Engberg for BOS19

In a break with recent tradition The Biennale of Sydney has today announced Juliana Engberg as the director of the next BOS19 for 2014, making it the first to be directed by an Australian since Charles Merewether’s Zones of Contact in 2006 and only the second Australian woman to be appointed since Lynne Cooke oversaw 1996’s ‘quiet Biennale” Jurassic Technologies Revenant.

‘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. ‘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.’

“Juliana Engberg says: ‘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. There is a great artistic history to reflect and build upon, and take forward. 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 am for the celebration of artistic imagination. I believe works that encourage exuberance, joy, exalted states and transcendence are valuable to the human psyche. And I am for the power of artistic observation. Art that elevates the commonplace by bestowing upon it extraordinary concentration, that helps us see our world as remarkable, essential and fragile. I am for art that probes certainties, whether they be historical or contemporary. I’m looking forward to creating a Biennale that provides opportunities for artists and audience in a mutual quest of discovery and participation.’