Fremantle Biennale returns with SANCTUARY 25

Fremantle Biennale returns with SANCTUARY 25, transforming the port city into a dynamic canvas for site-responsive contemporary art from Thursday, November 13, to Sunday, November 30.

This year’s festival will unfold over 17 nights, reimagining an array of public and personal spaces into a showcase of large-scale public art, installations, live performances, music, exhibitions, and contemporary dance.

The festival presents over 90 events and performances, featuring 115 artists across 25 commissions, including 19 world firsts.

A central hub for this year’s festival will be the Manjaree Precinct (Bathers Beach). The shorelines of the bay will be transformed over three weeks into a vibrant cultural and community space. The site will feature major artworks and installations, including Exhalation, an immersive transformation of the Whalers Tunnel; live music; workshops; a seaside sound sauna; an ocean-facing community kitchen; and the return of Jessee Lee John’s tiny state, The Commonwealth of New Bayswater, with its latest outpost: The Monastery.

Joining in on the festival this year is the heritage-listed P&O Hotel, which is set to host Room Service, an artist-led takeover of Fremantle’s first-ever hotel, as well as the festival’s closing party, Azure, on Sunday, November 30.

Other participating venues include Old Customs House, Victoria Hall, Princess May Park, Moores Building, PS Art Space, WA Maritime Museum, Coles Car Park, and the Naval Store. Further afield, venues include Goolugatup Lower Lands and John Tompkin Reserve.

Founded in 2017, the Fremantle Biennale has established itself as a platform for local and internationally based artists to create works that celebrate the unique cultural, social and historical fabric of Fremantle.

Co-founder and Artistic Director Tom Mùller said that SANCTUARY 25 continues this tradition, inviting audiences to experience transformative public art that is deeply rooted in place, community, and Country.

“The Fremantle Biennale is an invitation to experience Fremantle through a new lens,” said Mùller, “where contemporary art becomes a vessel for storytelling, cultural exchange, and connection with this remarkable coastal city, its histories, and its future.”

Fremantle Biennale returns with SANCTUARY 25 from Thursday, November 13 to Sunday, November 30, 2025. More information is available from fremantlebiennale.com