The Biennale of Sydney has announced Mami Kataoka as the Artistic Director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney to be held in 2018. Mami Kataoka, the acclaimed Chief Curator at the Mori Art Museum (MAM) in Tokyo, is the first curator from Asia to be appointed as Artistic Director of the Biennale of Sydney.

No stranger to Australia (having been one of 13 eminent international advisors to this year’s 20th edition and with strong connections to local curators and artists), Ms. Kataoka is a key figure in analysing socio-historical and generational trends within Japanese and Asian art.

Ms. Kataoka is renowned internationally for her curatorial practice, having engaged in many projects including as co-artistic director of ROUNDTABLE: 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012), and guest curator ofPhantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past (2012) at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Ms. Kataoka also curated Ai Weiwei: According to What? (2012) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, which toured to several other North American venues.

Kate Mills, Biennale of Sydney Chairman, says: “We are delighted with Mami Kataoka’s appointment as Artistic Director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney. As one of the region’s most accomplished curators, Mami will bring a truly fresh perspective and an Asian sensibility to the exhibition in 2018, enabling Biennale artists and audiences to explore in greater depth our relationship with the Asia Pacific region and challenge conventional wisdoms.”

Read more on CIMAM and Artnet News

Image: Mami Kataoka. Photo Jennifer Yin