1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

11 is t h a t th e cu ra to r s ask the a r t i s t to allow some formal de fin ition of the re ligious unde rp inn ings of the work which are un fam ilia r to his or he r o t h e r - c u l t u r a l audience, or to have the c u r a to r r e la tiv iz e th e work by the inc lus ion of o t h e r - t h a n -m o d e r n works from the same re lig ious and cu ltu ra l background which re la tiv ize a e s th e tic a lly th e con tex t from which it has come. Otherwise we will be le ft with a series of mystagogic claims whose theology will no t be shared by the audience , and for some of whom it may be oppressive . If a r t is religious le t us call it by t h a t name, r e sp ec t its system of be liefs, and look at i t from t h a t viewpoint as b e s t we may be able. One can also quite easily imagine in fu tu r e some works in the Trienna le might be sacreligious to a r t i s t s p r e s en t from p a r t i c u l a r religions. This involves diplomatic as well as a e s th e tic questions, e. Inclusion of Bad Taste Art openings, in Sydney a t le a s t if t h a t r e p r e s e n t s Aus tra lia , fr equen tly resemble a cross be tween a re ligious serv ice and bus ines s conven tion , with the now obligatory c ritics ' session or pane l forum hav ing become a hybrid of bo th theological colloqium and sa les s t r a t eg y conference. Art being a social semiotic mode and th e s ep a r a t io n of social r i t u a l s from its s ite therefo re logically impossible, I th in k we will ju s t have to pu t up with its more sh rill performa tive a spec ts as a superior kind of q u a s i- r e lig iou s en te r ta inmen t for chic co rpora te lawyers and adve r tis ing managers, or a kind of in te lle c tu a l Disneyland for the edu ca ted clergy. In th is area Au s tra lia is not alone and in many Asian coun tries much of th is unavao idab le social tr i v ia has e i th e r become c o n s t i tu t iv e of the art space i t s e l f or of the a rt work. This in p a r t car ries on the p rev ious h is to ry of bad t a s t e from the royal, p re s iden tia l, or colonial courts , bu t un fo r tu n a t e ly th is bad t a s t e is inv is ib le at the i n t e rn a t io n a l ecumenical