TarraWarra Biennial 2027 | 10th Edition
31 July – 14 November 2027
A transnational curatorial practice and a commitment to cultural coexistence come to TarraWarra Museum of Art next year for the TarraWarra Biennial’s tenth edition, from 31 July to 14 November 2027.
TarraWarra Museum of Art announces today the appointment of Dr Mikala Tai as Curator of the next TarraWarra Biennial 2027, the tenth edition of the Museum’s landmark contemporary art exhibition program, opening 31 July 2027 and running until 14 November 2027.
Tai’s appointment brings to the Biennial a practice shaped by sustained engagement with Australian and Asian contemporary art and a curatorial intelligence attuned to questions of cultural identity, place and shared futures.
Tai has been a defining presence in the Australian contemporary art sector for nearly two decades. Most recently, as Head of Visual Arts at Creative Australia, she served as Project Director for Archie Moore’s kith and kin, which received the Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, the first Australian work to be awarded the prize. In the past year, she has worked towards delivering Khaled Sabsabi’s two Venice projects for 2026, returned to writing and been advising Paris-based arts foundation Kadist.
Before Creative Australia, Tai was Director of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney, where she worked with artists including Lee Kun-Yong, Xiao Lu, Nusra Latif Qureshi, John Young, and Mithu Sen. She has previously held roles at the National Gallery of Victoria and at the groundbreaking Para site art space in Hong Kong. In 2016, she completed her PhD at the University of New South Wales, which was an examination of how Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong each generated distinct contemporary art infrastructures in response to the political and urban conditions of their time. That inquiry into how place shapes cultural life and how culture, in turn, reshapes place remains at the core of her practice.
Tai is a regular contributor to Art Review and Artist Profile and has maintained an active presence in academia, teaching and lecturing in Art History and Theory programs at Monash University, RMIT and the universities of Sydney and Melbourne. Her curatorial practice is driven by a commitment to building shared cultural literacy through contemporary art and to envisioning futures of sustainable coexistence.
Dr Mikala Tai, Curator, TarraWarra Biennial 2027, says:
I spent my early childhood in the hills encircling TarraWarra, where the voices of birds and the silhouettes of trees formed the backdrop to my first memories. To return in 2027 is deeply meaningful. I feel a responsibility to this place, where my imagination awakened and my first friendships were formed, and I hope to anchor the TarraWarra Biennial with this sense of origin, connection, and return. Though life has carried me elsewhere, and my family stretches across many histories and geographies, this place remains something I carry with me.
It remains as a set of imprints, both grounding and ghosted, which shape my sense of return. The TarraWarra Biennial has long been an exceptional exhibition, engaging with the complexity and ongoing evolution of contemporary Australia, and I feel honoured to be collaborating with artists to present the next edition.
Dr Victoria Lynn, Director of TarraWarra Museum of Art, says:
TarraWarra Museum of Art is delighted to announce that Dr Mikala Tai has accepted the invitation to curate the 10th edition of the TarraWarra Biennial in 2027. Dr Tai brings extensive expertise in contemporary Australian art,
alongside significant experience as a curator, academic and project manager. Her thoughtful and open curatorial approach, combined with a strong commitment to contemporary practice, will ensure the development of a considered and original Biennial. With strong roots in the local area, Dr Tai is well positioned to deliver an exhibition that resonates with a broad, diverse audience.
ABOUT THE TARRAWARRA BIENNIAL
Inaugurated in 2006 by TarraWarra Museum of Art’s founding Director, the late Maudie Palmer AO, the TarraWarra Biennial has presented the work of over 200 artists across nine editions, establishing itself as one of Australia’s most distinctive platforms for contemporary art. Each edition is conceived as an independent, experimental exhibition led by a guest curator: never a repeating format, always a distinct proposition. The Biennial’s curatorial history reflects the breadth and restlessness of Australian contemporary art.
Dr Victoria Lynn launched the inaugural edition with Parallel Lives: Australian Painting Today (2006), before returning for Sonic Spheres (2012) and co-curating Endless Circulation (2016) with Helen Hughes. Charlotte Day’s Lost & Found: An Archeology of the Present (2008) examined cultural salvage and historical legacies; Natalie King and Djon Mundine’s Whisper in My Mask (2014) explored masking, hidden narratives and cross-generational Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal practice. Dr Emily Cormack’s From Will to Form (2018) considered the wilful forces animating art and human behaviour; Nina Miall’s Slow Moving Waters (2021) drew on the Woiwurrung translation of ‘tarrawarra’ to explore deceleration, place and ecological time. Dr Léuli Eshrāghī’s ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili (2023) centred the interconnectedness of Australia, Asia and the Great Ocean through Indigenous, queer and transcultural perspectives; and Kimberley Moulton’s We Are Eagles (2025) placed regenerative practice and the disruption of coloniality at its core.
The TarraWarra Biennial 2027, curated by Dr Mikala Tai, opens on 31 July 2027 and runs until 14 November 2027. It will be accompanied by a dynamic program of public events and an illustrated catalogue. The Biennial’s title and theme, participating artists and full program will be announced in early 2027.
ABOUT TARRAWARRA MUSEUM OF ART
TarraWarra Museum of Art is a leading not-for-profit public art museum presenting inventive and thought-provoking exhibitions and programs on twentieth- and twenty- first-century Australian art. The Museum is home to one of the nation’s most significant collections, spanning from the 1930s to today.
Its permanent collection was established through the generous donation of more than 600 artworks by the late Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO, its founding patrons. Located in the heart of the Yarra Valley on Wurrundjeri Country, the Museum fosters deep engagement with art, place and ideas. Its remarkable natural setting and immersive architectural environment oker visitors a space for curiosity, reflection and imagination.
The Museum’s newest addition, the Eva and Marc Besen Centre, which opened in May 2025, expands this vision through its purpose-built Visible Art Storage for more than 300 works, alongside a learning centre and performance space designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects. Since opening, the Centre has received major national recognition, including the Australian Institute of Architects’ Victorian Chapter’s William Wardell Award for Public Architecture, the Victorian Award for Interior Architecture, and the National Award for Public Architecture at the 2025 National Architecture Awards. The Visible Art Storage is accessible to visitors through scheduled guided tours.