Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 1994-95

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Polynesia, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia, and Australia. Through the Triennial the Gallery aims to continue to increase cultural understanding and establish a framework for further cultural exchanges, as well as provide a forum for continuing dialogue and facilitate the building of professional relationships. For the 1996 project, the Asia-Pacific Triennial National Advisory Committee consists of, from the Queensland Art Gallery, Mr Doug Hall, Director, Dr Caroline Turner, Deputy Director & Manager of International Programs, Mr Chris Saines, Manager Curatorial & Support Services Program and Ms Margo Neale, Curator of Indigenous Australian Art; Ms Alison Carroll, Visual Arts Manager, Asialink, Melbourne; Mr Neil Manton, Former Director, South-East Asia and the Pacific, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Cultural Relations Branch, Canberra; Professor David Williams, Director, Australian National University, Canberra School of Art; and Professor Ian Howard, Director and Provost, Queensland College of Art. The Gallery has expanded the consultative base in the planning process of the 1996 project. A national forum was held in April which brought together over sixty curators, artists, cultural historians and arts administrators from all over Australia. It is planned to host an international forum in July 1995 to increase the consultative process, discuss the issues raised at the national forum and further strengthen the intellectual and conceptual dimensions of the Asia-Pacific Triennial project. The consultative process will also involve Gallery staff, the project's National Advisory Committee and the Australian advisers collaborating with international advisers to form a curatorial team for each participating country. The National Advisory Committee and the Australian selectors for the participating countries have commenced selection visits throughout the region. The Australian selectors will collaborate with local art advisers to ensure the selections reflect what the experts in each country believe are the important issues. Selection visits will continue to November 1995. The Gallery, through its library, is continuing to develop a specialised research collection on the contemporary visual art of the Asia-Pacific region and an Asia-Pacific Triennial database. This database is a significant research tool and is the first in the world to focus on contemporary art and artists of the Asia-Pacific region. Internationally, the project has been widely considered a landmark event. At the ASEAN Curators' Forum in Kuala Lumpur in April 1995 the project received high commendation as an outstanding example of cross-cultural negotiation. The Gallery 's Associate Registrar and Senior Exhibitions Officer were invited by Museums Australia Inc. to participate in the forum and to conduct curatorial workshop sessions in preparation for a major ASEAN contemporary art festival biennial to be held in Kuala Lumpur in 1997, in Singapore in 1999 and subsequently in other ASEAN countries. The Curator of Contemporary Australian Art and the Senior Project Officer continued to strengthen the Gallery's international links when they attended the April 1995 Contemporary Art of the Non– Aligned Countries Conference, 'Unity in Diversity' held in Jakarta. The Asia-Pacific Triennial project receives ongoing financial support from the Queensland Government, a commitment until the 1999 Triennial. The Gallery has also received support for the 1996 Triennial from the Australia Council.