white chain linking cranes, earth and the lofty heights of the turbine hall, interactive light sculpture, light creatures in tunnels, its a treat. Finish with a pizza at the Island Bar. Pull up a deck chair and bask in the sun taking in our spectacular harbour. Enjoy!
The theme for this years Biennale is All Our Relations.. and has it's roots in storytelling. "both teller and listener inhabit the space of the story. Telling stories connects us and allows us to care, to be: it fosters collaboration; it aggregates knowledge and generates new ideas; it ignites change; and, ultimately, it builds community. In this matrix, the different projects can be compared to a set of storylines, which artists, curators and audiences relate and translate. Through this process, a collective composition is accomplished in the active generation of meanings realised by all those who take part, each taking their stories home and beyond ... " taken from the bos18.com web site.
Getting to Cockatoo island: Take the free Biennale ferry from wharf 6, Circular Quay. It operates on a regular looping service approx every 45 mins until 5pm. Or there's a paid service with Sydney ferries.