There’s no stopping art and design: The best upcoming programs in 2022

From left: Barbara Moore, Chief Executive Officer, Biennale of Sydney, Anna Davis, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Paschal Daantos Berry, Head of Learning and Participation, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Talia Linz, Curator, Artspace, Hannah Donnelly, Producer, First Nations Programs, Information + Cultural Exchange (I.C.E.), José Roca, Artistic Director, 23rd Biennale of Sydney. Photography by Joshua Morris.

We’re kicking off 2022 with a little reminder that there are some incredible events on the horizon. Take a look at the program from Melbourne Design Week 2022 and check out what’s on at the 23rd Sydney Biennale.

As we take our first steps into the 2022, we’re on the hunt for events to brighten the New Year. Two of the years’ biggest programs are set to start in March, and with the month just around the corner, it’s certainly giving us something to look forward to.

Melbourne Design Week (17 – 27 March) and the 23rd Biennale of Sydney (12 March – 13 June 2022) are both back with major programs this year, featuring design, art and ideas, with both programs this year putting major focus on sustainability.

The nature of an island by Dale Hardiman and James Lemon at Melbourne Design Week 2021. Photography by Sean Fennessy.

Melbourne Design WeekThe annual event is back once more, with over 300 talks, tours, exhibitions and workshops. Running for ten days in mid March, this year’s theme, “Design the world you want” will be based around two pillars: civic good and making good.

These pillars encourage the participants to think beyond the individual to serve the common interest, while exploring design that is not simply functional and aesthetic – but also positively impactful for society and the environment.

A person in a navy blue shirt and black pants walks a dog outside a shop that has a bright green display and a white chair in its window.

Community by Alt Material at Melbourne Design Week 2021. Photography by Tobias Titz.

The program’s highlights include the Melbourne Design Week Award, awarded for an outstanding contribution to Australia’s largest international design event, the Melbourne Design Week Film Festival, curated by Richard Sowada, which features environments, cities, buildings and infrastructure and the people that design and inhabit them, and the Melbourne Art Book Fair, a platform bringing together international publishers, artists and designers.

17 – 27 March 2022
designweek.melbourne

23rd Biennale of Sydney

The 23rd Biennale of Sydney returns this March. With a program running over three months under the guidance of artistic director José Roca, the Biennale is a series that will be hard to miss.

A group of seven participants in the Biennale of Sydney sit and stand together in a large sandstone space.

The Biennale of Sydney public program provides pathways into projects by participants including (from left) Cave Urban (Sophie Lanigan, Juan Pablo Pinto, Mercurio Alvarado and Jed Long), David Haines and Joyce Hinterding and Clare Milledge, pictured with Lleah Smith (centre), Curator of Programs and Learning, at The Cutaway, Barangaroo. Photography by Daniel Boud.

Titled rīvus, meaning ‘stream’ in Latin, the Biennale is situated along the waterways of the Gadigal rtand Burramattagal people

The first announcement from the upcoming program is a three month long public program titled The Waterhouse. The Waterhouse embraces the core philosophies of the Biennale, namely our relation to water and how we are connected through, by and in water.

People walk into the National Art School during the Biennale of Sydney 2021

Courtesy of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney 2020, NIRIN National Art School Opening, 12 March 2020. Photography by Zan Wimberley.

“Admission to the Biennale of Sydney is free for all to enjoy, with an open invitation for you to experience the most innovative contemporary art and ideas from around the world in some of Sydney’s most stunning and accessible public spaces,” says Biennale of Sydney CEO Barbara Moore.

“This edition of the Biennale will be all about our connections, and disconnections, with water, and as a result, with each other. It will be a beautiful thing to experience,” added Moore.

12 March – 13 June 2022
biennaleofsydney.art