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

MEDIA COMMENTS This is one of the sassiest festivals of serious art on the world cultural calendar . . . and it has been embraced by the community in a way that the Biennale of Sydney and the Adelaide Biennale cannot hope to match . For many, APT can lay claim to being Australia's most genuinely i nternational art exhibition . Bruce James, Keep ho l d of your socks, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 4, 1 999, p . 1 7. APT3 is teem ing with urgency as so many works speak to the injustice, suffering and repression in the region . These works disrupt the temporal and change the tempo, u rging us all to Stop! Linda Carro l i , Stop! Reflect . . . , Real Time, Issue 2, p.9. The blockbuster exhibition to end all blockbuster exh ibitions. APT3 is a trul y global, multicultural event from our region that tells us stories about our region wh ile entertaining us on a grand scale. The APT3 seems to be something of a triumph of the human spirit - above pol itics, ideology and geography. Phil Brown, Bu i l d i ng bridges, Brisbane News, September 1 999, p.32. One of the hottest contemporary art events around . With the triennial, Queensland Art Gallery has reconceived itself as a museum for t he 2 1 st century. This trienn ial is about h ighly creative , sometime combustible, ways of surviving the p resent. N icholas Jose, Art to the power of three, The Bulletin, September 7, 1 999, p. 1 00 . Featuring t he works of 75 artists from 20 countries, the exh ibition has qu ickly become a critical and public success. Suzanne Brown, Gallery builds a bridge to Asia andpacific, The Age, September 1 0, 1 999, p. 1 36. The largest regular survey of contemporary Asian Art i n the worl d . [APT3] was a salutary rem inder that art sometimes can provide a val uable and powerful means of commun ication when other forms are silenced . . . . This year's $2 million-plus event is the largest and most ambitious yet. Susan McCul loch-Ueh l i n , Bridge to regional cultures, The Australian, September 1 0, 1 999, p.9. The APT reflects the social and pol itical sh ifts in the region . Jeff Sommerfeld and Sandra Mclean , Queensland hosts graphic depictions of the fate of a nation, The Courier Mail, September 1 0, 1 999, p.7. The most concentrated program of contemporary art activities ever staged in Brisbane. This year's Triennial seems to be raising [complex issues] about the cultural fou ndations of art practice and their l i nks to geography. Peter An de rson , Ga l l er i es go wi t h the f l ow, The Courier Mail, Septembe r 1 1 , 1 999 , p . 2 . [The APT] presents a fascinatingly d iverse array of work that i s at once fun , poignant and intrigu ing. It is rare that you get so many people at an arts event in Brisbane - even rarer that you get the top of their field in the world to come here to look at a groundbreaking exh ibition. Sandra Mclean , Feathers ruffled by dragon's no-show, The Courier Mail, September 1 1 , 1 999, p. 23. While unrest rattles the very doors of our northern neighbours , the Triennial sits serenely in our gallery testimony to humankind's higher octaves of existence. Thousands attended the first n ight. Some were impressed, most were awed . This show is THE must of the year. Ken Lord , The Sunday Mail, September 1 2, 1 999, p.4. 1 54