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

Alison Carroll Cultural Futures: What Will 'Cultural Exchange ' In Asia Be In 2020? I want to make some simple statements and ask some simple questions about what is happen i ng now in contemporary art in our reg ion and what we may expect in the future. I am i nterested in how things work, who makes the decisions, and the likely path of decision making i n contemporary art terms in Asia, particularly in the next five , ten , or fifteen years. But first, let me put forward a difficult position. Contemporary art as we know it, as we see it here, or in the Sydney Biennale, or the Kwangju Biennale or the Venice Biennale - in large i nternational art shows - by its nature questions society's set values. It could just be aesthetic questioning , it could be questions about the nature of art itself, or it cou ld be more overtly socially or politically questioning, about gender issues, or environmental issues, or issues of political freedom. Th is sort of art undermi nes the status quo; it makes us question our positions, our values, and often makes us uncomfortable. I n the nature of this world of contemporary art, art is subversive. And i n Asian societies, by and large, overt questioning of society and its val ues is almost always cu ltu rally and often politically antipathetic. The so-called 'Asian values' are of course simpl istic and often used cyn ically for pol itical reasons, but respect for authority, respect for position , respect for face, respect for contro l , respect for tradition are much much more strongly felt in Asian countries t han in those o f 'the West'. This is contentious and sometimes irritating ground, and can emphasise a 'them and us' attitude which , as one example, the Asia-Pacific Triennial does so much to break down . However it is an issue for Austra lians working in the reg ion to u nderstand and think about more clearly, and it certainly is a topical issue in the reg ion itself. A m id-October Far Eastern Economic Review notes the results of a survey of its readers on their 'Asianness' , and the d ifferences of attitude and positions, and rightly points out the vast differences of attitude within the region , but also some major areas of consensus. I quote one example: Respect for authority, harmony and learning were highly valued by the Asian people surveyed , and considered a low priority by Westerners. Conversely, freedom of expression is seen as vital by Westerners, but not considered important by many Asians, particularly in Singapore and Taiwan. Filipinos, with thei r lively independent press, are an exception . I sometimes wonder i f Western societies know how an artist from Asia has negotiated this position - what particular sensitivities have been handled to enable an artist from Asia to create and exhibit works which are so palpably problematic in their own society. Korean artist Yee Bui [Lee Bui] was a major part of the last Triennial. I heard about her performance i n Seou l , where she performed naked , and the extreme statement that meant for a Korean woman - with a much heavier force of breaking that social order than in a Western society. That said , it seems to me that artists in Asian countries do break these taboos, are willing to do so, and in some ways their passion in doing so transmits to their work - the audience recogn ises the commitment to the statement, and of course if the audience knows some of the circumstances of the creation of a politically critical work i n a less than democratic society, then the tendency for the Western audience is to admire the work more deeply. I expect artists from Asia to continue to make their critiques, and to operate i nternationally, openly and easily, as well as to continue to negotiate within their own cultu res. But artists are part of society, and in most countries of Asia they are part of an art i nfrastructure. If artists cross cultures, bureaucrats stay within them. I want to focus here on these organisations and who controls them, rather than other groups of non-artists working i n contemporary art , like academics who do have more freedom t o say and do as they wish . 41