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

Pacific Peoples: Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Torres Strait, Indigenous Australia Susan Cochrane From the time of the first meeting of the country advisers and curators held at the Queensland Art Gallery in December 1995, there was an accord among the Melanesian and Polynesian representatives that the Pacific region needed to be strongly differentiated from Asia.The countries which lie within the 'Pacific lake', many of which are micro-states, have entirely different communities and histories to those of the more populous nations of the 'Pacific rim'. The Pacific group included Margo Neale, Curator of Indigenous Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery, and Jim Vivieaere and Jonathan Mane– Wheoki of Aotearoa/New Zealand; these three making up the group responsible for Polynesia.The Melanesian representatives were Susan Cochrane, curator for Melanesia; with Tom Mosby of the Torres Strait Islands; Emmanuel Kasarherou of New Caledonia; and Michael Mel and Stalin Jawa representing Papua New Guinea. We 'staked a claim' to the Watermall and grassy spaces inside and immediately outside the main gallery. The Watermall was to become our metaphorical Pacific Ocean and the grassy spaces our islands.The Pacific Ocean is the place of our voyages and discoveries, both of the past and of the present. Land is identity; histories and memories are embedded in it. We superimposed an imaginary triangle around the Watermall, mimicking 'the triangle of Polynesia', a name invented by Western scholars to describe the 'culture regions' of Oceania. 1 We envisioned the Watermall as a great vaka (ocean voyaging canoe), but one which contains the contemporary spirit and realities of Pacific peoples. Over the last 200 years or so, the network of voyages and settlements across the Pacific has become increasingly more complex, a factor which constantly tests and determines the expression of cultural parameters. The 'land' areas around the vaka include a 'ritual ground', which Michael and Anna Mel and Wendi Choulai will use for their respective performance pieces, the plot of taro for Denise Tiavouane's installation Les Taros qui pleurent, and a space for Micheline Neporon's engraved bamboos, La Foret des Ancetres. Tensions between traditional forms and contemporary creativity will be one of the principal axes of the Melanesian artists' contribution to the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial. These tensions should be perceptible in the presentation of their works. For example, Michael Mel has just completed his degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Wendi Choulai is completing her Master of Arts degree, yet both these Papua New Guinean artists have elected to return to the essential form of self– expression of their clans-self-decoration and performance. In order to create a contemporary work valid within her clan's tradition, Wendi Choulai has had to undertake months of negotiation and collaboration with senior women. She explains this by referring to a Motuan proverb: 'It takes a long time to come to the head of the dance'. Pacific societies, whether indigenous or expatriate, continue to experience difficulties and frustrations resulting from mismatches of ideas and conflicts between people. Vapid images of the Pacific, in the highly romanticised European tradition, provoke anger among politicised Islanders. Recent gains by indigenous people seeking to redress the imbalances of the colonial era sometimes irk Pacific people of European or other heritage. The facts and acts of history are disputed everywhere. Acculturation and adaptation to new ideas is not necessarily an easy process. Rene Boutin's work recognises the paradoxes in creating a balance between the diverse interests and lifestyles of the indigenous people, Caledonians of European descent, and other groups of settlers making up New Caledonian society. Eric Natuoivi's ceramics contemplate the changing status of women in Vanuatu, where male pride finds it hard to accommodate attempts to upgrade the status of women. On a more cheerful note, Tom Deko's Scrap metal band celebrates the widespread acceptance and creativity of black 'world music' in the Pacific. In the island realms of Melanesia, the pinnacles of artistic achievement often differ from those of the Western tradition.We may borrow words like 'performance piece', 'ephemeral art' or 'installation' to describe an object or artistic process, but these words are often not adequate or true to the forms of creative expression of the peoples of the Pacific region. Even the term 'contemporary art', when applied to the arts of the Pacific, must be appropriate to the types of creative expression currently practised within the region. This art is often the expression of significant change within society. Change may be manifested in art objects by way of the technology used for its production, the use of imported materials, and experiments with style. Contemporary art also approaches new subjects, whether social, political, religious or secular, and expresses these ideas in non-traditional ways. Contemporary art also recognises new roles for artists in Pacific societies. In the production of art, most change is observable in the urban centres of Pacific countries. This is because people living in urban areas have greater access to contemporary art of all kinds, as well as access to instruction, the necessary materials, and systems of marketing and promotion. Artists living in clan groups in remote villages throughout the Pacific also have opportunities to encompass change and vitality in expressing developments in their local culture. Artists act as the interpreters of change in any society and assist with the acceptance of new ideas and ways of doing things in their community. For example, there are few, if any, West lrianese or Solomon Islands artists with exposure to and experience in the types of contemporary art favoured in international exhi– bitions. However, there are artists who, aware of the art market and other external interests in their art (to the extent that it has developed in their locality), make innovative works incorporating new ideas, new subjects and new materials into their art. Sometimes, in remote areas, something new becomes immensely popular and stimulates creative expression in different directions: recent examples of this are the paintings of comic book heroes, and slogans and logos of beer, cigarettes and football teams now appearing on the fight shields of Whagi Valley warriors in Papua New Guinea. Incorporating New Guinea Highlander's shields or Torres Strait Islander's feathered dance wands into 'installations' for an event such as the Queensland Art Gallery's Asia-Pacific Triennial is not an act of curatorial conceit, or a clever trompe-l'oeil to make something appear what it is not. However remote village communities in the Pacific may be from Sydney or Brisbane, San Francisco or Bangkok, wherever the international contemporary art scene is flourishing; and however different a Pacific Islander artist's knowledge and skills may be from contemporary (Western-style) arts practice; what the Islander artist produces hasvalidity, integrity and sophistication within the terms of their own culture. Further, artists are recognised first by their own community; exceptional vision and skill in an artist's work rapidly gains him or her renown further afield. Artists like Kaibel Ka'a and Richard Joeban Harry are already well established within their own domains. Confident in their culture, it suits their self-esteem as artists to venture further and explore new opportunities for their art. Susan Cochrane, Director, Pacificlink. Sydney, Australia 1 Three culture areas were defined to describethe main gee-ethnic and cultural distribution of theindigenous people of the Pacific region:Polynesia, stretching from Hawai'i to Easter Island to Aotearoa/New Zealand;Melanesia, comprising the main island of New Guinea and its associated archipelagoes, theTorresStrait Islands, theSolomon Islands, Vanuatu,New Caledonia and, to acertain extent, Fiji; Micronesia contains the island groups of the North Pacific, Nauru, Kiribati and Tuvalu.The names are derived from Greek:Polynesia- many islands, Melanesia-black islands, andMicronesia- tiny islands. Oceania isthe term frequently used inart history to describe the indigenoussocieties of the Pacific region and their art. In the first Asia-Pacific Triennial, only Papua New Guinea was represented from Melanesia.Theartists were Mathias Kauage and Joe Nalo.Artists selected from Melanesia for thesecond Triennial include: Rene Boutin,Wendi Choulai,Tom Deko, Richard Joeban Harry, KaibelKa'a,Michael and Anna Mel, Eric Natuoivi,Micheline Neporon and Denise Tiavouane. In the next Triennial, we hope to travel even more widely in the Pacific 1996 Curatorial Team:Susan Cochrane; Michael Mel,Artist and Academic; Emmanuel Kasarherou. Director. Agence de Developpementde laCulture Kanak. New Caledonia;and Tom Byra Mixie Mosby for the Torres Strait selection CU RAT OR I A L ESSAYS . PACI FI C 55