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

consumer goods and representations, to reveal, finally, contemporary tensions in the very practices of representation and perception. This last is significant. In the three years since the first Asia-Pacific Triennial, The Philippines has grown stronger economically, with material wealth available to wider social groups. As the consumer society becomes stronger, artists are querying the lure of goods bought with such effort. Thus, one of the most striking developments in the last several years, evident in very different artistic tendencies, is close and critical attention to the form, glamour and significance of material goods, previously very rarely considered in artistic discourses. Contemporary art in The Philippines may be compared with the art of other modernising post– colonial societies. Yet Philippines culture proposes its own special tensions. Five artists cannot 'sum up' The Philippines. But their works can begin to show how artists grapple with the complexities of life in the archipelago, only five years before the millennium. This selection is one particular notation from the current moment in The Philippines, from the flowing streams that run down to the oceans around the islands. Julie Ewington,Senior Curator, Museum Education, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney,Australia 1 James Hamilton-Paterson, Ghosts ofManila, Vintage Books, London,1995, p143. Artists from The Philippines 1993: Nunelucio Alvarado,Santiago Bose, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, Brenda Fajardo, Edgar Fernandez, Junyee, Julie Lluch, Lazaro Soriano and Roberto Villanueva.1996 Filipino artists: Charlie Co,Francesca Enriquez,Mark Justiniani,Jose Tence Ruiz and Sanggawa, acollective including: Elmer Borlongan, Karen Flores,Mark Justiniani,Joy Mallari and Frederico Sievert. 1996 Curatorial Team: Julie Ewington; Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, Artist and Writer, Manila; and Christine Clark, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia The following Queensland Art Gallery staff have visited The Philippines: Christine Clark, Project Officer APT in 1994 and 1996; Anne Kirker,Curator, Prints, Drawings and Photographs in1994; and David Burnett, Education Officer in 1993 Sanggawa Sinning in the rain 1994 Oil on canvas 198x292cm Thailand: This Time Around Anne Kirker A curatorial team comprising Somporn Rodboon from Silpakorn University, Bangkok, and Anne Kirker and Dionissia Giakoumi from the Queensland Art Gallery chose five artists from Thailand to exhibit their work in the second Triennial. Professor Rodboon has been closely associated with the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art project, being part of the team which recommended artists for the Thai component of the first Triennial. The Gallery engaged the distinguished art writer and commentator Apinan Poshyananda to play a role in selecting the Thai work for the inaugural Triennial and the 1996 event had him choosing the Australian component. Prior to the visit of Queensland Art Gallery staff to Bangkok and Chiang Mai in November 1995, a good deal of discussion (through faxes and telephone conversations) had taken place with Somporn Rodboon regarding possible artists, writers and conference speakers. The many reference texts on Thai art in the Gallery's library, as well as documentation compiled by staff from previous research trips, were consulted at the start. During the 1995 visit, fifteen artists were interviewed by the curatorial team, works assessed and documentation collated. The final recommendations were made primarily on the consistent standard of imagery currently being produced by artists with a professional track record. Their areas of specialisation range from painting, printmaking and sculpture to site-specific work. Four of the artists chosen are male- Kamin Lertchaiprasert, Chatchai Puipia, Navin Rawanchaikul and Jakapan Vilasineekul; one is female-Yupha Changkoon. The majority of them are aged in their late twenties to early thirties. Collectively, they reflect the diversity of recent art practice in Thailand and have the courage to avoid the decorative, illustrative, nee-traditional style of painting which readily commands high prices in Bangkok. At this point, few outlets in Thailand (dealer galleries, institutions) support risky, issue– based or conceptually challenging art. Visual Dhamma is one of the few surviving commercial avenues in that country for these artists and it is largely left up to the Faculties of Fine Arts (such as those at Silpakorn and Chulalongkorn universities); the National Gallery, Bangkok; the Goethe lnstitut; and occasionally CON-tempus to display the more 'difficult' contemporary imagery. In Chiang Mai, the university and an annual art festival, the 'Chiang Mai Social Installation Project', provide the only opportunity for artists to exhibit. No publicly– funded collection exists in that country to acquire their works or to reflect the considerable achievement of modern Thai art. What has been evident in the selection process is the growing world interest in Asian art. For example, several of the Thai artists selected for the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial are also participating in 'Traditions/Tensions', mounted by The Asia Society, New York in October 1996. Furthermore, sales of innovative contemporary art from the Asia-Pacific region are increasing and augmenting public collections outside the artists' respective countries of origin.What this indicates is emerging markets and receptive audiences for art that falls outside the Euro-American schools. At issue, however, is whether such excellent work should be retained and safeguarded by the nations concerned, for their own heritage. Anne Kirker, Curator, Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the Queensland Art Gallery, Australia Artists 1993: Montien Boonma, Prawat Laucharoen,Prasong Luemuang, Kamol Phaosavasdi, Apichai Piromrak, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook and Vasan Sitthiket. Thai artists in 1996:Yupha Changkoon, Kamin Lertchaiprasert, Chatchai Puipia,Navin Rawanchaikul and Jakapan Vilasineekul. 1996 Curatorial Team:Anne Kirker; Somporn Rodboon, Silpakorn University, Bangkok;and Dionissia Giakoumi, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia. Gallery staff have visited Thailand on anumber of occasions. Top Montien Boonma and Navin Rawanchaikul constructing the work Lotus sound prior to the first Asia-Pacific Triennial, 1993 / ..... Bottom Montien Boonma Lotus sound 1992 Installation comprising terracotta bells, gilded wood Collection:Queensland Art Gallery.The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art CURAT ORI AL ESSAYS : SOUT H A ND SOUTH- EAST AS I A 51