Wendy’s Garden arrives at the Biennale of Sydney
WENDY Hubert, Yindjibarndi Elder and acclaimed artist, travels from Ngurrawaana in the Pilbara, Western Australia to Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery on Dharug Country, western Sydney to create a special garden for the 25th Biennale of Sydney: Rememory.
In collaboration with Juluwarlu Art Group from her community at Ngurrawaana on Yindjibarndi Country in the Pilbara, Western Australia, Wendy Hubert and others from her community are undertaking an important journey across Australia to share her culture. Yindjibarndi Nyinyart at Wendy’s Garden, 2026 is a collaborative installation created in the garden of Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery (PRG). This work has been commissioned for the 25th Biennale of Sydney: Rememory taking place from 14 March to 14 June 2026, with free public entry. PRG joins the Biennale for the first time as an exhibition partner, with White Bay Power Station, Art Gallery of NSW, Campbelltown Arts Centre and Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney.
Nyinyart is an important principle of Yindjibarndi Birdarra law, representing reciprocity and mutual support: each person in the community must look after each other and look after Country, so Country looks after the community. Hubert will share these strong values in her garden, created with sand, rocks and dried plants from her Country transported by truck and trailer on the long road trip, in collaboration with the Juluwarlu Art Group collective and Yindjibarndi Rangers. The garden will include native plants from Dharug Country where PRG stands on Dyarubbin (Nepean River).
The Yindjibarndi people will collaborate with local Dharug people and the wider community during their time at PRG. The garden will represent four important Yindjibarndi sacred sites, inviting visitors to sit and contemplate what reciprocity with Country means for us all. An offering of cultural generosity and connection, Wendy’s Garden also reflects on the effects of colonisation on the Australian landscape including the imposition of gardens, constructed as the invasion of settlement spread. It speaks powerfully to the Biennale’s theme of Rememory, as Wendy recalls the gardens on the stations where she grew up with exotic plants such as mango and passionfruit.
An existing banana tree in the garden at PRG will feature in the installation, and the creative process includes the journey of bringing natural elements from Yindjibarndi Country then assembling them here. Juluwarlu Art Group will also perform dances referencing the five principles by which Yindjibarndi people have lived in harmony with Country for thousands of years: Ngurra (Home), Wangga (Truth, Language), Galharra (Kinship), Birdarra (Ceremony) and Nyinyart (Reciprocity). Wendy’s Garden offers a space for yarning, listening, sharing and learning about caring for Country for all people. An exhibition of Wendy Hubert’s paintings will be presented alongside Wendy’s Garden in PRG’s Lewers House Gallery.
Other Biennale highlights at PRG include Nora Adwan’s Pomegranates/Rumman, 2021/2026. This installation of more than 100 ceramic pomegranates contains speakers connected to weather sensors installed outside the gallery. The soundtrack played inside depends on conditions outside – dry weather triggers sounds of Norway where the artist lives; if it’s wet, sounds from Jordan where her family lives. The work is a physical and aural invocation of the yearning for home and disruption of displacement, creating an uneasy dual identity. On 14 March at PRG, the artist hosts At the Table with Nora Adwan, a hands-on morning of cooking, storytelling and shared eating.
Maya Kaqchikel artist Fernando Poyon from Guatemala presents Bringing joy to the earth, 2025. He has used 1500 cedarwood pencils to sculpt hanging milpas (corn stalks) representing the wellspring of Indigenous knowledge passed down by the artist’s grandmother, mother and the Earth itself. Poyon has previously used pencils to symbolise the corruption of Indigenous Kaqchikel language and knowledge by Western education systems. This time, each pencil’s ubiquitous pink rubber end is missing, with these works rejecting cultural erasure to become tools of growth. Fernando Poyon will be part of the free public program of Spotlight Talks with Exhibiting Artists at PRG on 14 March.
Other artists showing at Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery are Chang Wen-Hsuan (Taiwan/Netherlands), Deidre Mahony (Ireland), Keith Piper (United Kingdom), Khalid Albaih (Romania/Norway), Kulpreet Singh (India), Massinissa Selmani (Algeria/France), Monica Rani Rudhar (Australia), and Nil Yalter (Turkey/France).
Acting Director of Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery, Joanna Gilmour said, “We are delighted to be part of Rememory and to share the works of these outstanding artists from all over the world. We are looking forward to fostering strong connections between the different artists and with audiences, those who are familiar with our unique gallery, former home of Margo and Gerald Lewers, and those who are visiting for the first time.”
PRG was selected as a venue by Hoor Al Qasimi, Artistic Director of the Biennale’s 25th edition and President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation she founded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009. Director of the UAE’s Sharjah Biennial since 2002, she was appointed International Biennial Association President in 2017, and curated the acclaimed Sharjah Biennial 15 in 2023.
Al Qasimi said: “Sydney has a multicultural community at its core, with people from different cultures from across the world choosing and calling this vibrant city as their home. I’m interested in exploring the multifaceted cultures and perspectives here, working with local artists and communities, as well as bringing new voices to the Biennale.”
About the Biennale of Sydney
Since it began in 1973, the Biennale of Sydney has become one of the leading international contemporary art events. It plays an indispensable role in Australia’s engagement with the world, and in the cultural life of the nation. The Biennale presents the most dynamic contemporary art from around the globe in venues across Sydney with exhibitions that ignite and surprise people, sparking dialogue, cultivating connections and inspiring action through engaging, shared arts experiences. The Biennale of Sydney amplifies the voices of artists and tells the stories of our local and global communities, driving momentum for lasting cultural change.
About Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery
Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery is set on the western bank of the Nepean River at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Emu Plains, Country of the Dharug people. It was established in 1981 at the former home and property of sculptor Gerald Lewers and painter Margo Lewers. Each year tens of thousands of visitors enjoy the Gallery’s exhibitions and events, education programs, beautiful gardens and relaxed courtyard cafe.
About Penrith Performing & Visual Arts
Penrith Performing & Visual Arts (PP&VA) is the cultural organisation responsible for operating The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith and Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery in Emu Plains, delivering outstanding, diverse and inclusive contemporary performance, visual art and creative learning in Western Sydney.
25th Biennale of Sydney: Rememory 14 March – 14 June 2026 Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery, open daily 10am-4pm, free entry 86 River Road, Emu Plains, (02) 4735 1100, penrithregionalgallery.com.au
