Demian DinéYazhi´ selected for 2020 Sydney Biennial

Congratulations to alum Demian DinéYazhi´'14 who has been selected for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020) titled NIRIN with their project R.I.S.E.: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment, which is dedicated to education, perseverance, and evolution of Indigenous art and culture.

DinéYazhi´is a Portland-based transdisciplinary artist, writer, curator, and publisher born to the clans Naasht’ézhí Tábąąhá (Zuni Clan Water’s Edge) & Tódích’íí’nii (Bitter Water) of the Diné (Navajo) whose work has also been included in the 2019 Honolulu Biennial, the Portland 2019 Biennial, and has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Smack Mellon, PICA, and the Cooley Gallery at Reed College, among others.

As poet and artist they dig into ideas and urgencies around decolonization, survivance, and queerness working to address and redress, as they put it, "centuries of forced assimilation to White Supremacist Capitalist Heteropatriarchal Colonization."

DinéYazhi´ is the recipient of the Henry Art Museum’s Brink Award, Hallie Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts, and Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, and Crow’s Shadow Golden Spot Residency and have been artist-in-residence at Institute of American Indian Arts and part of the 2017 cohort of PICA's Creative Exchange Lab.

The 22nd Biennale of Sydney is artist- and First Nations-led, presenting an expansive exhibition of contemporary art that connects local communities and global networks.

"The urgent states of our contemporary lives are laden with unresolved past anxieties and hidden layers of the supernatural," said Brook Andrew, Artistic Director. "NIRIN is about to expose this, demonstrating that artists and creatives have the power to resolve, heal, dismember and imagine futures of transformation for re-setting the world. Sovereignty is at the centre of these actions. I hope that NIRIN (edge) gathers life forces of integrity to push through often impenetrable noise."

NIRIN, meaning edge, and WIR, meaning sky, is a phrase from Brook Andrew’s mother’s Nation, the Wiradjuri people of central western New South Wales.

DinéYazhi´ is in great company for this massive exhibition. Participants in the 22nd Biennale of Sydney include:

Adrift Lab Canada/Australia/United Kingdom

Tony Albert Australia

Charlotte Allingham Australia

Maria Thereza Alves Brazil/Germany/Italy

Lhola Amira South Africa

Joël Andrianomearisoa Madagascar/France

ArTree Nepal Nepal

Tarek Atoui Lebanon/France

Sammy Baloji Democratic Republic of Congo/Belgium

Denilson Baniwa Brazil

Bankstown Poetry Slam Australia

BE. Australia

Namila Benson Papua New Guinea

Sissel M Bergh Norway

Huma Bhabha Pakistan/USA

Blacktown Native Institution Dharug Nation (Australia)

Karim Bleus Haiti

Anna Boghiguian Egypt/Canada

Mohamed Bourouissa Algeria/France

Breaking Bread South Africa

Eric Bridgeman and Haus Yuriyal Papua New Guinea/Australia

Tania Bruguera Cuba

Vajiko Chachkhiani Georgia/Germany

Club Ate: Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra Australia

Colectivo Ayllu Argentina/Chile/Ecuador/Spain/Venezuela

Victoria Santa Cruz (1922-2014) Peru

Randy Lee Cutler Canada

Jose Dávila Mexico

Demian DinéYazhi ́ and R.I.S.E.: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment USA

Karla Dickens Australia

Léuli Eshrãghi Australia

André Eugène Haiti

FAFSWAG New Zealand

Jes Fan Canada/USA/China

First Dog on the Moon Australia

Brian Fuata Australia

FUNPARK Coalition Australia

Nicholas Galanin USA

Stuart Geddes and Trent Walter Australia

Fátima Rodrigo Gonzales Peru

Josep Grau-Garriga (1929-2011) Spain/France

Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian Iran/United Arab Emirates

Lawrence Abu Hamdan Jordan/Lebanon

Aziz Hazara Afghanistan

Lily Hibberd Australia/France

Lucas Ihlein and Kim Williams Australia

Iltja Ntjarra / Namatjira School of Art Australia

Arthur Jafa USA

Hannah Catherine Jones United Kingdom

Aslaug Magdalena Juliussen Norway

Emily Karaka New Zealand

Bronwyn Katz South Africa

Kylie Kwong Australia

Tarek Lakhrissi France

Barbara McGrady Australia

Ibrahim Mahama Ghana

Stone Kulimoe'anga Maka Tonga/New Zealand

Noŋgirrŋa Marawili Darrpirra/Yirrkala (Australia)

Teresa Margolles Mexico/Spain

Misheck Masamvu Zimbabwe

Katarina Matiasek Austria

Mayunkiki Japan

John Miller and Elisapeta Heta New Zealand

Jota Mombaça Brazil

Mostaff Muchawaya Zimbabwe

Prof Sir Zanele Muholi South Africa

The Mulka Project Yirrkala (Australia)

MzRizk Australia

Elicura Chihuailaf Nahuelpán Chile

Paulo Nazareth Brazil

S.J Norman Australia/Germany

Musa N Nxumalo South Africa

Manuel Ocampo Philippines

Erkan Özgen Turkey

Parramatta Female Factory & PYT Fairfield Australia

Taqralik Partridge Norway/Canada

Rosana Paulino Brazil

Laure Prouvost France/Belgium/United Kingdom

Public Redress System Australia

Reading Oceania Australia

Lisa Reihana New Zealand

Andrew Rewald Australia/Germany

Shaheed / Witness / Kashmir (India/Kashmir)

STARTTS (NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma

Survivors) Australia

Adrian Stimson Canada/Siksika Nation (Canada)

Anders Sunna Sweden

Suohpanterror Sápmi(Finland/Sweden/Norway)

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Kainai First Nation (Canada)/Sápmi (Norway)

Latai Taumoepeau Australia

Tennant Creek Brio Australia

Warwick Thornton Australia

Kalisolaite ‘Uhila Tonga/New Zealand

Gina Athena Ulysse Haiti/USA

Ahmed Umar Sudan/Norway

Unbound Collective Australia

Kunmanara Williams (1952-2019) Pitjantjatjara (Australia)

Luke Willis Thompson New Zealand/Fiji/United Kingdom

Pedro Wonaeamirri Melville Island/Andranangruwu, Paluwiyanga (Australia) Tribe: Milipurrulla, White Cockatoo. Dance: Jilarti, Brolga.

Exhibition venues for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020) are:

Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney NSW

Artspace Woolloomooloo NSW

Campbelltown Arts Centre Campbelltown NSW

Cockatoo Island Sydney Harbour NSW

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia The Rocks NSW

National Art School Darlinghurst NSW