Demian DinéYazhi´ selected for 2020 Sydney Biennial
October 03, 2019
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