Portrait of Mami Kataoka. Photo by Jennifer Yin
Mami Kataoka, the Chief Curator at the Mori Art Museum (MAM) in Tokyo, has been appointed as the Artistic Director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney. The announcement is set to bring about a better analysis of the socio-historical and generational trends within Asian art while simultaneously exploring Australia’s relationship with the Asia Pacific region.
Throughout her career Kataoka has played a pivotal role in the incorporation of Asian contemporary art across the globe. She became chief curator at MAM in 2003, while between 2007 and 2009 she served as international curator at the Hayward Gallery in London, and in 2012 she was the co-artistic director at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea. Mami Kataoka is not new to the Australian art scene however. She was one of the 13 distinguished international advisors to this year’s 20th edition the Biennale of Sydney entitled: “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed”.
Having recently found out about her upcoming role in the Biennale of Sydney 2018, Mami Kataoka has expressed an interest in questioning the importance and relevance of the Biennale for the region. The Japanese curator’s involvement with the 21st edition of the Biennale of Sydney is expected to be fresh and sensible with an Asian influence, though Kataoka has stated that she doesn’t intend to transform it into an “Asian biennale”.
The 21st Biennale of Sydney takes place in 2018