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

SUNDAY AT THE GALLERY PROGRAM Children’s and family workshops were devised in response to the work of APT 2002 artists. In the case of the Song Dong activity, the artist worked directly with children, teaching them to draw Chinese symbols on his rock installation in Kids’ APT. These symbols were of special significance for the artist as these were the symbols he learned to draw as a child. In a special holiday workshop, Heri Dono created Indonesian Wayang puppets with children. Other ‘Sunday at the Gallery’ programs included making wallpaper inspired by Suh Do-Ho’s ‘Who am We?’, creating lotus flowers like Montien Boonma, pacific jewellery making like artist Sophia Tekela-Smith and watercolour leaf drawings inspired by Eugene Carchesio’s Dead leaves of Tokyo and Dead Leaves of Brisbane series. Children and adults delighted in responding to contemporary works of art and were excited by the ideas that the art of APT 2002 generated. ‘SUMMER SPECTACULAR’ Building upon the success and popularity of Kids’ APT, the Gallery launched it’s first ever children’s festival, ‘Summer Spectacular’ - 15 days of Asia-Pacific arts, cultures, myths and legends just for kids. From the 11-25 January 2003, a rich program of more than 30 performances, events and workshops explored the practise, ideas, stories, myths and films that inspired APT 2002 artists during their childhood. A special feature of ‘Summer Spectacular’ was the return of APT 2002 artists Siaosi Mioupula and Heri Dono. Flying Angels, an activity inspired by Dono, enabled children to create their own colourful angel, like those the artist had suspended in the Gallery’s foyer for APT 2002. Siaosi Mioupula, returned as Perlie Shellz to lead children on an exciting storytelling trail that unravelled Pacific mythology and legends in the work of APT 2002 artists Lisa Reihana, Nalini Malani, Sofia Tekela-Smith, and Niki Hastings-McFall. The high level of success of ‘Summer Spectacular’ has been due largely to the staff collaboration on the project. Staff from all sections in the Gallery contributed to the planning and implementation of the festival. The project team included Education and Public Programs, Curatorial, Exhibitions, Design and Promotions staff. Other Gallery staff contributed during the fifteen days of the festival, interacting with the public and supervising busy areas such as the Watermall, Gallery 3 and Gallery 2. An additional 28 early childhood staff were employed for the project, with 17 volunteers also assisting. The public responded positively to the interactive quality of ‘Summer Spectacular’: Bug antennae and activity books were given to children on arrival, and children used materials provided to make Swarming Locusts, Flying Angels and Ping Pong Portraits. The Bug Master proved to be a highly popular mascot, with children coming to the Gallery especially to see him. Third and fourth year drama students from Griffith University’ Applied Theatre course performed as the Bug Master, with children commenting specifically that the mascot was “cute”, “furry”, “soft”, “funny”, “cuddly”, and unusual – “I’ve never seen a Bug that big before”. The festival exceeded the Gallery’s expectations, attracting an average of 3 000 people daily, with 50 837 people attending over the15 day period. Visitor feedback forms revealed that many families were visiting the Gallery for the first time and that the public’s impression of the festival was very positive citing it as “fabulous, intriguing, inspiring, creative, fun and engaging.” Family visitors spent considerable time at the Gallery during the festival. 56.1% of respondents spent between one and three hours at the Gallery, and 40.4% spent between three and five hours. Interestingly, many parents indicated that they came to the festival on repeated occasions over the 15 day period, and that they spent many hours at the Gallery. The festival attracted widespread interest from the arts community, with visitors including: • The Minister for the Arts • The Director General, Arts Queensland • The Vice Chancellor of QUT • The Director of Research and Development (QUT) • The Dean of Education (QUT) • The Director, Queensland Museum In the lead up to ‘Summer Spectacular’, and during the festival, Dr Barbara Piscitelli Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood at QUT lent her expertise in early childhood. During ‘Summer Spectacular’ valuable research data was gathered from interviews with both children and parents. People interviewed included 85 children and 57 parents/adult carers. In many cases, children pointed to the contemporary art in the APT as the highlight of their visit. Children also indicated a preference for ‘making’ activities and performances. ‘Summer Spectacular’, has been a highly successful initiative for the Queensland Art Gallery. It signals the scale and scope of programming that will be delivered by the forthcoming Queensland Gallery of Modern Art Children’s Art Centre and emphasises the Gallery’s commitment to young audiences. 44