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

Lisa REIHANA b. 1964, Aotearoa New Zealand Lisa Reihana, Hinewai from Digital Marae Lisa Reihana is a Maori artist who, in recent years, has played a leading role in the development of film and multimedia art in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her work demonstrates a keen interest to communicate complex ideas about indigenous identity and bi-cultural living, and a desire to address and engage with contemporary experience through diverse media. Her films, video and animations, usually accompanied by contemporary soundtracks, are often visual collages drawn from eclectic sources including cultural histories and popular expressions. Reihana’s new work Digital Marae will be presented in APT 2002 and continues the concept of wharenui (‘meeting house’) prevalent in her artistic practice . These dramatic large-format photographs reference female mythological figures and pay homage to the strong matriarchal presence within Maori culture. Nam June PAIK b. 1932, South Korea/United States Nam June Paik, The elements Nam June Paik is a senior artist who has played a pioneering role in the development of video, new media and multimedia art. Paik has radically developed and altered the understanding and perception of sound, performance and multimedia as artforms over the past fifty years and continues to make a major contribution to these media. Paik’s interest in sound began early when he studied music, art history and aesthetics at university and wrote his dissertation on the atonal work of Arnold Schoenberg. His contact with John Cage in 1958 emerged as a turning point for both their careers. Paik revels in the modern and current developments in information technology and new media. He has elaborated and celebrated this potential through a continuing and expanding body of work. Notably Paik utilises electronic and mass media networks, such as television, which he refers to as the ‘electronic super highway’. Nam June Paik was born in 1932 in Seoul, lived in Germany from 1956 and has lived in New York since 1964. Michael RILEY b. 1960, Australia, Wiradjuri/Gamilaroi people Michael Riley, from Cloud series Michael Riley’s practice develops from a broad interest in photographic and documentary filmmaking media. Riley played a key role in the formation of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative in Sydney in 1987. Two aims of this grassroots co-operative are to promote work by urban and city-based Indigenous artists and to ensure that the marketing and exhibition of Indigenous art remains as much as possible within the control of the artists themselves. In recent years, a young Australian nation has realised the urgency of reconciliation with its colonial past and the injustices imposed on its Indigenous people. Riley’s practice is marked by a commitment to this process and draws on the essential spiritual value that the land holds for both black and white Australia. Riley’s major cinematic work Empire and his colour photographic series, Cloud, expand on these themes, amplifying the significance of the reconciliation process in Australia. Riley’s works speak of resilience and survival, and bear witness to the enduring nature of the artist’s Aboriginal heritage. 29