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

recorded in India's literary and oral traditions, which are transmuted through poetry and song . She speaks of narratives and narrators telling stories of exiles, monks , minstrels and lovers. She is interested in concepts of journeys built into these tales. The artist says in her statement: I have claimed for myself a lineage that engages with 'tradition' and h istory - a lineage born of pre-Independence I ndian nationalism but fostered in a climate of 'progressive' internationalism and Asian bonding. Her new work, Shamiana, is a complex tent-like structure of painted scrolls reminiscent of I ndian marriage celebratory pavilions. N ilima Sheikh invites the viewer to encounter the spatial and architectural dimensions while walking through and into the work. Vivan Sundaram has been a key figure in contemporary I ndian art for three decades, exploring broad social issues within an I ndian context through his installation works. Carrier is part boat, part cave-shelter and part imaginary creature. This upside-down boat is marooned and dysfunctional, like a whale out of water. Depending from what point of view you look at it, this is an object for embarkation , its shingled structure made for rough weather; but it is also a shelter, lined with melody. The act of circumambulation eases out the memory, circulates desire . As the viewer departs from this liminal space , the carrier is left behind, the sound remains in the body. (extract from artist's statement) Vivan Sundaram's work evokes the narrative and refers to the place of modernism in an Indian context. INDONESIA Introversion (April the twenty-first) comprises twenty-one framed oval mirrors. On each mirror is superimposed a carved, wooden konde (traditional Javanese hairpiece worn by women on special occasions) , and at the back of each frame, a drawing of a konde is featured. The work pays homage to Kartini, a nineteenth­ century noblewoman who advocated women's emancipation in Indonesia. Apri l the 1 2