Sydney Biennale

It's not particularly crafty but if you are in Sydney at all during July can I please urge you to check out Cockatoo Island as part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney. My husband and I went yesterday and it was amazing! My husband is not particularly interested in art, usually managing to stay in a museum for half an hour before total boredom sets in, but we happily spent four hours wandering around. There were many highlights, in particular Static No. 12 by Daniel Crooks, which was a stunningly beautiful video of a man doing Tai Chi, where due to some time delay in the video, the mans movements all blended into one. I also loved Kasbah by Kader Attia which is a replica of the rooftops of a shanty town, one that you can walk all over, it is really interactive and I think it would be a great way of starting a conversation with child about poverty in other parts of the world.

Then there was Inopportune:Stage One by Cai Guo-Qiang, a series of cars suspended in mid air, exploding.

Of course there were many, many other exhibits but I think a major part of the appeal was the setting. Cockatoo Island is basically a huge abandoned industrial space, in fact it used to be a shipbuilding yard and all the mechanics, buildings and structures remain. Most of the exhibits are in these enormous cavernous areas, and all the fixtures are rusting and falling apart. I would have been happy wandering around without all the art, that was just an added bonus. But all in all it was a perfect way to spend a day and even better, totally free!!

Sorry there are no photos, I stupidly did not take my camera (although, I think sometimes its nice to enjoy things without also thinking about them as a subject for photography).