APT 2002 Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia : Report

Ping Pong Portraits Daily 10 – 3pm Upper Sculpture Courtyard Ping-pong balls were utilised with direct inspiration from ‘Narcissus Garden’ by Yayoi Kusama, and ‘Who Am We?’ by Suh Do-Ho. Taking the idea of portraiture, this activity asked children to create their own portraits which were then launched into the pool to create a garden of faces. Swarming Locusts Daily 10 – 3pm Upper Sculpture Courtyard One of the central images in Michael Riley’s ‘Cloud’ series was the locust. This activity drew on locusts as ‘spirit messengers’ which are positive symbols of changing seasons to people from the Gamilaroi and Waradjuri country in New South Wales. Paper locusts were provided for children to decorate with crayons and then hung outside to create a swarming ‘plague’. Squirts Daily 10 – 3pm Upper Sculpture Courtyard John Coleman’s kinetic water sculptures played with the surreal and the quirky in the outside water pools. The Storyteller Daily 10.30 –11.30am & 1.30 – 2.00pm Gallery 5/Gallery 13/ARCO Galleries Storytelling was a fundamental link between artwork and activity for ‘Summer Spectacular’. APT artists were asked to provide their favourite childhood stories. Storytellers from the local Brisbane community told Indigenous creation stories from the work of Michael Riley, alongside ancient Chinese myths of the Moon Lady from the work of Nam June Paik - amongst many other important tales from the Asia Pacific region. Bangalan Orchestra Daily 2 – 3pm Lower Bistro Courtyard Created by Indonesian artist Heri Dono, this interactive activity invited children to make music with thongs on recycled materials such as old car doors, metal piping and tin drums. The ‘Bangalan Orchestra’ is a funky version of the ‘gamelan’ — a traditional Javanese instrument that accompanies wayang kulit (shadow theatre) in Indonesia. Play Pen Jing Daily 10 – 3pm Upper Sculpture Courtyard Song Dong’s concept for this piece continued his investigation into the process of an act as seen in his ‘Water writing diary’ series. Children were asked to help move and create sand mountains in a specially designed environment. Based on the Chinese tale of an old wise man named Yugong who needed his children to help him move the mountains that were in his way, a storyteller told this tale in character as the wizened man with their young audience pretended to be his children. Family facilities The Great Aussie BBQ 12.00–2.00pm daily Gallery Forecourt Thanks to Bar Merlo, this BBQ proved to be a popular family retreat from the excitement of ‘Summer Spectacular’. Charges applied. Fly Down Zone 10.00am – 3.00pm daily Gallery 15 Young and old gathered in this rest zone to sit down, relax and read the books on display. APT artists’ favourite stories were provided so that families could sit down with their children and read at leisure. 141