Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, 1993 : Exhibition report

FOREWORD he A sia-Pacific Triennial is a landmark exhibition and the first of its kind of this scale in the world to focus on the contemporary art of Asia and the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand. In undertaking the Asia-Pacific Triennial the Queensland Art Gallery recognised the need for an ongoing series of exhibitions and forums which would initiate dialogue on the art of this increasingly important geo-political region. Australia’s cultural engagement with Asia has, more often than not, been conceived as art history, both through exhibitions and the development of collections. The visual arts of Asia have been presented to Australians as a variety of cultures with a past rich in tradition and bountiful with objects which affirm that. The dynamics of change, identities, and even twentieth-century cultural dislocation as revealed through contemporary art have only recently attracted attention and indeed are highlighted by the Asia-Pacific Triennial. The Queensland Art Gallery has a strong commitment to building collections and presenting exhibitions of the art of the twentieth century. In determining ways in which the Gallery could contribute to the exhibition and collection of art of the region, the Asia-Pacific Triennial was conceived. In many ways the Gallery saw the development of the Triennial as a project waiting to be done. It broke the pattern of art museums’ preoccupation with the past; defined a way, in both intel­ lectual and organisational terms, in which Australia might construct a relevant forum for the presentation of Asian and Pacific contemporary art; and reaffirmed the Gallery’s commitment to international programs of current international and domestic relevance. There are excellent collections of historical Asian art within Australia, a growing awareness in Australia of the contemporary art and art practice of the region, and a number of important initiatives in the cultural area. Among these are the establishment of Asialink and the Australia Council’s new policy of directing much of its international funding towards Asia. Australia’s engagement with Asia over the last twenty years has increased dramatically but there has been no major exhibition focusing on the art of Asia and the Pacific, although the first Sydney Biennale in November 1973 included artists from East Asia and it was the intention that Asia be a strong emphasis of the Biennale (despite the European emphasis which later emerged). Australia’s interest in contemporary regional art is genuine and growing. The important Artists’ Regional Exchange (ARX) project has done much to establish contacts between younger artists in South-East Asia and those in Australia. The last ten years have seen the beginning of the development of large-scale exhibitions including the Queensland Art Gallery’s first museum-based exhibition of contemporary Australian art to Japan in 1987, and the return exhibition of contemporary Japanese art in 1989. Further Asian exhibitions are underway. The art of the Pacific is also an area of developing interest and one which relates to the extraordinary appreciation, which has emerged in the last two decades, of contemporary Aboriginal art, and to the changes in attitude and approach in Australian art practice generally in the last twenty years. As with many aspects of Asian art, Australians have viewed the Pacific cultures through Western 'discovery’, as exotic locations romanticised through the depiction of an idealised Pacific utopia, possessing a geographic and climatic splendour, unchanging or, at best, complementing an Arcadian paradise. Perhaps museums have helped reinforce this perception by presenting their material culture as somewhat static and not revealing the effects of change, whether this be self-determined or that affected by external sources. It is a complex arena and one which future Triennials will address. To put the Asia-Pacific Triennial into place and define its purpose, the Gallery established a National Committee. I would like to give particular credit to the work of this committee in developing the curatorial philosophy and selection process for this project. A number of other selectors and advisers from Australia and the region was also involved. The close association developed between the advisers and a range of artists, writers, curators, academics, cultural institutions and arts bodies in each of the countries has been fundamental to the Triennial process. All Queensland Art Gallery staff have been involved in some measure in bringing this project to fruition. In scale and logistics, it is certainly the most extensive, intellectually demanding project the Gallery has ever undertaken. Other vital components of the Triennial are a major book, Tradition and Change: Contemporary Art of Asia and the Pacific , published by University of Queensland Press; this catalogue, produced by the Gallery; an international Conference, organised in association with Griffith University’s Centre for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations; and a program of artists talks and lectures. The Gallery wishes theTriennial to grow into a forum for expanding and presenting the diverse methods of art practice within Asia and the Pacific. A project such as this gives the opportunity to provide a new approach to the interpretation of art away from the Western modernist tradition, and to reveal an art which can be regionally specific while expressing ideas and issues within an international context and with international relevance. From the first, the Asia-Pacific Triennial was seen not as an Asia-Australia dialogue but as a facilitator for debate and ideas. There was no fixed and closed curatorial position. The project was undertaken on the basis of intellectual equality to disclose knowledge and experience (not comfortable cohesion), regardless of cultural, social or spiritual differences. The Asia-Pacific Triennial could not have happened without strong national and international support. The Gallery has had great assistance from the Queensland and Australian Governments and from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through its Cultural Relations Branch, Australian Embassies and High Commissions, as well as Embassies from represented countries. The Gallery has also received generous funding from sponsors. The Queensland Art Gallery Exhibitions Development Fund provided the seed funding for the project, the Australia Council gave one of its largest individual grants, and Singapore Airlines contributed significantly to freight, as international carrier. I also thank on behalf of the Gallery the many country-specific sponsors. The Gallery gratefully acknowledges as well the support of the Myer Foundation for its generous donation of funds for the acquisition of works to create a collection of contemporary Asian art which will be known as the 'Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection’. Doug Kail Director Queensland Art Gallery 5