Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

Kanaga Sabapathy Developing Regionalist Perspectives I n a gathering of such a wide compass as this is, it is virtually impossible to assume, or make available, positions whereby all conceivable interests and expectations can be adequately satisfied ; it is also impossible in these ci rcumstances, to advance methods by which conceptions of reg ion and regionalism are prospected and examined with requ isite vigour. We can , however, be assured that expectations and interests will be numerous and , because they will be numerous, there also will be deep-seated frustrations and disappointments. Among the more persistent conceptions wi ll be those that cluster a round conceptions of the Asia-Pacific and this is unavoidable. In what ways can such conceptions be mapped and val idated? The enterprise is complex and daunting . How can it be met? These questions lead to related ones concerning the mapping of regions - which are proliferati ng along economic agendas and ag reements - as well as connections within and between regions and , for that matter, differences obtaining between and with in regions in the Asia-Pacific. Are such endeavours to proceed on the back of givens? Givens that a re usually characterised or construed in terms of imagined histories and val ues that are shared . For instance , in the preamble of the 1 976 ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation i n South­ East Asia , there appears the following affirmation : Conscious of their existing ties of history, geography and culture which have bound their people together . . . Expressions of converging visions and invocations of shared , i ntegrated h istories that are continuous are constituting elements for cementing diplomatic bonds and engagements. However, when lifted out of those circumstances and motivations, do these provisions poi nt to and secure South-East Asia (for instance) as a priority determined , self-evident, entity as a reg ion? If so, how useful is it in suggesting grounds of advancing scholarship on art, along reg ional constructs? While these questions may well lead to charting pro-active pathways and give body as well as substance to notions of region , questions can equally be framed with the intention of i nterrogating the validity or desirability of those notions - interrogating them with the aim of undermining their very plausibility. In these situations, the propagation of shared histories and visions are read as attempts to impose a sense of homogeneity or enforced collective identity, and in doing so fudging or suppressi ng deeply rooted differences and separateness; accordingly, the notion of a region defined in terms of shared or collective identity is h ighly problematic and is met with scepticism. A cursory view of the literature on art, say over the past ten years or so, provides evidence to support the two positions outl ined . I cite two such i nstances, at random, and offer them as plausible sites to provoke or stimulate some present encounters. The Fukuoka Art Museum was i naugurated in 1 979 with an exposition of modem Asian art; Asian was designated in terms of I ndia, China and Japan. I ndeed , 'Modem Asian Art' was conceived as a project spanning ten years and entailing three exh ibitions; in each exh i bition, Asia was defined differently. Writing in the inaugural catalogue , Toshihiro Ken noki (the Director i n 1 979) defined the project as follows: to trace the modernization of Asian art . . . by clarifying how traditional and modern art have i nteracted and how these notions have been able to maintain and develop their own national characteristics wh ile undergoing modern ization and a transfigu ri ng of their art . . . Director Toshihiro Kennoki walks tentatively in his endeavou r to weave patterns of connection between national and extra-national identities, even as he acknowledges differences and the need to safeguard those differences. We are all too familiar with such tentativeness, as we are of the continuing need to articulate links and ruptu res between traditions and modernity in changing historical circumstances. 23