Fremantle Biennale announces another groundbreaking program of immersive art

Contemporary art festival Fremantle Biennale is set to return for another year, with a groundbreaking program: SIGNALS 23.

Featuring over 80 Australian, international and local artists, performers and musicians, the festival will explore themes of movement and communication across distances, from the ocean to the island.

Running from 3-19 November, the 2023 festival will take over Fremantle’s streets, buildings and waterways – including events like Paris-based light and sound studio Nonotak’s Satellites, which will activate the vacant Elders Woolstores for the first time in over 30 years.

A historic pearl lugger will be host to durational performance installation Still Lives: Fremantle from artists Luke George and Daniel Kok – part of a series also performed at last year’s RISING Melbourne (pictured below) and 2019’s Venice Biennale.

The skies will also be home to a stunning array of works, including sequel to 2021’s Moombaki drone show, Kooranup. Created by First Nations artists Yabini Kickett, Tyrown Waigana, Ilona McGuire and Cass Lynch, Kooranup will take place across three weekends in various locations, culminating on Rottnest Island.

Dawn on the first day of the festival will harken immersive and epic audio installation The Port’s Call, in which harmonic, reverberating soundscapes from artists Tom Supple and Byron Scullin will echo across Fremantle Port, synchronised with arrival and departure of the working port’s large vessels across the festival.

“We’re delighted to announce the fourth Fremantle Biennale lineup,” said Tom Mùller, Co-Founder and Artistic Director.

“This year visitors to the festival will experience major international artwork, large-scale, immersive installations and impressive performance pieces, many of which have not been seen in Australia before.”

“We’re excited to bring contemporary, thought-provoking, site-specific artwork to some of Fremantle’s most unique sites including the spectacular setting of Rottnest Island, and the Elder Woolstores which will be experienced by visitors for the first time in over three decades.”

To find out more about the festival, head to the Fremantle Biennale website.