BIENNALE OF SYDNEY 2026: “HISTORY VERSUS MEMORY”
Rememory, as coined by Toni Morrison in her novel Beloved is the theme and title for the 25th edition of the Biennale of Sydney, which will take place from March 17 until June 17, 2026. Expanding from the understanding of memory as information retention with the passing of time, rememory works in the dark, from the residues and amputations of the past. In Morrison’s own context and research, it relates to chronicling African American history and how it upturns what is canonised as American history.
“History versus memory, and memory versus memorylessness. Rememory as in recollecting and remembering as in reassembling the members of the body, the family, the population of the past”, are the words of Toni Morrison. Approximating this concept alongside the work of contemporary cultural practitioners—who engage with topics that have little to no benchmarks, precedents, and models—rememory thus becomes an active present.
The exhibition collaborates with artists and cultural workers who explore the collateral damage and side effects of historic events. Abandoning typical and linear storytelling, in which history and memories are presented through objectification, rememory is how we become subjects and storytellers of our collective present through events of the past.
In this upcoming edition of the Biennale, the exhibition and participating artists gather to present a polyphonic rememory, inspired by Sydney and the broader region. Works in the Biennale reflect on the region’s communities, Aboriginal peoples, and diasporas in relation to historic events. A call to shed known ‘stories’ about the place, the edition is akin to a patchwork in which artists have been invited to reflect on their own topoi, while also engaging with local communities, to highlight their histories of migration, exile, and sense of belonging. This is complemented by a specialised children and youth program that circulates these ‘rememories’ so as to retain them intergenerationally.
While scholarships and archives are extremely critical in unlearning and decoding the present, the exhibition supplants such rigour with assemblages of self-authorship and rememory, as proposed by Morrison and like-minded peers. The hope is to develop new knowledge that centres on unrecognised voices through non-canonical methods and embodied forms. Additionally, it is a proposition for a world of proximities through affect, and modalities of memory making.
25th Biennale of Sydney (2026) first wave of exhibiting artists:
Abdul Abdullah (Australia / Thailand), Ángel Poyón (Maya Kaqchikel, Guatemala), Angélica Serech (Maya Kaqchikel, Guatemala), Bouchra Khalili (Morocco / Austria), CAMP (India), Cannupa Hanska Luger (Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North Dakota / New Mexico, USA), Carmen Glynn-Braun (Kaytetye, Arrernte, Anmatyerr, Australia), Chang En Man (Paiwan, Taiwan), Chen Chieh-jen (Taiwan R.O.C.), Daisy Quezada Ureña (USA), Decolonizing Art Architecture Project (DAAR) (Palestine), Deirdre O’Mahony (Ireland), Dennis Golding (Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay, Australia), Dread Scott (USA), Edgar Calel (Kaqchikel, Guatemala), Elverina Johnson (Yarrabah, Australia), Ema Shin (Japan / Australia), Fernando Poyón (Maya Kaqchikel, Guatemala), Frank Young & The Kulata Tjuta Project (Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, Australia), Gabriel Chaile (Argentina / Lisbon), Gunybi Ganambarr (Yolŋu (Ŋaymil) people, Australia), John Harvey (Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Saibai Island, Torres Strait, Australia) & Walter Waia (Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Saibai Island, Torres, Strait, Australia), John Prince Siddon (Walmajarri, Australia), Kapwani Kiwanga (Canada / France), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Marian Abboud (Australia), Maritea Dæhlin (Norway / Mexico), Merilyn Fairskye (Australia) & Michiel Dolk (Netherlands / Australia), Michael Rakowitz (USA), Nancy Yukuwal McDinny (Garrwa / Yanyuwa, Australia), Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo, USA), Tania Willard (Secwepemcúlecw, Canada), Taysir Batniji (Gaza, Palestine / France), Tuan Andrew Nguyen (Vietnam), Warraba Weatherall (Kamilaroi, Australia), Wendy Hubert (Yindjibarndi Country, Australia), Yaritji Young (Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, Australia).
Related Topics
May interest you
VENICE BIENNALE 2026 IN A MINOR KEY, A CURATORIAL VISION BY KOYO KOUOH
Titled In Minor Keys, the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale will be held from May 9 to November 22, 2026. The announcement was made this Tuesday at the Sala delle Colonne in Ca’ Giustinian, the institution’s headquarters, where it was confirmed that the exhibition will follow the vision and project conceived by the late Senegalese curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away unexpectedly on May 10.
PANAMA’S FIRST NATIONAL PAVILION AT THE VENICE BIENNALE ARRIVES AT THE MUSEO DEL CANAL
After a successful showing in 2024 at this major international platform for contemporary art, the exhibition Surcos: En el cuerpo y en la tierra (Furrows: On the Body and the Land) returns to the country and will open on April 25 at the Museo del Canal in Panama City’s historic Casco Antiguo.
FAREWELL TO KOYO KOUOH, CURATOR OF THE 2026 VENICE BIENNALE
Koyo Kouoh, the renowned Cameroonian-Swiss curator and a key figure in contemporary African art, has died at the age of 58. Since 2019, she had served as executive director and chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, which confirmed her passing. The Venice Biennale expressed deep sorrow over the loss and highlighted her intellectual and human legacy.
LIKE MIGRATORY BIRDS: THE 120 ARTISTS OF THE 36TH SÃO PAULO BIENNIAL
From different disciplines and territories, the invited artists propose the Biennial as a space of crossing, listening, and shared transformation.
13th BERLIN BIENNALE: ART TRANSMITTED IN FUGUE
The 13th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, titled passing the fugitive on, opens on the evening of June 13, 2025, 7–10pm, at four locations in Berlin with over 170 works by more than 60 artists. More than half of the artworks are newly commissioned.
