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

2000 AS THE THEME TODAY Hou Hanru The year 2000 is the h it topic throughout the world. Almost every country or region is organising significant events to celebrate the com ing of this particular year. Even the art world, wh ich is usually 'transcendent' of mundane celebrations, is entering a competition of year 2000 exh ibitions. Most of these events, along with their future perspectives, imply more or less historical retrospectives of the fad ing m illennium . More often than not, these h istorical looking-backs are closely connected with the history of Christianity: one of the most popular publications of this kind of retrospective is a series of articles 'Les Genies du Chretian isme' in the French daily Le Monde, reviewing the historical figures and moments in the expansion of Christianity as a dominant religion and ideology all around the world during the last two thousand years. This should be seen as a 'natural phenomenon' since the concept of the m illennium itself is a pure product of Christianity. I n the expansion of the dominant power of western culture, wh ich has been rooted in Christian ity, around the world via colon isation in h istory and globalisation today the concept has not only determined the concepts of time and h istory in the West but also turned into a 'universal' notion of time everywhere in the world, far beyond the borders of the West. It's true that it has turned out to become one of the essential conditions for communications between different regions and nations on our planet, in spite of the fact that different and d iverse systems of timing in different places, cultures and rel igions remain alive and effective. Certainly, 'millennium' as a physical incarnation of the historical evolution of global modern isation and modernity itself has exerted decisive influences on h istory and reality. This important effect, like the necessity of modernity and modernisation (rather than a specific western model of Modern ism) regarding the existence and development of the whole planet, can by no means be denied . However, the formation of the contemporary meaning of 'millennium', like the comprehensive significance of modernity itself, embodies the whole process of the evolution of the notion of time itself along with the historic and geographic shifts in terms of global culture, economy, politics and everyday life. It has always been a process of empowerment. Hence it has created a particular and influential h istoric trajectory. This h istoric trajectory not only reflects the d istribution of western culture all around the world, but also, more remarkably, signifies the contribution of globally d ifferent, especially 'non-western' cultures in the making of such 'dominant' discourses of power. In other words, 'millennium', like modern ity, is a product of confrontations, clashes, conflicts, exchanges, translations and negotiations between the West and 'non-West' in h istory and today. Such a process will continue in the coming millennium . More significantly, the distinction between the West and 'non-West' will collapse and be sublated in the accelerating globalisation . However, it should not simply be seen as a next step of the linear progress of h istory. Instead , its outcome will be multi-oriented and multi­ stratified, sh ifting between different systems of conceptions of time and space, as well as d ifferent Weltanschauungs. It's true that such a vision appears a bit too optimistic. In fact, one can observe that we are still l iving in a world which is closely and continuously related to the specific h istory of western hegemony. The globalisation of economy, culture and ways of living is still a part of the conscious or unconscious agenda of the expand ing neo-colonial market and politics, although the western hegemony is now facing its fatal deconstruction . What is fundamentally important and urgent is how to turn the current global isation into a beneficial process for the 'non­ western' populations while pol itical, economic and cultural efforts of deconstructing the western hegemony should be re-enforced . To ach ieve th is, we need to have innovative, imaginative and dynamic capacities to envision a more open and globally equilibrated future. Certainly, envisioni ng the future is an exciting and challenging business. However, it is also a most uncertain and precarious one. It is in coping with such a contradictory and defying task that our imaginations and fantasies can discover their real cultural and social function and the pleasure of exerting such a function. It is also here that art can become significant in an unprecedented way. 99