APT Bulletin Vol.1 No.2

I SELECTION PROCESS In the last two years Australian organisors and curators have travelled widely in the region meeting artists and surveying art currents. Their work has been greatly facilitated in each country by local experts and by art schools, art museums and galleries. The assistance of these local advisers and experts in informing the Australian selectors and curators about the art of each country and widening their contacts has been crucial to the selection process. Mr Doug Hall, Director of the Queensland Art Gallery, commented that the Australian team had begun with the assumption that we might 'pre-suppose nothing to begin with and look and listen very carefully'. Deputy Director, Dr Caroline Turner, called the selection process 'a genuine voyage of discovery'. The selection process has confirmed the diversity and dynamism of the contemporary art being produced in the region, the level of professionalism shown by the artists and the quality of intellectual debate. For all these reasons the inaugural exhibition and associated publications and forums offer the opportunity for a ground breaking project which will alter perceptions and create new opportunities to canvass and share ideas. Thai advisor, Dr Apinan Poshyananda, commented that he would 'hope that the Asia-Pacific Triennial would be a mirror to reflect 'shows within shows', meaning that To facilitate the project aCommitteeof National Advisersand Curators hasbeen formed in Australia. (standing from left) MrDavid Williams, Director, Canberra School of Art; Ms Alison Carroll,VisualArts Consultant, Asialink, Melbourne; Ms Christine Clark, Project Officer, Queensland Art Gallery; MrNeil Manton, Director, South East Asiaand the Pacific, Departmentof Foreign Affairsand TradeCulturalRelations Branch, Canberra; there are many countries to be represented in the Triennial. Artists will come to gather in Brisbane and their work will be seen as an overall entity but within groups artists will also be seen as reflecting their own nation.. Now the world is becoming so small I think the Triennial will give a fair indication of what has really been happening for the last two or three years'. Mr Redza Piyadasa of Malaysia stated in a recent article in the Malaysia Business Times that: 'through the Triennial, the Queensland Art Gallery will be legitimating the serious artists of the Asia Pacific region and also their artistic productions. The Queensland Art Gallery will be officially recognising artistic and Dr Caroline Turner, Deputy Director & Manager, InternationalPrograms, QueenslandArtGallery (seated from left) Mr Greg Roberts, Manager, Public Programs; MrRoss Searle, Director, Pere Tucker RegionalGallery, Townsville; Mr Doug Hall, Director, Queensland Art Gallery, and Ms Anne Kirker, Curator, Prints,Drawingsand Photographs, QueenslandArtGallery. traditions not from the so-called ·centre' but from the 'periphery'. The final selection of artists for the inaugural Triennial in 1993 will be announced in December this year after a two year selection process that has seen the Australian team visit every country to be included in the first exhibition. Different artists will have the opportunity to be selected for future Triennials and it is hoped to include representation from other countries in the region.