Huma Bhabha | 22nd Biennale of Sydney, 2020
Huma Bhabha
The 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020), titled NIRIN, is an expansive exhibition of contemporary art that connects local communities and global networks. Brook Andrew, one of Australia’s most distinguished artists, is artistic director of NIRIN. Meaning ‘edge’, NIRIN is a word of Brook’s mother’s Nation, the Wiradjuri people of western New South Wales.
Included in NIRIN, Huma Bhabha’s towering, fantastical figures come from deep imagination, taking the form of commanding apocalyptic hybrids. The works reference ancient Greek kouroi (sculptures of nude male youths), Gandhara buddhas (produced between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE in present-day Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan), African sculpture and Egyptian pharaohs. Evocative as shrines, Bhaba’s figures emanate colonialism, war, displacement and memories of place.
Total Run Time: 1min 36 seconds