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

including the current concern of Polynesian and Asian migrants living in Aotearoa/New Zealand today, and their perspectives. 4 Given that many Aucklanders are of Asian descent, artist Denise Kum's following observation has some local relevance: 'White people are only 17% of the world's population so where do they get off calling us a minority?' 5 However, to approach completion of the picture, it would be necessary for the 1999 Triennial Pacific selection to go to the source and select directly from the wider Pacific, taking in the three corners of the Pacific triangle: Hawai'i, Rapanui and Fiji. Voyage of the waka In a reverse selection process of inclusion rather than exclusion, what was once the 'One' has become the'We'.e Yuk King Tan A collective voice rather than a display of individuals is orchestrated in and around the water and integrated with the Torres Strait Islander headdresses suspended above water on one side, and the Melanesian headdresses on the other. Land and sea meet. The idea of living in the Pacific basin and not on the rim became a reality. A concentrated Pacific presence dominates the Watermall, the heart of the Queensland Art Gallery's exhibition space. To construct the Aotearoa/New Zealand Pacific face, the Polynesian concept of a collective was combined with the idea of the Maori waka (canoe), a symbol that refers to all the migrations-the great descent from ancestral homes and the peopling of Aotearoa/New Zealand, first by boat and then by plane (waka rererangi). Artists of Maori, Polynesian, European and Asian descent are located within the concept of two waka, one containing five men and the other six women, which together create one narrative.The women's works were completed as on-site responses to the space and atmosphere of the water area where the men's work is also located. Traditionally, Maori men built the canoes and women added the finishing touches-the eyes and the tails-to guide the journey.7 As Lisa Reihana, an exhibiting artist, explains: The waka has the obvious carving aspect associated with the male, but it is the navigational eyes that the women offer to activate the journey. Together and with song and karakia the journey begins. These two vessels symbolise duality rather than polarity and refer to the lashing of the canoes for the sea-going voyages and the 'doing together' of complementary male and female roles. The women's contribution can be seen as the lashing which binds, rather than a presence which literally occupies the waka. Because their work was completed after the men's, it refers more particularly to the phase after the waka has landed. Inclusion in these vessels is about the ambiguities of blurred boundaries, blurred cultural identity and the assertion of independence within.This narrative celebrates unity as well as difference and establishes connections which keep the different cultures together and apart. Our role as Indigenous curators was very much an integral part of the process and therefore, the outcome. Although we breathed life into the collectives in the first instance, particularly the women's, they soon took on a spirit of their own which will see their journey through to the end of the second Triennial and beyond. As Ani O'Neill from the women's vessel declared in December 1995 when the collective first came together: At this point in time, our 'group' the 'Pacific' face has the land beneath to hold us together. When we set out on our wakas (sic), we will have to hold on to each other. Margo Neale, Curator Indigenous Australian Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia Examples include: 'Headlands. Thinking through New Zealand Art: Aotearoa/New Zealand's debut exhibition of note in Australia.which opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 1992; 'Te Waka Toi:Contemporary Maori Art from New Zealand', toured the United States in 1993; 'Cultural Safety, Contemporary Art from New Zealand: Germany, 1995; and the touring exhibition, 'Bottled Ocean: Contemporary Polynesian Artists'(curated by Jim Vivieaere), 1994-95 which was ademonstration of an active Pacific Island minoritywithin Aotearoa/New Zealand. Jonathan Mane-Wheoki is of Maori descent and Indigenous to New Zealand; Jim Vivieaere is of Cook Island descent and the author is of Australian Aboriginal descent. As it turned out, our final selection, although aboutcollectives and not individuals,does have areasonable gender andethnic spread. This was not a major focus of our considerations but we were pleased it happened. For adiscussion of contemporary issuessee essays byJonathan Mane-Wheoki and NicholasThomas in this catalogue Emma Farry, 'Welcome home', Stamp, DeelJan 1993. Each artist selected wrote poetry about how they saw their part in the collective waka concept. Maori women trailed feather streamers on the stern of the sea-going waka, wove the sails and placed the inset paua shell for theeyes on the prow figure. Artists from Aotearoa/New Zealand for thefirst Asia-Pacific Triennial 1993: Neil Dawson, Robyn Kahukiwa, Selwyn Muru,Anne Noble, Peter Roche,Michel Tuffery and Robin White. 1996: Chris Booth,John Pule, BenWebb, Brett Graham, Peter Robinson,Bronwynne Cornish,Judy Millar,Ani O'Neill, Lisa Reihana, Yuk King Tan and Marie Shannon 1996 Curatorial Team: Margo Neale; Jim Vivieare, Artist and Independent Curator; andJonathan Mane-Wheoki,Art Historian. Australian Selection The Australian curatorial team for 1996 was coordinated by distinguished Thai art critic Dr Apinan Poshyananda and included the Curator of Contemporary Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery, Timothy Morrell, and the Queensland Art Gallery's Curator of Indigenous Art, Margo Neale. Apinan Poshyananda knows Australian contemporary art well. He notes: 'I have visited Australia on a number of occasions in the past five years. I have been exposed to contemporary art in Australia through exhibitions, contacts with curators and artists as well as art journals and magazines. Being involved in the Sydney Biennale ('The Boundary Rider' in 1992) and the first Asia– Pacific Triennial also allowed me to assess contemporary Australian art. I was able to follow Australian representations in various biennales in Venice, Johannesburg, Kwangju, Istanbul, Havana and exhibitions such as 'TransCulture' and 'Antipodean Currents' (both 1995). My expectations during this trip were more or less confirmed. Having said that, I must add that there were several surprises as I was able to meet artists whose work had not been widely shown outside Australia. I was particularly interested in class-based and race– based cultural difference in works by artists in urban communities ...' For the Asia-Pacific Triennial there were no particular themes as curators were allowed to select what they feel to be the most exciting art made during the past few years. Obviously terms such as "quality" and "excellence" vary a great deal between curators and places they visited. In the Australian component, for which I was responsible, the selection comprised artists whose works reflect on pressing issues of indigenous art, appropriation, gender, class and violence.' 1 1 Apinan Poshyanandainterview with Timothy Morrell 1996 Australian artists who participated in the first Asia-PacificTriennial held in 1993 were Jon Cattapan, Marian Drew, Bronwyn Oliver,Ada Bird Petyarre,Gloria Petyarre, Kathleen Petyarre,Giuseppe Romeo,Gareth Sansom and Judy Watson Australian artists selected by the Australian curatorial team for 1996 are the Campfire Group, Destiny Deacon, Fiona Hall, Luke Roberts and Kathy Temin. Two Australian artists,Lin Onus and Richard Joeban Harry, are included in the 1996 Pacific component of the Triennial. CURAT ORI A L ESSAYS : PA CI FI C 57