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IBA 13th General Assembly

On this page, you may find the most up-to-date information about the 13th General Assembly of IBA in Sydney, Australia, which will take place between June 9th and 14th, 2026 during the closing days of the 25th Biennale of Sydney – Rememory.

Founded in 1973, the Biennale of Sydney is one of the longest-running and most respected biennials in the world. Known for its commitment to experimental, interdisciplinary, and socially engaged art, the Biennale has consistently positioned itself as a key appointment for artistic practices across the Asia-Pacific and worldwide. Recent editions have foregrounded urgent global issues while remaining deeply rooted in the unique histories and ecologies of the continent and its First Nations.

Marking a new chapter for IBA, with this being our first General Assembly held in Oceania, we are proud to collaborate with one of the region’s most iconic contemporary art institutions, represented within IBA by its CEO, Barbara Moore, who last year took up the role as Vice-President of IBA. As always, the General Assembly will include an engaging program for both members and the general public, with a strong focus on regional issues that echo the curatorial approach set by Hoor Al Qasimi as Artistic Director of the 25th Biennale of Sydney.

Those interested in attending are requested to confirm their expression of interest.

IBA 13th General Assembly
REMEMORY: Living Solidarities, Embodied Futures

Schedule of Events
Last Updated: May 16, 2026

Do note that items in this schedule are subject to change in the coming weeks. Should you have any questions about the program, please get in touch with us at info@biennialassociation.org.

*Registration through the IBA Office is required for these events.

 

Mon, 8 June 2026 – Recommended Arrivals

This is a public holiday in Australia, which will affect some business operations. For example, most offices will be closed, some museums/galleries will be closed, and most cafes and restaurants will still be open, but have special public holiday surcharges.

 

Tue, 9 June 2026 – Tours of the 25th Biennale of Sydney

  • 12:00-12:30 Registration check for Tours
  • 12:00-16:30 Tours of the 25th Biennale of Sydney: White Bay Power Station, Chau Chak Wing Museum, Art Gallery of NSW (Registration Required)*
    • 12:30 Meet @ White Bay Power Station – Robert St, Rozelle NSW 2039, Australia MAP
    • 12:30-13:30 Tour White Bay Power Station
    • 13:30 Bus departs from White Bay Power Station, drops off at Chau Chak Wing Museum
    • 14:00-15:00 Tour Chau Chak Wing Museum
    • 15:00 Bus departs from Chau Chak Wing Museum, drops off at Art Gallery of NSW
    • 15:30-16:30 Tour Art Gallery of NSW
    • 16:30 Bus departs from Art Gallery of NSW, drops off at at Park Royal and Central Station

 

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 – Focus Groups

  • 09:00-12:00 IBA 25th Board Meeting (Board Members Only)
  • 12:30-13:00 Registration check for Focus Groups @ Chau Chak Wing Museum – University Pl, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia MAP
  • 13:00-17:00 Focus Groups (Registration Required)* @ Chau Chak Wing Museum – University Pl, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia MAP

Focus Groups

IBA’s Focus Groups are conceived as closed working sessions, creating a space for candid, experience-based exchange among biennial practitioners. Rather than public discussions, these sessions are structured to address the concrete conditions under which biennials operate today.

Biennials are approached not as stable formats, but as practices continuously adapting to conditions of uncertainty. Focus Groups aim to foster mutual support, collective reflection, and the development of shared approaches to navigating the topics described below.

Archives and Memory
Networks of Solidarity, Alliances and Cooperation
Education and Outreach
IBA Sustainability and Structural Review (IBA Members Only)
Cultural Safety Within Biennial Contexts

 

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 – Public Program

  • 08:45-09:00 Registration check for Public Program @ Chau Chak Wing Museum – University Pl, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia MAP

REMEMORY: Living Solidarities, Embodied Futures

  • 09:00-17:00 Public Program

REMEMORY as a living, active process, as the reassembly of her-histories, bodies, and as re-categorization of relations within the present.

Moving beyond the idea of the past as concluded, it becomes a method for engaging both with the long reach of twentieth-century solidarity movements and networks, and with the urgent ethical and ecological conditions shaping our world today.

The programme takes as its point of departure historical formations of transnational exchange – political or cultural gatherings such as Bandung or FESTAC, and artistic platforms such as the early Alexandria Biennale, Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, or Bienal de la Havana – not as closed episodes, but as unfinished projects. These sites of encounter, translation, and collective imagination are understood as living archives whose echoes continue to inform contemporary practices of solidarity today.

Building on this, the focus shifts toward the present: toward solidarities emerging among First Nations, diasporic, and other marginalised communities, both human and non-human. Here, REMEMORY becomes a tool for survival, continuity, and collective action. Memory is understood as embodied knowledge, carried through land, storytelling, and communal practices, and as a force capable of resisting extractive, colonial, and neoliberal systems.

In this context, the condition described by Giorgio Agamben as bare life offers a critical threshold: a way to understand how certain bodies and communities are positioned outside social and political recognition. Yet the programme moves beyond this diagnosis, foregrounding instead the ways in which marginalised knowledges and lived practices transform conditions of abandonment into forms of relation, resistance, and future-making.

REMEMORY thus operates across two intertwined movements: from the unfinished solidarities of the past to the emergent solidarities of the present; from historical echoes to embodied futures. It invites us to consider how histories of gathering can be reactivated as frameworks of storytelling for sustaining life, justice, and collective continuity in times of profound global transformation.

  • 18:00-19:30 Book Launch: Selected Writings, Volume 2: Curating the Postcolonial Condition by Okwui Enwezor (Ticketed Event) @ Museum of Contemporary Art Australia – 140 George St, The Rocks NSW 2000, Australia MAP
    • Conversation with Terry Smith
    • Details TBA

 

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 – Tours + Biennale of Sydney Closing Party

  • 09:15-09:30 Registration check for General Assembly Formalities @ Chau Chak Wing Museum – University Pl, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia MAP
  • 09:30-10:30 General Assembly Formalities (IBA Members Only)
  • 10:30-11:00 Registration check for Tours
  • 10:30-16:00 Tours of the 25th Biennale of Sydney (Registration Required)*
    • 11:00 Bus departs from Chau Chak Wing Museum – University Pl, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia MAP
    • 12:00-13:00 Tour Lewers: Penrith Regional Art Gallery
    • 13:00-14:00 Lunch Break
    • Bus departs from Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery, drops off at Campbelltown Arts Centre
    • 15:00-16:00 Tour Campbelltown Arts Centre
    • Bus departs from Campbelltown Arts Centre, drops off at Chau Chak Wing Museum and Central Station
  • 18:00-19:00: Carolyn Christov Bakargiev Keynote (Ticketed Event) @ Chau Chak Wing Museum – University Pl, Camperdown NSW 2050, Australia MAP
    • Details TBA
  • 18:00-23:00 Biennale of Sydney Last Light, presented with VIVID Sydney @ White Bay Power Station – Robert St, Rozelle NSW 2039, Australia MAP
    • Free Admission, Pre-registration Required. Register at the Biennale of Sydney.
    • Organised by the Biennale of Sydney. For one last night, the iconic industrial space surges with energy — reimagined as a two-stage street party where music, movement and contemporary art collide.

 

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 – 25th Biennale of Sydney Programming

 

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 – Last Day of the 25th Biennale of Sydney

Biennale of Sydney Events for Early Arrivals

For any delegates who might be in Sydney before the events of IBA’s 13th General Assembly, please find below some programming from the Biennale of Sydney.

Fri, 5 Jun 2026

Sun, 7 Jun 2026

Other Events in Sydney

In addition to IBA’s 13th General Assembly and the closing days of the 25th Biennale of Sydney, there will be events taking place simultaneously in the region. Do consider including them in your itinerary to make the most of your time in Sydney.

Vivid Sydney
22 May – 13 June
Website

Sydney Film Festival
3 June, 2026 – 14 June, 2026
Website

Travelling to Sydney

Passport and Visa

All international visitors must hold a valid passport and obtain a visa before entering Australia. Most tourists can apply online for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) or eVisitor visa, depending on their nationality. Please check the official Australian immigration website for eligibility and application details.

ETA-eligible passport holders must apply for an ETA using the Australian ETA app, which can be downloaded for free from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Android).

Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD)

Sydney Airport is well connected to the city and surrounding regions. Located only 10km away from the city centre, a range of transport options are available depending on preference.

Please note that Australia has strict customs and biosecurity laws. Read more about what you can and can’t bring into the country here.

Arrival

The international hall offers all essential services, including currency exchange, ATMs, travel SIM cards and e-SIM providers, and airport concierge desks.

Where private meet-and-greet or chauffeur services have been arranged, drivers will be waiting in the arrivals area with clear identification.

Transport from Sydney International Airport

Private Transfer: Private transfers can be arranged in advance for direct travel from the airport to accommodation or venues. (SAM)

Car Hire: Sydney has a number of local and international car hire agencies. The hire rate per day for a standard vehicle starts from AUD $62 per day. The minimum age for care hire is 21, and an international driver’s license is required. At Sydney International Airport, car hire desks are available.

Taxi: Taxis operate from the official taxi rank outside the T1 international arrivals terminal. Approximate fare to the CBD is AUD $60. Travel time is 20 – 30 minutes.

Rideshare: Ridshare services operate from a designated pick-up area just outside the T1 international arrivals terminal. Follow the signs for “Priority Pick-up” or “Rideshare”.

Airport Link Train: The Airport Link Train connects directly to Sydney’s city centre. Direct services run every 15 minutes, with the average adult fare costing $20 for a one-way trip from the airport.

Accommodations in Sydney

For information about where to eat, drink, and stay during your time in Sydney, please refer to these recommendations from the Biennale of Sydney.

PARKROYAL Darling Harbour, Sydney, has partnered with the 25th Biennale of Sydney to bring you the ultimate comfort and convenience throughout the Biennale season. Included in this package is 15% discount on the best available rates, daily buffets breakfast for up to two adults, and a welcome cheese platter and bottle of sparkling wine. Located just a 10-minute drive away from White Bay Power Station, enjoy the luxury while being close to the Biennale.

Discover more about this exclusive offer at Biennale of Sydney Stay.

The Ace Hotel is an effortlessly cool boutique hotel on the edge of CBD is Sydney’s stylish Surry Hills, with easy access to shopping, nightlife, and Sydney’s trendiest cafes and restaurants. The hotel is best known for its moody lobby restaurant and bar that is perfect for daytime co-working and later a night out. The Ace Hotel is only a 10 minute drive to White Bay Power Station.

For booking and reservations, visit Ace Hotel.

A former film studio meets luxury in this boutique hotel in Surry Hills. Paramount House Hotel is built brick space filled with plants, a health club upstairs and an underground cinema and bar downstairs. This is the place to stay if you want arts, culture, nightlife and light-filled rooms with private patios. Sydney Harbour is 20 minutes on foot, and just around the corner is Sydney’s Central Train Station – public transport galore.

For booking and reservations, visit Paramount House Hotel.

Set in the “poem of stone” of historic buildings in Sydney’s CBD, Capella is a contemporary luxury hotel hidden inside heritage architecture. Located in the heart of Sydney, Capella is for the city lovers. Bars, restaurants, and shopping at your doorstop. The hotel is only minutes away on foot to Sydney Harbour, the Art Gallery of NSW and a 10 minute drive to White Bay Power Station.

For booking and reservations, visit Capella Sydney.

A boutique luxury hotel located on the heritage-listed Wooloomooloo wharf right on Sydney Harbour, offering stunning water views. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Opera House and CBD are just a short walk away. Equipped with a swimming pool and fitness centre, Ovolo Sydney is a 15 minute drive to White Bay Power Station.

For booking and reservations, visit Ovolo Hotels Sydney.

THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS

We extend our deepest gratitude to our members for their ongoing support in our mission and to our partners for their efforts and contributions in making this event possible.

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