Using the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020), titled NIRIN, as a catalyst, OUR PATH positions Regional NSW as a series of centres with complex connections to the world around them. The Biennale will pilot a program in regional areas including the Riverina, Shoalhaven, and the NSW North Coast, where it has existing relationships with artists and cultural facilities. Participants will experience the dynamic process of creating art, from all perspectives, and from beginning to end, actively participating in the curatorial process. Over a four year period – two editions of the Biennale of Sydney – the OUR PATH program will facilitate learning experiences grounded in community knowledge with local artists in these regions. This will be supported through artist residencies in partner schools or art centres. Each artist will work with a cohort of up to 30 young people, while linking their learning to opportunities for inter-generational exchanges within their community.
THE INVESTMENT
OUR PATH will support:
• Salaries for 6 artists and 1 program coordinator;
• 90 participants’ workshop materials, transport, accommodation, and catering;
• Documentation, public program delivery and evaluation of the project in 3 regional areas over a 4-year period.
OUR PATH is estimated to have a total cost of more than one million dollars. To complement in-kind support from our partners, the Biennale is seeking $30,000 in donations to make the first year of this exciting project possible. As an artist- and First Nations-led endeavour, the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, titled NIRIN, will deliver artworks, insights, ideas and projects that challenge dominant narratives, share Indigenous knowledge, displace conventional notions of the centre and reimagine the role of the arts institution. OUR PATH is an integral part of our vision for NIRIN, bringing edge cultures to the fore and empowering regional communities, particularly young people in those communities, to participate in a global discourse around art and culture.
YEAR ONE
• Collaboration of art centre and artist to work with young people over a 3-month period
• Access to studio space for the artist
• Students to make art during workshop sessions. All workshop materials to be provided
• Selected Biennale artists will visit each cohort in person
• Participants to engage in art centre talks and workshops free of charge
• Participants to travel to Sydney and attend the Biennale of Sydney
YEAR TWO
• Participants further develop their work and ideas
• Participants to attend relevant openings, participate in workshops and talks with visiting artists with transport provided
• The students will present quarterly programming for their peers.
YEAR THREE
• Students work with another artist-in-residence and the program coordinator to present an official satellite public program for the 23rd Biennale of Sydney, creating a public program to be presented at their arts centre.
YEAR FOUR
• Students participate in formal evaluation process
• A student-led publication will be published online
