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

CONFERENCE APT3 CONFERENCE : 'BEYOND THE FUTURE' : OVERVI EW The Third Asia-Pacific Trienn ial Conference was held in Brisbane, Australia from 1 0 to 1 2 September 1 999. This was the largest art conference ever held in Australia, bringing together more than 700 Australian and international special ists on contemporary Asian and Pacific art. The Conference was held at the Brisbane Convention & Exh ibition Centre, Cnr. Merivale & G lenelg Streets, South Brisbane and at the Queensland Art Gallery. Through twelve major sessions, workshops and parallel sessions, delegates and speakers addressed issues raised in the exh ibition . Delegates and speakers addressed issues raised in the art in the exhibition , i n particular the place of tradition in contemporary art and the interface between contemporary art and contemporary society, includ ing spiritual ity, the sign ificance of fam ily, ethn icity, popular culture, street art, art of the megacity and art and politics . New exhibition models, new art for a new century and the challenge to Western perspectives in art criticism were canvassed . The Conference was a collaboration between three institutions - Queensland Art Gallery, Griffith Un iversity and the Australian National University. The Conference program was available at www .apt3 . net. Conference proceedings will be available from the Gallery Store. I n addition to general support through APT Sponsors , speaker Jean-Hubert Martin was sponsored by the French Government's Cultural Program . The conference took its title from the exhibition theme of 'Beyond the Future'. (The 1 993 APT1 Conference was entitled ' I dentity, Tradition and Change', while the 1 996 APT2 Conference was entitled 'Present Encounters'.) There were approximately 90 speakers in twelve major sessions and a number of workshops and parallel sessions over the three-day conference, with some sessions held in conj unction with MAAP99 (Multimedia Art Asia Pacific). The Conference coi ncided with the opening of the exhibition , and delegates had the opportun ity to view the exhibition and participate in a rich program of artists' talks and performances . It provided an opportun ity for dynamic exchanges of ideas with i n the context of a major exh ibition of contemporary art. Sessions were held in Chinese, Japanese and Bahasa , reflecting the multilingual background of delegates . Sessions on screen culture, web art and new media were a feature of the conference and related to the inclusion in the exh ibition for the first time of new media art and a Virtual Triennial. The open ing indigenous welcome was given by Queensland Art Gallery Trustee and local Aboriginal community member Lilla Watson, and there were a number of sessions devoted to the issues of ind igenous artists of Asia and the Pacific. Conference delegates also passed a motion in support of the people of East Timar and calling for an end to recent acts of violence. The email discussion forum , 'Beyond the Future Online' began i n September 1 999. Details were available from the APT3 Web site <http :// www .apt3 . net> or through email <info@apt3. net>. 1 6