The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) Catalogue

The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 34 Projects (opposite) Collaborative mural decorating building for Youth to Youth in Health organisation, Majuro, Marshall Islands / Photograph: Greg Dvorak Re-routing the Islandhopper The Air Canoe project is focused on the vast and diverse Northern Oceanian region of islands and atolls known as Central ‘Micronesia’. It reclaims indigenous Islander peoples’ connections to and relationships with water, land and skies — as well as to the past, present and future — through contemporary artistic reworkings of culture, history and technology. Air Canoe also responds to the ongoing history of military and colonial domination in a place where even airspace is colonised. The ‘Islandhopper’ is the only commercial air route operating today that links the islands of Northern Oceania to one another. Inaugurated as Air Micronesia by Continental Airlines in 1968, but now franchised exclusively by United Airlines, the Islandhopper is actually a Boeing 737 jet service that flies between Guåhan (Guam) and Honolulu — a trip that takes a day in either direction — landing along the way in the Federated States of Micronesia at the islands of Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, and at Kwajalein and Majuro atolls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Somewhat like the canoes that once travelled between these islands over thousands of years, the Islandhopper speedily carries people and things back and forth across the horizon; although its cultural reach and meanings differ and pale in comparison to Indigenous Micronesian histories and discourses of interconnectivity and relations among human, non-human, island, water and sky worlds. Retracing the contours of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a postwar political entity created and administered by the United States for geopolitical and strategic interests, the Islandhopper also links previously Japanese and present-day American hubs of colonial and military power. Indeed, these islands are still scarred by some of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific War (1941–45) between these two countries. The navigatory arc of the Islandhopper route is a jet-fuelled projection of imperial power that presumes human and technological domination over Islander bodies, lands and waters through command of the skies. Like the name ‘Micronesia’ itself, it belittles. Rooting ‘Macronesian’ expansiveness Air Canoe seeks to subvert this military-colonialist itinerary by featuring Islander agency, ingenuity, resilience, inter- connectedness and interrelatedness in a place whose expansive worldview might better be called ‘Macronesia’. Indeed, Air Canoe is far more than a metaphor; Micronesians actually flew over the water long before the Wright brothers introduced their flying machine. During German colonial times (1899–1914), canoe builders of Polowat in the Central Carolines had designed and built what they called wawangiru , a bird-shaped vessel (complete with frigate tail and beak) that featured a saucer-like hull, tear-dropped wings and an automobile-like ‘windshield’-shaped sail, all of which achieved ‘lift’ under strong enough winds — it was literally an air canoe. 1 Flying canoes also feature prominently in different local histories, such as the Pohnpeian story of a canoe’s descent from heaven, or in European explorers’ descriptions of CHamoru canoes as ‘flying proas’ precisely because of their ability to hydrofoil, just as many canoes from across the region do today. ‘Islands’ are multidimensional from an indigenous perspective. The Marshallese word aelōñ , for example, is translated as ‘island’ or ‘atoll’; but ae refers to currents and flows, while lōñ refers to all that is ‘above’. 2 It is conceptually inclusive of the entirety of seafloor, earth, plants, creatures, water, sky, cosmos — an holistic world, not a compartmentalised place isolated by the sea. Air Canoe thus highlights how local artists navigate the diverse currents that swirl around them, including waves of liquid, air, sound, migration, memory, militarism, radiation, climate change and — most recently — novel coronavirus. Air Canoe Co-curators: Greg Dvorak, Ruha Fifita and Ruth McDougall with Emelihter Kihleng and Deeleeann Daniel Artists: Eliwy Aggripa, born 1974, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM); Kukileen Albert, born c.1973, FSM; Kajnet Alfred, born 1967, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI); Ines J Alokoa, born 1958, FSM; Seniolyn T Moris, born 1955, FSM; Keju Alvin, born 1951, RMI; Ketty Boktok, born 1973, RMI; Janice Gold, born 1973, RMI; Buoj Hax, born 1954, RMI; Leindrik Jacob, born 1982, RMI; Naer Kiotak, born 1956, RMI; Almitha Lanwi, born 1974, RMI; BJ Amon, born 2013, RMI; Akious Anitak, born 2007, RMI; Yukmi Barnabas, born 1975, FSM; Elygene Benjamin, born 1987, FSM; Isaiah Benjamin, born 2012, RMI; Kimberley Dakamas, born 1990, FSM; Rodleen Daniel, born 1974, FSM; Vicente Diaz, born 1960, United States; Celestino Emwalu, born 1950, FSM/United States; Caroline Donre, born 1963, FSM; Jacelynn Donre, born 1984, FSM; Elwihter Ehsa, born 1974, FSM; Bukko Elso, born 2012, RMI; Dickson Emwalu, born 1979, FSM/ United States; Phillipy Emwalu, born 1987, FSM/United States; Amran Enos, born 1950, RMI; Patsihpa Ioanis, born 1998, FSM; Vicky Itiota, born 1973, FSM; Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, born 1987, RMI; Deonaire Keju, born 1959, RMI; Emelihter Kihleng, born 1982, FSM; Ainkoj Loeak, born 2012, RMI; Majuro Weavers, RMI; Leonides Miguel, born 1970, FSM; Aileen G Moses, born 1976, FSM; Burt Moses, born 2001, FSM; Regina Pelep, born 1985, FSM; Erwina Philippo, born 1965, RMI; Pohnpeian Sohn Deidei (Pohnpeian seamstresses), FSM; Rookie Boys, established 2013, FSM (Raynold Tilfas (Lead artist), born 1990, FSM; choir members: Jaffody Abe, born 1999; Paliksru Abe, born 1999; Kenny Edwin, born 1995; Rohl Elsi, born 1999; Dwight Esau, born 1998; Ranson Esau, born 2001; Yoshimasa Isisaki, born 1999; Joseph Lik, born 1991; Kaiyen Lik, born 2001; Robert Lik, born 1991; Seletin Lik, born 1999; Weston Luckymis, born 1995; Mason Rim, born 2000; LG Robert, born 1995; Bohr Sig, born 2001; Mason Sig, born 1995; Brence Wesley, born 1999, FSM); Eriuter Route, born 1989, FSM; Beverly Ann Seiola, born 1986, FSM; Enolynn Thomas, born 1976, FSM; Younerine 'Oroko' Thomas, born 1976, FSM; Jenny Tojar, born 1974, RMI; Virginia Tom, born 1977, FSM; Geraldine Torres, born c.1975, FSM; Unknown