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

THE TJ IBAOU CENTRE I N NOUMEA Emmanuel Kasarherou Introduction First of all, I would l ike to thank the APT for the invitation to speak to this panel today. I would like to share with you our experience in New Caledonia to illustrate the theme of this panel 'New Models, New Art, New Century' by giving a Pacific Islands perspective. Indeed , we are dealing with an emerging 'new art' in our region, and we are developing a new kind of institution : the Tj ibaou Cu ltural Centre . The Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Noumea, New Caledonia, less than two hours jet flight from Brisbane, is one of the latest cultural institutions opened in the Pacific Islands region . Opened to the publ ic in June 1 998, less than a year and a half ago, the Tj ibaou Cultural Centre is a young institution that represents a new type of institution in the region . New Type of Institution Until recently, cultural institutions existing in the Pacific Island countries were mainly museums and public l ibraries inherited from the colonial period . Originally established by the Europeans for the benefit of the expatriate popu lation, these institutions had very poor l inks to the local population . Therefore, they received very l ittle interest from the population. The Tj ibaou Cultural Centre is an attempt to create a new kind of institution to fit the needs of the popu lation of New Caledonia. The term 'cultural centre' was chosen to emphasise the fact that it is not a 'museum', i.e. an institution devoted to the preservation and conservation of the past, but an institution deal ing with living cultures and people and open to creation . The Tjibaou Cultural Centre is a combination of different activities, usually separated into different institutions: It is an art gallery devoted to contemporary visual arts of the Pacific; It is a performing arts centre with facilities to organise music, dance and theatre programs; and it is a med ia l ibrary using computer technology to provide information on the Pacific Islands Indigenous cultures . Importance of the Architecture The architecture of the Tj ibaou Cultural Centre is not a simple 'box' wh ich accommodates its activities . It was from the very beginning seen as an important part of the project. It has to 'translate', in arch itectural forms, the philosophy developed by the late Kanak leader Jean­ Marie Tjibaou for the Cultural Centre which can be illustrated by th is quotation : 'Our identity lies ahead of us.' Renzo Piano's arch itecture is an eloquent answer to the challenge to create new forms for this new philosophy. It is a piece of art by itself. But it is not simply a building, even a wonderful building. It is a site - I mean in the Cultural Centre the environment is as important as the building . The integration of the bu ilding with the vegetation not only serves the architecture, it serves also the purpose of the Cultural Centre. I will come back to this later. Conceived without reference to the usual norms and models, the Tj ibaou Cultural Centre has no institutional history to carry on, nor references to look at. It has to find its own way and create its own references . I would define it as a new forum of reflection and expression somewhere between 'custom' (our traditional system), religion and politics . The Role of the Tjibaou Cu ltural Centre i n Relation to the Visual Arts Whatever we may call it - 'contemporary art', 'art of today', 'new art' - it is now established that a new kind of art has emerged from the Pacific Islands region in the last two decades . It was first regarded as 'non-traditional' and thus unauthentic, good enough to be considered as 'tourist art' . Using new materials, reinterpreting trad itional then developing or creating new forms or developing new themes, th is new form of artistic expression developed quickly in 1 57