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

In short, there is no single set of outcomes of the various forces of globalisation . And because of this rad ical indeterminacy, the Asia-Pacific effect offers artists in the region the ability to speak for themselves, to set their own agendas, and to represent themselves rather than be represented by old colonialist patterns and practices . This is already happening in the Biennales and Triennales that have emerged or become more prominent over the past decade in places like Korea, Japan and Taiwan. And in Biennales and Triennales in places like Ven ice, Brisbane and Johannesburg, their works can demonstrate graph ically that wh ile 'Euramerican' patterns of representation may have flowed into and through the local culture, and been picked up by regional artists, they haven't remained distinctively 'Euramerican'. Rather, in being used by these artists they have been changed - regionalised , inflected by local issues, ideas and languages, in a sort of reverse colon ial effect, so that rather than the old patterns of colonialism absorbing local practice, they are themselves absorbed locally. A second outcome of the Asia-Pacific effect is that because it is being generated by powerful - and often global - institutions, agents and practices , local/regional artists, curators, critics, art historians and theorists can claim a legitimated voice. That is, in speaking from within the space constructed in this hegemonic fash ion, they can take on something of its authority; and they can - and in many cases do - speak back to, and challenge, the hegemony of 'Euramerican' narratives, values and aesthetics. Finally then, Asia-Pacific (and hence Asia-Pacific art) does have a kind of existence, because it has been called into being through processes of nomination and iteration . But this existence is not stable: it remains a contentious site, one continually open to renomination and reiteration. What we might take from this Asia-Pacific effect, what we might make of this site and this commun ity of peoples, remains open. But it is, I 'd suggest, terribly important not to lose sight of what we are doing in and across this region . And one of the most compelling reasons I have heard for paying attention to what we make of ourselves and one another comes from Kaumatua Henry Bennett, who sai d : ' He aha te mea nui i t e au? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata', What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.' 3 Michel de Certeau, The Practice ofEveryday Life (translated by Steven Randall), U California Press, Berkeley, 1 984, p. 1 1 7 . 2 Arjun Appadurai, 'Patriotism and its futures', Public Culture, vol . 5, 1 993, pp. 4 1 1 -29 (428). 3 Henry died suddenly in May 1 998, in New Zealand . His life and work continue to influence those who knew him. 1 1 7 1