SAM curator Belinda Briggs to help select artists for Beechworth Biennale

The announcement of the selection panel follows the release of the Biennale committee’s invitation for artists across the country to express interest and pitch proposals for works at 15 locations in Beechworth.

Exhibition sites include a barrel cellar below the Hotel Nicholas, built in 1854, an old hotel ballroom, the grand Italianate façade of the town’s former lunatic asylum, a main street churchyard, the granite-faced shell of the old Ovens Goldfields hospital above Beechworth gorge and an abandoned, empty swimming pool in the former gaol.

Ms Machielse Hunt said Beechworth’s spectacular gold-rush-era streetscape offered a unique setting for the event.

It will run from March 8 to 12, 2024.

“Beechworth Biennale has developed from the Beechworth Contemporary Art Award in 2022, when 10 proposals from 200 artists’ applications were created and installed across the community,” Ms Machielse Hunt said.

“For 2024, the committee managing the Biennale have expanded the number of installation places to 15 from one end of town to the other with the generous help of people, businesses, community organisations and Indigo Shire Council, which own or operate the sites selected.

“We’re asking artists from all stages of career and practice to submit proposals.

“We’re looking for site-specific experimental proposals from artists that move beyond the traditional subject, materials and gallery context and prompt audiences to question ‘What is art?’.

“The site the artist prefers will influence their conceptual intentions, work processes and techniques, creating accessible, engaging and at times provocative artwork.”

Artists can view the Biennale installation site list and lodge proposals online via beechworthbiennale.com.au/beechworth-biennale-2024/

Applications close October 2. Artists selected to participate will be named by October 16.