Emily Cormack Named Curator of TarraWarra Biennial 2018

On April 20, Emily Cormack was named curator of the 2018 TarraWarra Biennial (8/10/18–11/4/18). The Melbourne-based Cormack is a freelance curator and writer who has worked on projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region and in Italy, including managing the New Zealand Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2005.

Speaking on Cormack’s recent appointment, TarraWarra Museum of Art director Victoria Lynn remarked: “Emily curated ‘Primavera’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney last year to wide acclaim, and we look forward to her unique vision for the TarraWarra Biennial 2018.”

In 2016, Cormack curated the 25th anniversary edition of “Primavera: Young Australian Artists,” an annual exhibition that celebrates artists age 35 and under, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney. In her iteration of the critically successful show, Cormack invited eight artists whose works explore ways in which art communicates with the human body’s sensory systems. The study of physicality as a vehicle for art interpretation is at the crux of Cormack’s ongoing area of research. She holds a Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne and is currently a PhD candidate in fine arts at Monash University.

From 2006 to 2016, Cormack worked at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne, where she curated exhibitions such as “Everyday Rebellions” (2013), a group show featuring Joan Jonas and Dane Mitchell, among others, and co-curated the comprehensive survey show “21: 100: 100” (2008), which featured 100 works produced in the 21st century, by 100 sound artists.

Established in 2006, the TarraWarra Biennial aims to provide an experimental curatorial platform and to showcase new developments in contemporary Australian art. Natalie King, curator of the Australia Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale, co-curated the TarraWarra Museum of Art Biennial in 2014.

TarraWarra Biennial will take place from August 10 to November 4, 2018, at the TarraWarra Museum of Art, in Australia. 

Sylvia Tsai is associate editor at ArtAsiaPacific. 

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