NGV Triennial 2023
NGV Triennial 2023 is a powerful and moving snapshot of the world today as captured through the work of over 120 artists, designers and collectives working at the forefront of global contemporary practice.
Uniquely bringing contemporary art, design and architecture into dialogue with one another and traversing all four levels of NGV International, the NGV Triennial features nearly 100 projects led by creatives.
Image: Installation view of designs by Maison Schiaparelli as part of NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 - 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy. Image above: Installation view of Freda Ali, Freda Ali Wayartja, Maureen Ali, Cecille Baker, Michelle Baker, Bonnie Burarngarra, Gabriella Garrimara, Doreen Jinggarrabarra, Lorna Jin-gubarrangunyja, Indra Prudence, Jennifer Prudence, Zoe Prudence, Anthea Stewart Mun-dirra (Maningrida fish fence) on display in NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 to 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennesy.
More than 25 projects commissioned by the NGV will make their world premiere at the NGV Triennial 2023, attesting to the extraordinary ways in which leading and emerging artists and designers capture and recount the stories of our time. With many of the works on display entering the NGV Collection, the NGV Triennial establishes a lasting legacy for Victoria that can be accessed for many generations to come. Visitors will encounter an array of artforms and disciplines, ranging from robotics to AI, textiles to sculpture, and animatronics to conceptual art.
Three thematic pillars of Magic, Matter and Memory anchor the 2023 NGV Triennial. The theme of Magic delves into belief systems, allegory and symbolism, revealing some of the ways that human spirituality has shaped the world around us. Matter draws together nature, materials and making, highlighting the central role that materials and the natural world play in shaping human culture. Finally, Memory shines a light on both the histories of people, places and objects that make up the complex tapestry of our contemporary world.
Highlights include an exciting selection of recently acquired works by British artist Tracey Emin, whose autobiographical and confessional practice spans film, painting, drawing, installation and sculpture. Featured works include a five-metre-high text-based neon light installation of Emin’s own handwriting; abstract and tactile bronze sculptures; as well as gestural and figurative paintings that confront extreme emotions such as anguish, elation or pain.
In a special collaboration with Paris haute couture house Maison Schiaparelli, the NGV has invited artistic director Daniel Roseberry to present eight looks from recent collections alongside a selection of gilded accessories and surreal body adornments. Presented within an immersive and celestial environment, the display highlights Roseberry’s interest in pushing the boundaries of couture practice, his belief in fantasy and his view that art and fashion can question, shape and address the concerns of contemporary life.
Image: Installation view of Shelia Hicks’ work, Nowhere to go on display as part of NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 - 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
Senior American-born, Paris-based sculptor Sheila Hicks presents Nowhere to Go, 2022, a major sculptural installation utilising brightly coloured fibre. Stacked high in a monumental mass, the rounded forms gather and create an imposing and yet playful installation that celebrates the experience of architectural space and the emotional potential of colour. Handmade by Hicks’s small studio, the work is epic in scale, standing almost 7 metres high.
In her contemporary textile works, Lin Fanglu foregrounds the often-overlooked work of female artisans who produce traditional crafts. In her large scale textile sculpture She’s Four Seasons, 2023, Lin draws on her own experience of learning the ancient tie-dyeing techniques of the Bai people in Zhou Cheng village, Yunnan province, where she lived for an extended period of time while completing her Master’s degree. The work celebrates the Bai women’s millennia- old craft by focusing on the physically challenging and time-consuming process of tie-dyeing – the continuous act of knotting, twisting and tying the cotton fabric by hand– that usually remains unseen.
Image:n Istallation view of Lin Fanglu on display in NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 – 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
Weaving is one of the oldest human crafts – a timeless, fundamental art form that has defined the way human beings interact with the world around us. The Community of Maningrida in Central-West Arnhem Land has long been home to a rich and vibrant cultural heritage, through bark painting, sculpture and weaving. Mun-dirra is an immense, 100-metre-long, multi-panel woven artwork that symbolises the extraordinary possibilities of the human mind and spirit. The beauty and ambition of this major installation, having taken almost two years to produce, reflects the creativity and collaboration that underpins Burarra art and culture. It is simultaneously a contemporary artwork and a form of cultural continuity representing a relationship to land and water that defines Burarra life. For Burarra women, weaving is not just a means of creating functional objects, it is also a way for individuals to express their identity and cultural heritage.
The experience of spending time inside this installation is symbolic of the complexity and interconnectedness of the human soul. The patterns created by the intertwining and overlapping of the pandanus walls offer a metaphor that represents the threads of our thoughts, experiences and emotions. Each line is suggestive of a different aspect of our inner selves, and the act of weaving a metaphor for the way in which these elements come together to form a complete and cohesive whole. Humanity.
For the NGV Triennial, Malaysia-born Yee I-Lann has collaborated with Bajau Laut weavers, who reside off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia, to make tikar (woven mats). Tikar/Meja (Mat/Table) is a large-scale display of 60 Bajau Sama Dilaut mats, each with an image of a table woven upon it. The work draws attention to the colonial history of tables, which were not a feature of daily life in pre-colonial South-East Asia as people sat on mats, grounded to the earth. For Yee, the table is the site of colonial power, where the decisions were made, the rules written, and bureaucracy of colony enacted. A potent symbol for the imposed systems of suppression, extraction and control that echo forwards today.
Image: Installation view of Yee I-Lann's Tikar/Meja on display in NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 to 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
NGC Triennial is on until 7 April 2024:
www.ngv.vic.gov.au/triennial
@ngvmelbourne
Uniquely bringing contemporary art, design and architecture into dialogue with one another and traversing all four levels of NGV International, the NGV Triennial features nearly 100 projects led by creatives.
Image: Installation view of designs by Maison Schiaparelli as part of NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 - 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy. Image above: Installation view of Freda Ali, Freda Ali Wayartja, Maureen Ali, Cecille Baker, Michelle Baker, Bonnie Burarngarra, Gabriella Garrimara, Doreen Jinggarrabarra, Lorna Jin-gubarrangunyja, Indra Prudence, Jennifer Prudence, Zoe Prudence, Anthea Stewart Mun-dirra (Maningrida fish fence) on display in NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 to 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennesy.
More than 25 projects commissioned by the NGV will make their world premiere at the NGV Triennial 2023, attesting to the extraordinary ways in which leading and emerging artists and designers capture and recount the stories of our time. With many of the works on display entering the NGV Collection, the NGV Triennial establishes a lasting legacy for Victoria that can be accessed for many generations to come. Visitors will encounter an array of artforms and disciplines, ranging from robotics to AI, textiles to sculpture, and animatronics to conceptual art.
Three thematic pillars of Magic, Matter and Memory anchor the 2023 NGV Triennial. The theme of Magic delves into belief systems, allegory and symbolism, revealing some of the ways that human spirituality has shaped the world around us. Matter draws together nature, materials and making, highlighting the central role that materials and the natural world play in shaping human culture. Finally, Memory shines a light on both the histories of people, places and objects that make up the complex tapestry of our contemporary world.
Highlights include an exciting selection of recently acquired works by British artist Tracey Emin, whose autobiographical and confessional practice spans film, painting, drawing, installation and sculpture. Featured works include a five-metre-high text-based neon light installation of Emin’s own handwriting; abstract and tactile bronze sculptures; as well as gestural and figurative paintings that confront extreme emotions such as anguish, elation or pain.
In a special collaboration with Paris haute couture house Maison Schiaparelli, the NGV has invited artistic director Daniel Roseberry to present eight looks from recent collections alongside a selection of gilded accessories and surreal body adornments. Presented within an immersive and celestial environment, the display highlights Roseberry’s interest in pushing the boundaries of couture practice, his belief in fantasy and his view that art and fashion can question, shape and address the concerns of contemporary life.
Image: Installation view of Shelia Hicks’ work, Nowhere to go on display as part of NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 - 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
Senior American-born, Paris-based sculptor Sheila Hicks presents Nowhere to Go, 2022, a major sculptural installation utilising brightly coloured fibre. Stacked high in a monumental mass, the rounded forms gather and create an imposing and yet playful installation that celebrates the experience of architectural space and the emotional potential of colour. Handmade by Hicks’s small studio, the work is epic in scale, standing almost 7 metres high.
In her contemporary textile works, Lin Fanglu foregrounds the often-overlooked work of female artisans who produce traditional crafts. In her large scale textile sculpture She’s Four Seasons, 2023, Lin draws on her own experience of learning the ancient tie-dyeing techniques of the Bai people in Zhou Cheng village, Yunnan province, where she lived for an extended period of time while completing her Master’s degree. The work celebrates the Bai women’s millennia- old craft by focusing on the physically challenging and time-consuming process of tie-dyeing – the continuous act of knotting, twisting and tying the cotton fabric by hand– that usually remains unseen.
Image:n Istallation view of Lin Fanglu on display in NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 – 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
Weaving is one of the oldest human crafts – a timeless, fundamental art form that has defined the way human beings interact with the world around us. The Community of Maningrida in Central-West Arnhem Land has long been home to a rich and vibrant cultural heritage, through bark painting, sculpture and weaving. Mun-dirra is an immense, 100-metre-long, multi-panel woven artwork that symbolises the extraordinary possibilities of the human mind and spirit. The beauty and ambition of this major installation, having taken almost two years to produce, reflects the creativity and collaboration that underpins Burarra art and culture. It is simultaneously a contemporary artwork and a form of cultural continuity representing a relationship to land and water that defines Burarra life. For Burarra women, weaving is not just a means of creating functional objects, it is also a way for individuals to express their identity and cultural heritage.
The experience of spending time inside this installation is symbolic of the complexity and interconnectedness of the human soul. The patterns created by the intertwining and overlapping of the pandanus walls offer a metaphor that represents the threads of our thoughts, experiences and emotions. Each line is suggestive of a different aspect of our inner selves, and the act of weaving a metaphor for the way in which these elements come together to form a complete and cohesive whole. Humanity.
For the NGV Triennial, Malaysia-born Yee I-Lann has collaborated with Bajau Laut weavers, who reside off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia, to make tikar (woven mats). Tikar/Meja (Mat/Table) is a large-scale display of 60 Bajau Sama Dilaut mats, each with an image of a table woven upon it. The work draws attention to the colonial history of tables, which were not a feature of daily life in pre-colonial South-East Asia as people sat on mats, grounded to the earth. For Yee, the table is the site of colonial power, where the decisions were made, the rules written, and bureaucracy of colony enacted. A potent symbol for the imposed systems of suppression, extraction and control that echo forwards today.
Image: Installation view of Yee I-Lann's Tikar/Meja on display in NGV Triennial from 3 December 2023 to 7 April 2024 at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
NGC Triennial is on until 7 April 2024:
www.ngv.vic.gov.au/triennial
@ngvmelbourne