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

Voices and Spaces: Shifting Dialogue and the Curatorial Process Rhana Devenport As we continue to build art and creativity which knows no boundaries, we need to interact and engage with other peoples and cultures. But always with passion, empathy and integrity rather than with generalisations and with quick categorisation, the trademarks of consumer societies. 1 Spoken from extensive personal experience with intercultural performance, this text could equally describe the intentions of the Asia-Pacific Triennial project which holds genuine dialogue to be at its heart. Long-term consultation and multiple curatorship has moved such dialogue into unfamiliar territories, 'trespassing into boundaries of spiritual void, implicit myth, post-colonial anxiety, many Asian artists are reflecting glimpses of "real" time in the disrupted, dislocated, disorientated New World (dis) Order'. 2 Perhaps the most important contribution made by the Triennial to the passage of contemporary art is that it allows for encounters, access and intimacies between artists and those who experience their work. When considering the presence of dialogue associated with the Triennial, four phases can be identified: consultation, multiple curatorship, artists and cultural zones, and shifting dialogue. Before moving on to these processes of dialogue it is necessary to challenge the term 'Asia-Pacific region' as a monolithic entity. 'Asia was not named by the people who lived there; it is not a concept that developed naturally. It is a name given by the European Other looking at the continent from a vantage point out on the ocean.' 3 'Asia' is not a place but an idea of many incarnations, one lively description is offered by Apinan Poshyananda: Asia is exotic, eclectic, barbaric, high tech, low tech, a go go, authentic and copy-cat. Like Africa, America, Australia, Asia is comprised of these qualities and more. Asia is where tribalism and universalism, global and local, capitalism and barbarianism live side by side. 4 The 'Pacific', meanwhile, is a vast ocean, encompassing many peoples and touching shores from Nagoya to Vanuatu to Daydream Island. It is a decentred, mutable space of social migrations. A fresh perspective is offered by the artist Cai Guo Qiang: The 21st century is predicted to become an era of the Pan-Pacific. In this century man will create a common culture out of Oriental and Western cultures, and in that sense it can be called not only an era of the Pan-Pacific but also 'Era of Cosmos and Planet'. However fn the common culture various local cultures will be prospering. 5 For the Triennial, the 'Asia-Pacific', like Cai's Pan– Pacific, is indicative more of conceptual space than physical location, more of orientation than the Orient. The geographical scope of this project is not strictly defined, but shifts focus with each Triennial. The artists included were not chosen as representatives of nation states or cultural groups, but as representatives of people experiencing and negotiating the myriad 'local cultures' of contemporary life. The inclusion of artists from India and the strong presence of art of the Pacific Peoples are significant features of this Triennial. Consultative Forums To initiate dialogue towards the Triennial, the Gallery held both national and international forums over four days in early 1995. More than 140 artists, curators, academics, arts professionals and writers from the Asia-Pacific region were invited to Brisbane to participate in the discussions. Issues raised at the forums were incorporated into the Triennial's curatorial framework. During the forums, emphasis was placed on the Triennial's role in assisting the process of freedom from conscious and unconscious assumptions associated with Western readings of cultural practice and aesthetic concerns. Geeta Kapur speaks directly of this constant need for reappraisal: The act of making is ordered by an act of breaking in the luddite imaginary. The third world artist will continue to engage with dreams of upheaval.The streamlining of art and market in the post-industrial era of capitalism requires that we continue to open out and re-suture the ragged edge of the 20th century. 6 Additionally, the forums highlighted how the Triennial, by respecting and discussing the varying contexts of art-making, may strengthen understandings and open discourse.The forums were an acute reminder of how the complexity of language moves far beyond sheer translation. Lingering Euro-American readings of the terms 'traditional' practice, 'contemporary' art and the 'roles' of the 'artist' were firmly dismantled during the discussions, as common understandings of art practice were found. One of the strongest developments to emerge from the forums was identified by the Pacific artists and curators, most of whom were indigenous. A self– determined collective curatorial approach to the art of the Pacific Peoples was adopted. For the second Triennial, the art of the Pacific Peoples is presented within two groupings. One group concentrates on the art of Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and in this context, the work of the Torres Strait Islands and an indigenous Australian artist. The second group offers a collective of eleven artists from Aotearoa/New Zealand. Jonathan Mane-Wheoki commented during discussions that, for Maori people, the future lies behind and the past lies ahead. The art of the Pacific Peoples confounds Western notions of time, history and tradition. The forums recognised the Triennial's unique geographical and curatorial position as a pivot between the Pacific and Asia-linking the contemporary art of a multiplicity of cultures encompassed by these two spheres.7 The Triennial provides a unique space for encounter. Multiple Curatorship Responding to the diversity of contemporary art practice, the Gallery chose not to impose a singular curatorial resolve, but preferred to allow for the emergence of themes through the art. The principle of multiple curatorship, which underpinned the first Triennial, was adopted and extended for this project. Fifteen curatorial teams included both international and Australian curators and advisers. The Gallery places great importance on the long-term links and personal relations that informed the process of consultation and on creating unique opportunities for artists and arts advocates. Advisers and team members were invited to participate on the basis of their specialised engagement with contemporary art of the Asia-Pacific. The work of more than 450 artists was viewed during the visits by curatorial teams to the region in the second half of 1995. The teams then made recommendations regarding artists, artworks and catalogue writers to the Gallery and the Triennial's National Advisory Committee. In December 1995, teams met in Brisbane to share their recommendations; further discussions were held and participating artists were chosen. In February 1996, the curatorial team for Australia, similarly comprising international and Australian curators, presented their recommendations. Invitations were then extended to participating artists. To engage people in discussions and forums is a relatively easy task, but to provoke genuine dialogue is a very difficult one. Multiple curatorship is a fluid, complex, costly, time-consuming and exceptionally rewarding process. It requires an ever-vigilant eye to avoid cultural preconceptions and locate the voices. Ideas are offered in many languages, and more importantly, through the complex layering of cultural associations.Translations are, after all, received and reinvented at the moment of hearing. It is in these labyrinthine clusters of meaning that listening, discourse and the possit· ·· ·"'change occurs. Artists and Cultural Zones 'Real' time, 'real' art, 'real' space-perhaps the contemporary longing is not so much for the past but for the real. Possibly the senses of artists enters the realm of the real. Mega-national exhibitions often conjure a disjuncture of culture and context. As participating Aotearoa/New Zealand artist John Pule comments, 'Your time or your space are not my space or my time'. 8 Importantly, contemporary cultural exchange projects in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand have generated their own momentum with an emphasis on artists' residencies. Over the past fifteen years, organisations such as ANZART (Australian and New Zealand Artists), ARX (Australia and Regional Artists' Exchange) and Asialink have focused on artists' lives, on activating cultural zones and initiating personal connections. CU RAT ORI A L ESSAYS 35