The Biennale of Sydney has announced the appointment of Juliana Engberg as the Artistic Director of the 19th biennale.
Even though the 18th Biennale of Sydney is open for 6 more weeks, closing 16 September, the Biennale announced Tuesday the appointment of the Artistic Director of the 19th Biennale of Sydney that will take place in the summer of 2014.
The curator chosen to lead the next biennale is Juliane Engberg, a curator, writer, publisher and designer who is currently the Artistic Director of ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia), a press release states. Engberg has curated numerous exhibitions at ACCA, including We Are All Flesh (Berlinde de Bruyckere), I Packed the Postcard in My Suitcase (Pipilotti Rist), TRILOGY (Yael Bartana), Appearances (Nathan Coley), ‘(Waiting for –) Texts for Nothing’ Samuel Beckett in Play (Joseph Kosuth), The Dwelling, Gestures and Procedures, Cinema Paradise, The Water Hole (Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger) and Eight Miles High (Jim Lambie).
‘Juliana Engberg has worked with many of the leading international artists of the last decades and has a history of curating intelligent and distinctive exhibitions and programs,’ says Marah Braye, Chief Executive Officer, and continues;
‘Juliana’s curatorial wit and incisive perspective on presenting exhibitions in unique buildings and spaces will no doubt surprise and delight audiences in 2014. We are extremely pleased that Juliana has accepted the invitation to become the Artistic Director of the 19th Biennale of Sydney.’
‘The Biennale of Sydney, as one of the most established and certainly one of the largest of the world’s biennales provides an exciting and challenging opportunity for curatorial development,’ says Engberg.
‘My curatorial quest is to further invigorate the Biennale with works that excite the imagination of the audience and answer their desire to discover new artists, different ideas and emotionally charged and intellectually stimulating art. I hope to provide memorable encounters that linger in the minds of the audience. I’m looking forward to creating a Biennale that provides opportunities for artists and audience in a mutual quest of discovery and participation,’ Engberg continues.
Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and Documenta, the Biennale of Sydney is one of the longest running exhibitions of its kind and was the first biennale to be established in the Asia-Pacific region.
Engberg was Curator of the Melbourne Festival Visual Arts Program for seven years (2000–06), during which time she curated new projects by Tacita Dean, Martin Creed, Daniele Puppi, Callum Morton, Fiona Tan and Van Sowerine. In 2007, Engberg was the senior curatorial advisor for the Australian presentations at the Venice Biennale and recently inaugurated the ACCA POP-UP PROGRAM in Venice to coincide with the 54th Venice Biennale (2011). Engberg received the coveted Herald ‘ANGEL’ award for the visual arts programs she developed for The Edinburgh International Arts Festival 2009.