Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, 1999 : Beyond the future : Report.

THEME : ' BEYOND THE FUTURE' The central theme for t he APT3, 'Beyond t he Future, was developed t o provide artists with a pivotal point around which ideas will revolve. APT3 allowed artists the freedom to develop their responses around the exhibition 's theme and provide a forum to d iscuss surrounding ideas . The APT has always been more than an art exh ibition; it has among its aims inter-cultural understanding and in particular knowledge with in our multicultural society of the cultures of Asia and the Pacific through contemporary art. The theme was developed after extensive d iscussion with APT3 Curators du ring the Preliminary Meetings with Curatorial Teams in February 1 998 and was confirmed at that time as the theme and title for the APT3 . Curators then interpreted and approached the theme in the context of the specific circumstances of the art considered by each Curatorial Team . 'Beyond the Future' is a logical development fro the focus of the APT1 on 'Tradition and Change' and of the APT2 on 'Present Encounters'. The theme of APT3 is paradoxica l : i n some ways a return to issues raised during the APT1 of the p lace of trad ition and the past in contemporary art and society. For indigenous peoples in particular, it is important to note that past and future coalesce; as Jonathan Mane-Wheoki observed for Maori . The future is behind us, the past is i n front of us'. The APT3 incl uded a strong emphasis on artists whose work crosses many boundaries between craft, trad ition and contemporary art. The theme also takes account of the concern of many artists in the region today about positively contributing through their creativity to the ability of their community to survive the present and construct new futures . The APT3 also included an emphasis on d iverse artistic practices - on artists whose work reflects the globally mobile nature of today's world, as well as crossing boundaries through collaborative works, interd isciplinary approaches such as between art and music, popular culture, screen culture and new technology. It was not i ntended that the exh ibition be about artists envisaging their future in any simpl istic global ised or positivist and l inear Western sense: multiple futures were elements of the d iverse curatorial approaches to the theme. 1 5