The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

122 the exhibition of the exhibition. The works redefine ‘space’ in a place where many have lamented its shortage for art, and suggest that, no matter the conditions, the artist and the imagination still have the power to move forward. In my role as co-curator and as an artist living in the region, I believe it is not a matter of defining what the Mekong essentially is, but where it is now. The river will always reinvent new paths, and the communities in turn must adapt to ever-changing conditions. We might reconsider art as response and responsibility. Some of the artists have been witness to generations of change and, in certain cases, the formation of the modern states that exist today. Svay Ken, the most senior artist represented in the project, inspired a new community of Cambodian artists before his passing in 2008. His series ‘Sharing knowledge’ 2008 was painted to transfer moral messages to the young generation of Cambodians. Borrowing from the timeless forms of Buddhist temple paintings and moral teachings, these works read like a manual for modern living, urging the viewer to consider their responsibility to society. Other artists have returned to live and work in the region after years abroad, such as Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, based in Ho Chi Minh City; and Sopheap Pich, based in Phnom Penh. Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s work is central to the display, comprising a video projection filmed along the Mekong River in Laos. Produced in collaboration with students from the School of Fine Arts in Luang Prabang, The Ground, the Root, and the Air: The Passing of the Bodhi Tree 2004–07 conveys the growing tide of economic development and its effect on traditional life and Buddhist values. Sopheap Pich and I returned from the United States to Cambodia and Vietnam, respectively, around the same time. We first met in 2006, when we collaborated on an installation for the Java Cafe and Gallery in Phnom Penh. It has been interesting to see his work evolve into what is shown in The Mekong, in which his earlier experiments with material and form have taken a much bolder conceptual leap. The sculptures in bamboo and rattan — signature materials in Pich’s work — recall objects from childhood memories of the traumatic period at the end of the Khmer Rouge era in 1979. Vietnamese artist Bùi Công Khánh also works with traditional materials with his blue-and-white porcelain vases. Imagery of daily urban life in Ho Chi Minh City is interwoven with traditional motifs of dragons, flowers and birds, placing the contemporary situation of Vietnam within the flow of its history. Two streams The pairing of ‘curator’ and ‘local expert’ encourages an equitable process and signals a clear move toward sustainable arts development and exchange for the future. It says that each has a voice that can best be articulated through conversation and dialogue, undermining a history of authority, and configuring a metaphor for negotiating a river rather than exploring it. A ‘mutual Mekong’ could form the foundation for an adaptable model, the future development of which might flourish using a number of cultural initiatives, particularly where there is a lack of a developed institutional infrastructure for contemporary arts and culture currently. Svay Ken Cambodia 1933–2008 Leaving the meat and chewing the bone leads one to ruin (from ‘Sharing knowledge’ series) 2008 Oil on canvas / 80 x 100.2cm / Purchased 2008. The Queensland Government’s Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery