Acquisitive Award Exhibition 

We are pleased to announce that more than 40 artists from across Australia have been selected to participate in the Acquisitive Award Exhibition for the Burrinja Climate Change Biennale #4.

Featuring both local and nationally recognised artists, the Acquisitive Award Exhibition sits at the heart of BCCB#4, showcasing an inspiring and thought-provoking collection of works that respond to the urgent conversations surrounding climate change and the environment.

The exhibition presents a diverse range of contemporary practices across painting, photography, sculpture, installation, digital and new media, bringing together Victorian and interstate artists in a powerful exploration of art, ecology and the future of our planet.

“Burrinja received an overwhelming number of outstanding applications — far more than this year’s Biennale could accommodate. It speaks to the extraordinary imagination and creativity of the artists who submitted works, while also reflecting the growing urgency and concern surrounding climate-related issues.”

JD Mittmann - Curator & Manager of Collections, Burrinja Cultural Centre

The Artists

Ourania Amvrazis, Tania Babic, Michele Barker, Wendy Bayliss, Katherine Boland, Cassandra Brooker, Trish Campbell, Carolyn Cardinet, Edwina Cooper, Naomi Droll, Louisa Ennis-Thomas, Maude Farrugia, Michelle Ferreira, Catriona Galbraith &, Nicole Gammie, Ali Griffin, Toni Hassan, Emma Jennings, Bettina Kaiser, Pamela Kleemann-Passi, John Krzywokulski, Chris Lawry, Fiona Lee, Jan Liesfield, Jake Mason, Paul E Mason, Kristin McFarlane, Martin Moore, Gabrielle New &, Greg Oakley, Takako Osawa, Regina Piroska, Rumen Rachev, Craig Rawlings, Tayla Richardson, Sarah Rowlands, Joy Serwylo, Maria Simonelli, Nicole Soden, Debbie Symons, Liz Walker, Steven Warburton, Dianna Wells, Mark Westaway, Rain White, and Martina Zaruma Ortega.

Exhibition Opening Sunday 23 August, 2pm (free event)

Join us in celebrating the opening of the exhibition, experience powerful works that respond to climate change alongside participating artists, and hear the stories, ideas, and environmental concerns behind their creative practices.

Other Program Highlights

Alongside the Acquisitive Award Exhibition in the main galleries, a series of additional exhibitions and installations will activate spaces throughout Burrinja Cultural Centre during the Burrinja Climate Change Biennale #4.

Liz Magor — Roll-up
22 August – 25 October - Airlock Gallery
Canadian artist Liz Magor presents sculptural and photographic works that explore the latent and affective qualities of familiar materials, images and objects. Her dramatic installations encapsulate the chaos of contemporary life, assembling everyday objects into confounding and unsettling narratives.

Dale Cox — Panacea
22 August – 8 November - Foyer Gallery
Castlemaine-based contemporary artist Dale Cox works across film, painting and sculpture, often appropriating found objects for alteration and reinvention. His recent paintings and sculptural works addressing bushfires examine climate change, the precarious imbalance of human-altered environments, and the ancient rhythms of the Australian landscape.

Sharon Field — The Scrolls – 3,000 Days…and Counting
Date TBC - Foyer Space
Beginning on Earth Hour Day (26 March) 2022 and continuing through to Earth Day 2030, award-winning Canberra-based botanical artist Sharon Field creates a daily drawing or painting of a species directly onto her scrolls, building an evolving visual narrative intended to leave a lasting impact.

Beth Arnold and Katie Lee — Oyster Shells Amongst Bricks (Smelling of Dust)
Dates TBC - Foyer Space
This interactive installation draws on a database of material contributions from artists across the Climate Aware Creative Practice Network. Challenging administrative structures and systems, the work brings into focus the care, attachment and material knowledge artists hold.

Catherine Gough-Brady, W. Sze Tsang and Cassandra Tytler — ARia: Song Unseen
10 - 11 October - Café Forecourt
WA-based collective artists Catherine Gough-Brady, W. Sze Tsang and Cassandra Tytler use augmented reality and sound as narrative tools to reveal the hidden destruction of Perth’s urban canopy caused by the polyphagous shot-hole borer in Hyde Park/Boodjamooling. Working collaboratively, the award-winning artists create site-specific works using emergent technologies and participatory arts practices to explore the interconnections between people, place, history and the current ecological crisis.