Picture A Black Captain Cook: legacies of colonialism and the state of the large scale periodic exhibition considered through the 24th Biennale of Sydney

Op donderdag 30 mei komt Jon Bywater, kunstcriticus en docent kunsttheorie aan de ELAM School of Arts van de University of Auckland, naar LUCA campus Gent voor zowel een expert meeting om zijn eigen onderzoek ter discussie te stellen (en mogelijke linken te verkennen met onze interesses) als ook voor een publieke lezing over de lopende Biënnale van Sydney in de context van decolonisatie.

De meeting gaat door vanaf 16.30 uur in C15 (de oude bibliotheek)

en de lezing vanaf 18 uur in C23, met als titel en info: 

Picture A Black Captain Cook: legacies of colonialism and the state of the large scale periodic exhibition considered through the 24^th Biennale of Sydney (9 March – 10 June 2024)

The Biennale of Sydney in Australia predates the proliferation of large scale periodic exhibitions at the turn of the century that has intensified debate about their ongoing relevance. Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2024, its 24^th edition titled 10 000 Suns, co-directed by Cosmin Costinaș andInti Guerrero, participates in the attempt to shift from a process of globalising contemporary art to one of decolonising.

Extending on a review for Art New Zealand, Jon Bywater will discuss the exhibition through a focus on the works in the exhibition identified with his home country, Aotearoa New Zealand, considering it in these wider contexts from a perspective informed by his location in the settler colony of Aotearoa New Zealand, and considering the contrasting dynamics of Australia's.

Jon Bywater is a Pākehā (non-Indigenous New Zealand) critic who teaches at Te Waka Tūhura / Elam, Waipapa Taumata Rau / University of Auckland, and a PhD candidate in art criticism at Victoria College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, Australia.

His writing has appeared in journals including Afterall, art-agenda, Artforum, Art New Zealand, Contemporary​​ HUM​​, Frieze and Reading Room, as well as numerous monographs and exhibition catalogues, and is often concerned with questions of politics and place.