The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition catalogue (APT2)

Thailand is a country which places particular emphasis on nationhood, religion and the monarchy. This is reflected in mainstream art which promotes and rewards neo-traditionalism at the expense of innovative art practice that refuses such cultural containment.2 Most Thai artists who have matured in the last decade received their initial training and exhibition experience in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Subsequently, they have taken further degrees or embarked upon residencies in the United States and increasingly in Japan and Germany. It is these last two countries which have a continuous record of supporting progressive art activities in Thailand, mainly through The Japan Foundation and the Goethe lnstitut, and providing grants for post– graduate study. The tradition of Joseph Beuys, Germany's 'Documenta' and DAAD scholarships have been a touchstone for artists in the past decade, as has the printmaking activity in Japan and the expansion of contemporary art spaces in that country, with high-profile Asian art shows such as those at Fukuoka. In recent years, Australia has allowed new and ambitious works to be generated in a context which is 'neutral' and not politically threatening. For instance, the 1993 Triennial was able to incorporate aspects of the violent, expressionistic imagery of Vasan Sitthiket through two large-scale paintings. With their social criticism of Thailand, they were considered 'irreverent' in Bangkok when they were fi rst shown there. Although he exhibits widely abroad in group situations, Vasan chooses to work within the context of Thailand. His work defies the comparative restraint of his peers who nevertheless allude in their imagery to the greatest problems facing Thailand as it experiences an economic boom based on a cash economy. Prostitution, drugs, deforestation, pollution and overcrowded cities are the scourges which Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook and Kamol Phaosavasdi, for instance, refer to skilfully in their work. Araya is based in Chiang Mai, having studied initially in Bangkok, Japan and Braunschweig, Germany. She commenced her career as a print– maker but now produces installations which are sombre and melancholic, drawing attention to the trade in Thai women and the marginalised position of her gender in many sectors of society. Kamol is primarily concerned with ecological issues in his homeland and creates site-specific installations throughout Asia and in Australia.The artistic vocabularies employed by each of these three artists can be compared with internationalist styles common to the West but the sophistication and innovative adaptation of these styles to local content gives them a distinctness.Thailand's most respected sculptor, Montien Boonma, is a major figure in South-East Asia, with a growing international reputation. He consistently reveals Buddhist principles through his imagery in forms that are familiar to contemporary Western art practice. The Philippines defies any easy description of its cultural composition. Three centuries of colonial rule have left marked influences, particularly from Spain, the United States and Japan. Artists often reflect the impact of these foreign incursions through hybrid, montaged images. They allude not only to the effects of colonialism but also to the particularities of traditional communities and the realities of a country beset by economic, political and environmental problems. Manila provides the initial training ground and exhibition opportunities for many artists and English is spoken there as much as Filipino. However, with seventy indigenous languages in use throughout a complex archipelago, separate regional character– istics are marked and local visual arts groups promote these characteristics. The Black Artists in Asia group, for instance, is based at Bacolod in Negros Occidental and the Baguio Arts Guild operates out of Baguio City in the mountainous region of Luzon. Each has members with an allegiance to traditional religious beliefs and customs and to direct social involvement in their communities. A striking characteristic of recent art in The Philippines is the collective effort of artists in ambitious projects. Collaborative murals produced by the Salingpusa group, centred at Antipolo on the outskirts of Manila, are a case in point. Social-realist in style, with a surreal edge, these huge paintings have the robustness of the early twentieth-century Mexican muralists. An active member of several Filipino art organisations, Brenda Fajardo has independently developed several series of highly-worked drawings based on tarot cards. She works within a folk art, figurative style to depict contemporary themes pertinent to a nation reappraising its heritage. Importantly, she asserts a feminine presence within these reconstructed histories. Santiago Bose is inspired chiefly by the indigenous cultures of the Cordilleras, employing references in his installations, drawings and assemblages to animistic philosophies, tribal beliefs and shamanism. Like a bricoleur, he also brings in Christian symbolism, a legacy of the Spanish colonists. A pervading scepticism in Bose's approach is evident in his portrayal of traditional belief systems as well as 'XXXX culture' and 'Coca-cola culture'! For those looking beyond their country of origin for further professional experience, the United States, Spain, France anc;! England have beckoned in the past, with Australia and Japan both contributing residencies and exhibition opportunities. For the countries of South-East Asia, such as The Philippines, ASEAN forums are increasingly providing fruitful opportunities to share common concerns. Through such forums, topics as pertinent to our times as 'The Aesthetics of ASEAN Expressions' are explored. 3 Now that the artistic freeway between East and West is so frequented, with new arterial byways being forged through artist and curatorial initiatives, the old canons for understanding the visual arts are being reassessed just as new art histories are being established. AnneKirker,Curator, PrintsDrawings & Photographs, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia 1 Alison Broinowski, The YellowLady: Australian Impressions ofAsia, Oxford UniversityPress, Melbourne, 1992,p.159. Refer to ApinanPoshyananda, Modern Art in Thailand.- Nineteenthand Twentieth Centuries, OxfordUniversity Press,Singapore, NewYork,1992. ASEAN Committee onCulture and Information,'TheAesthetics ofASEAN Expressions', documentation of thesecond ASEANworkshop,exhibitionand symposium onaesthetics, Manila,The Philippines, 8-12October1994 Top Santiago Bose Lies, magicians and blind faith 1993-95 Page from abook comprising 25 leaves of handmade paper; collage, solar burning and ink Collection: Queensland Art Gallery.TheKennethand YasukoMyerCollection of ContemporaryAsian Art Left Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook The shadow in white 1993 Plaster,metal, cloth and wax Tray:60x74 x17cm (irreg.); plaster heads:31x24x21 cm (irreg., each);cloth:90cm (width); stand: 68x44cm Collection: Queensland Art Gallery. The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of ContemporaryAsian Art ESSAYS I 33