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

SPECIAL I NTEREST GROUP LUNCH WOMEN ARTISTS AND CURATORS I NTRODUCTION Anne Kirker (Chair) This 'special interest session' came about in the course of formal group discussions on l i kely topics for this Conference, and with a knowledge of previous APT Conferences wh ich included specific coverage of women artists within the region . In 1 993, Imelda Caj ipe-Endaya magnificently launched the top ic with her paper entitled 'Examining Our Roles As Women and As Artists' which raised the perennial dilemma for women of how to resolve our twofold commitment to political activism (striving for equality) and to exploring a personal identity based on the feminine. From her feminist perspective, she d istinguished women artists as 'those who express viewpoints and experiences distinctly from those of men, and are conscious of it. ' An artist herself and pivotal force in the KASIBULAN women artists' collective of the Philippines, Caj ipe-Endaya brought our attention to not only her own work but that of, among other socially engaged Fil ipinas, Julie Lluch , Brenda Fajardo and Agnes Arellano. Korean installation and performance artist Lee Bui cal led for an assertive fem inine voice to 'penetrate and destroy' conventional history and language of the patriarchy, while Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook from Thailand poetically spoke of her introspective imagery, which evokes memory, and the symbolic female body. In 1 996, there were presentations on 'Voices of Gender' by Chen Yan Yin (from Shanghai), Dang Thi Khue (from Hanoi), Kamala Kapoor (from Bombay) and Em iko Namikawa (from Tokyo). Chen Yan Yin movingly described her installations, wh ich mark the emotions of a woman's existence, while Dang Thi Khue chose to look historically at Vietnamese women painters, among whom she is an outstanding figure. As a perceptive art critic and curator, Kapoor's paper on women's art in India pointed out that in her country there was no col lective push for change by artists of her gender, rather, 'Theirs are single voices comm itted to their bel iefs and practices and not part of a concerted feminist movement as it is understood in the West'. From a Japanese viewpoint, Emiko Namikawa informatively described the practice of a younger generation of women (born in the late 1 960s), including Yoshiko Kanai, l kuko Yamada, Emiko Kasahara and H itomi Utami. This then brings us to today's session. Although not schedu led to be part of the main program of the APT3 Conference, but rather a specialised forum, this 1 999 session on 'Women Artists and Curators' acknowledges that it is not a passe idea to address issues that pertain specifically to women and to separately recognise the diverse development of women's practice. It would be heartening to bel ieve that following the huge strides of feminism in the 1 970s, particularly in the West, we no longer need to be vigilant of gains won for women. But the truth of the matter is that all of us l ive in societies that privilege men. We need to protect our gains and we need to forge higher profiles for our activities and bel iefs. Hence the reason for meeting today to share information and to raise issues for future d iscussion and debate. The speakers today are artists and curators; many teach and hold senior administrative positions. All have distingu ished themselves in the field of visual arts, and bring with them a substantial knowledge of women practitioners in their countries and of specific projects that are female-orientated . As we have one and a half hours only, I have asked the six contributors to speak for ten m inutes each , with question time limited to the end. If time runs out, some of you will be aware that an Online D iscussion Forum has been developed in conjunction with this APT3 Conference, and it seems that this m ight well provide an excellent means of continuing debates that may come from today. The Session Amanda Heng (from Singapore) spoke passionately of her commitment to 'making space for women' through multi-disciplinary events such as Women about Women' ( 1 998) and the example of her photographic installation in APT 3 which critiques cultural memory, using 39