Given the proliferation of international biennials and triennials, the inevitable question arises: does Australia really need another one? And if it does, how can it differentiate itself from the venerable Biennale of Sydney (BoS)—one of the world’s oldest—and Brisbane’s celebrated Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT)? The verdict appears to be in. Based on the inaugural edition of the NGV Triennial (NGVT1), not only do we need it, but a new benchmark has been set, and a fresh approach established, at least locally, for this most problematic of exhibition forms.
On one measure at least—the attendance figures beloved by funding bodies and state governments—NGVT1 has blown everything else out of the water, far exceeding anything in the NGV’s one hundred and fifty-seven year history, and setting an all-time Australian record. By the time NGVT1 closed in April, it had attracted an astonishing total of 1,231,742 visitors, with an average daily attendance of 10,096.1 While not always a benchmark of artistic success, these statistics do say something about the enthusiasm of Melbourne audiences. Anecdotally, it seems that many people visited NGVT1 multiple times, and it was also an emphatically family-friendly offering, evidenced by a sea of parked prams, and the squeals of joy emanating from (in the entrance lobby) an embroidered dome-like pavilion (Victoria Amazonica, 2017), a collaboration between Brazil's studio Campana, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and other designers from Alice Springs. More excitement emanated from Yayoi Kusama’s nearby multi-room installation Flower Obsession (2018), and teamLab’s mirrored arena of swirling interactive projections (Moving creates vortices and vortices create movement, 2017), among a host of other activities.
Concentrated within the NGV International’s bluestone fortress