The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia, 1996 : Report

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS ThirdAsia-Pacific Triennial The most prominent futu re development is the Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of ContemporaryArt, scheduled for 1 999. Plans are already underway with formal and informal discussions, as well as research taking place . This development process also involves extensive analyses of responses from critics, media, general public, Gallery staff and of course, participants. The first formal meeting towards the Third Triennial was held immediately following the opening events of the Second Triennial on Monday 30 September, 9 am - 1 1 . 1 5 am, at the Queensland Cultural Centre Trust Auditorium. Participating artists, Conference speakers, the National Advisory Committee and Curatorial Team Members were involved in this meeting. A number of suggestions concerning the geographical scope and the curatorial direction of the Third Triennial were debated at this meeting. The presence of critics and curators of such high international standing at this time provided a un ique opportunity for honest and effective preparatory discussion to occur. Asian Modernism - Australian Modernism A major exhibition planned for the year 2000 was announced by the Gallery's Director in Ju ly, 1 995. Asian Modernism - Australian Modernism will examine the crossing influences of Asian and Australian modern isms during the 20th century, and how, at the end of the millennium, these influences provided transformations and new directions. The Gallery Director, Doug Hall said: The exhibition will be a fitting celebration for the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new century. This exploration of Australian and Asian modern ism will be an extremely important scholarly contribution to art and will be one of the most important and challenging exhibitions yet mounted in Australia. It is entirely appropriate that this exhibition be undertaken by the Queensland Art Gallery which has built a strong reputation for its interest in the area by conducting the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art i n 1 993, 1 996 and 1 999. A curatorial team of senior scholars from Asia, Europe and Australia have been established by the Gallery to develop the exhibition. The Gallery's Deputy Director, Dr Caroline Turner, is the curatorial co-ordinator. Research thus far has included the commissioning of position papers by the members of the curatorial team, and the establishment of an extensive annotated bibliography of books and journal articles consisting of approximately 1 200 entries. The strong research base to the exhibition aligns and strengthens the existing and continuously expanding holdings by the Gallery's Library of research material associated with the Asia-Pacific Triennial project. Australian National University/Queensland Art Gallery: co-operative research project The Gallery is a major partner with the newly established centre for Cross Cultural Research as part of the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University, Canberra. This co-operative research project involves a series of publications, conferences and research projects. Additionally, the Gallery is 51