Beyond the Future: Papers from the Third Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

More fundamental, if hardly more compell ing, was the argument that the concept of the Asia­ Pacific itself implied a cohesion within the region that d id not exist and that categorisation of any kind was inappropriate in an age in wh ich in Hannah Arendt's phrase, 'human autonomy turned into the tyranny of possibilities', where boundaries were breaking down and change, fluidity and mutabil ity were the order of the day; and that art should be presented as an unfolding and aesthetic journey, to be appreciated for itself rather than as an aid to understanding the region , countries or local contexts from which it comes. A point raised at the Conference had been the selection of art from countries as opposed to ignoring national boundaries. This d i lemma is highlighted in the papers but ignores some essential differences between the APTs and most large international Biennales or Trienn ials. The art for the APT exhibitions has never been selected to 'represent' countries and countries do not choose artists, and pay for them , as 'official' representatives . In other words artists are invited, not countries. Another and related issue raised at the Conference was the debate over the new selection category for APT3 - 'Crossing Borders'. Iron ical ly, this non country focus was also controversial because of the potential it afforded to open up the APT to artists from the diasporas. This disappointed some because artists within the reg ion still have so few opportunities. However because the artists selected for 'Crossing Borders' were overwhelmingly from within the region or maintained strong connections to its cultural environments this was not a major focus of the Conference. It is important to note that the 'Crossing Borders' artists were not only globally mobile in a geograph ical sense but represented cross-disciplinary work (including between art forms), new media and collaborations and also an attempt to redefine supposed distinctions between 'craft' and 'fine art' and 'high' and 'low' art. The most exciting development was perhaps artists from different countries working together - th is latter fact signalling a new direction for the APT and one heralded at the Conference by the transmisi performance. Perhaps the aspect of the Conference most striking yet least remarked upon was the concern with indigenous issues , both Australian and regional . Indigenous art has been foregrounded at the Asia-Pacific Triennials and Conferences . There have been more Austral ian Ind igenous artists in the APT exhibitions than Australian artists of all other cultural heritage. At APT3 ind igenous protocols were scrupulously observed, as was most appropriate. I ndigenous original ownership of the land was acknowledged at all formal functions and especial ly by the The Hon . Matt Foley MLA, Attorney General , Minister for Justice and Minister for the Arts . Indigenous performers opened and closed the Conference; and, as noted , a keynote address to the Conference was del ivered by Lilla Watson , Indigenous artist and Trustee of the Queensland Art Gallery with another major keynote by Margo Neale, the Gallery's Curator of Indigenous Art. One of the most important facts about the Asia-Pacific Triennial highlighted at the Conference is that it is Asia-Pacific and not just Asian . The decision to include artists from Australia, and particularly Indigenous artists from Australia and the Pacific, has been a critical one and has made the APT exhibitions unique in world terms. This has allowed , when selecting Asian art, curatorial perspectives that have encompassed, for example tribal and indigenous artists from elsewhere in the region . Similarly Pacific art has been a key feature of the exh ibitions and Conferences . Another concern of the APT3 Conference was East Timar. The Conference was held in the context of the struggle for control in the former Indonesian province after the plebiscite voting for independence and before an international force was agreed to by participating Governments and the Un ited Nations. The Conference took place against a background of violence in East Timar. Organ isers and delegates believed it was vitally important to raise this issue and petitions were circu lated which were sent to the Australian and Indonesian Governments asking for an end to the violence It may well be that the most rewarding way to try to divine what l ies beyond the future is to try to th ink one's way through the realities of the present. One of those real ities, along with Timar, is the re-arrival of Chinese art, a fact wh ich d id not go unremarked at the Conference. There were other realities also and delegates pointed to complex issues of globalisation and multinationalism and debated whether or not Western 'hegemony' constructed through new economic systems, transnational economies , new technologies and new means of 1 1 ..