Fremantle Biennale 2025
Living within the City of Fremantle is a blessing in so many ways. The people, architecture, beaches, cafe culture, and the arts. There are many galleries, art centres, practicing artists and pop up exhibitions. And every two years there’s the Fremantle Biennale, a festival of site-responsive contemporary art held over three weeks.
This year’s theme was Sanctuary with Australian and International artists extending their interpretation into amazing visual and audio exhibitions and live performances.
I love going to these types of festivals. They’re an amazing source of inspiration for my own work mixed reality allowing me to reflect on how:
Spaces are defined and where/how boundaries are shaped (entry/egress points, how do people move through the space, what is permissble/forbidden)
To engage audiences and invite participation (e.g. open/closed, freedom/prescriptive, game controllers versus watching a pre-recorded walkthrough)
To use cues to convey instruction, participation or perception (e.g. where benches or cushions are positioned or gallery attendant requesting the removal of shoes)
Artists use lighting to convey mood (complete darkness, a pinpoint of light, smoke to enhance laser effects, aligning with audio)
Attention is guided, shifted and manipulated (e.g. lighting, audio, colour).
Many of these exhibits were free thanks to a host of festival sponsors. I think it’s important for the public to visit and attend these festivals to demonstrate that there is interest in public art which helps ensure long term sustainability for these initiatives.
Besides supporting the artists who make these thought provoking works, I also think it’s important for the public to attend festivals and view art because it’s good for your soul and mental health.
We can place ourselves in the shoes of others, people we may not know but can understand and even empathise with. We might come across a work that speaks to us personally, as if it was made specifically for us, and realise that we are not alone in our endeavours or suffering. Others know exactly how you feel which may give us comfort.
Art can also show you the magic, splendour, and awe of simply being human and being alive, right now on this small rock hurtling through infinite expanding space.
“A Predatory Chord” Ben Frost, Victoria Hall, Fremantle. Image source: Natalie
“Pool of Content” Won Bae and Charlie Lawler, Customs House, Fremantle. Image source: Natalie
“Pool of Content” Won Bae and Charlie Lawler, Customs House, Fremantle. Image source: Natalie
“Where the Light Rests” Ken Meyer, Lieutenant’s Mess, Fremantle. Image source: Natalie
“Nepenthe (Summer Palace Ruins)” Lawrence Lek, PS Arts Space, Fremantle. Image source: Natalie
“Exhalation” Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey and Lynn Ruth, Whalers Tunnel, Fremantle. Image source: Natalie
“Fifty Thousand Years, Or For As Long As We Remember” Raki Nikahetiya, Moores Building Art Space, Fremantle. Image source: Natalie