A digital reimagining of Australia’s pavilion exhibition for the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture will be shown at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra
Inside the exhibition Inbetween which has opened at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. Image Credit: National Museum of Australia
The exhibition is part of a longstanding collaboration between the Alastair Swayn Foundation and the National Museum, through the Museum’s Swayn Fellowship in Australian Design.
Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, curators Jefa Greenaway and Tristan Wong were unable to implement the installation in Venice so they pivoted to a virtual format that will endure long after the biennale has closed.
The theme for the 2021 biennale (22 May to 21 November 2021) was “how will we live together” and in response Jefa Greenaway and Tristan Wong developed Inbetween, a series of architectural projects and processes selected for their powerful representations of Indigenous peoples and cultures.
The immersive, large-scale filmic experience features 20 projects in remote, regional and metropolitan locations across all states and territories in Australia as well as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu.
The groundbreaking Swayn Centre for Australian Design focusses on all aspects of design, including architecture, landscape architecture, fashion, graphic design, furniture as well as product and digital design. The goal of the centre is to increase public connection to and appreciation of Australian design, through collections, collaborations, exhibitions, events and research.
National Museum of Australia director, Dr Mathew Trinca, said: “This exhibition explores the architecture and architectural practices from a region with the richest and most diverse number of language groups and cultures anywhere in the world and we are delighted to share it with visitors to the National Museum.
“Architecture enables us to connect, to evoke Country, to reveal layers of history and memory, and to give cultural expression to our shared humanity through an approach centred on people and how they live and work,” Dr Trinca said.
Graham Humphries, chairperson of the Alastair Swayn Foundation, said: “The Alastair Swayn Foundation is proud to support this extraordinary installation through the Swayn Centre at the National Museum of Australia.
“Architecture and design have an inevitable and important social impact on communities. It’s an increasing necessity for non-Indigenous peoples to engage with Indigenous peoples to understand how their culture and knowledge systems can inform contemporary architectural practice,” Mr Humphries said.
“Jefa and Tristan, through Inbetween, have curated a moving, immersive experience that augments connectivity within our region and celebrates the diversity of language and culture across the Pacific. The collaborative projects highlighted in Inbetween vividly demonstrate the power architecture has to enrich and revitalise First Nations knowledge, cultures and identities.
“It is a privilege to support sharing this work with the Australian people, and we hope engagement with the exhibition fosters these integral partnerships to amplify and endure,” Mr Humphries said.
Tristan Wong said: “Embedding practices and knowledge that has been around for more than 60,000 years into the way we design buildings creates opportunities for a new kind of architecture that is better for people, cities and the environment.”
Jefa Greenaway said: “What we’re looking at through the exhibition is how architects, both non-Indigenous and Indigenous, are working with First Nations peoples – traditional owners, knowledge keepers and elders – as a way of embedding cultural authenticity into our built environment.”
Australian Institute of Architects’ National President Tony Giannone said: “For the first time, this partnership gives many Australians the opportunity to experience a part of the most celebrated architecture festival in the world face-to-face in a premier national exhibition space. With Inbetween, Jefa and Tristan have curated a powerful and very timely expression of the architecture profession’s commitment to engage more meaningfully with First Nations peoples and our appreciation of Indigenous knowledge and culture in how we practice.”
Inbetween is on display in the National Museum of Australia’s Focus Gallery until 12 June 2022.