The Cutaway at Barangaroo

The 23rd Biennale of Sydney is articulated around a series of conceptual wetlands situated along waterways of the Gadigal, Burramatagal and Cabrogal peoples.

rīvus at The Cutaway and Stargazer Lawn is imagined as a vast assembled ecology of living and synthetic beings. It is a place where laboratory experiments sit alongside speculative works that envision other ways of being in the world; where a giant leaf creature dances slowly in the sun and the moonlight, and a swirling river made of bamboo flows in torrents above our heads.

Some participants research biomaterials that sequester carbon and do not pollute the environment. Others explore the possibility of inter-species collaboration and build intimate relationships with plants. Many projects begin from a place of ancestral knowledge, giving form to stories of creation that have guided harmonious ways to live in and with nature since the beginnings of human time.