The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

123 The Mekong region, and South-East Asia broadly, has yet to establish a curatorial studies program at university level. While we may not see such a university program in the short term, education-centred and community-focused initiatives have occurred in lieu, such as the Rockefeller Foundation-supported Mekong Art and Culture Project in 2007. 5 Artists from the region know only too well that their individual practices can move forward only as fast as other developments fall into place. More artists are investing time in the creation and maintenance of shared spaces and collectives, as well as assuming different hats depending on needs, at times becoming writers, critics and curators. Artist Nguyen Nhu Huy, for example, has for the last few years invested an enormous effort in translating international art texts into Vietnamese, as well as curating local exhibitions and writing criticism for online journals. An important component of The Mekong is the display of children’s drawings from four cities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Australia. Titled My River, My Future , the display presents drawings by the younger generation about their connection to their local rivers — the Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, the Sangker in Battambang, the Irrawaddy in Yangon and the Brisbane River. Drawings not selected for display will be redistributed among the three other communities to complete a loop of mutual exchange. As an artist, I feel that my investment in the Mekong region has been affirmed by working with the Queensland Art Gallery for both The Mekong and the children’s project. Cooperation proves to be a model that I hope can be replicated in future activities, and I am pleased to be able to share our region with a broader community in Brisbane. What started out for me as a research project has become more fully realised here, and more closely developed my relationship with the arts and artists of this region. Through the works of the artists, writers and children involved in this project, The Mekong invites audiences to make new connections, which extend beyond tropical temptations, to this unique region. There are still many rivers to cross. Rich Streitmatter-Tran Endnotes 1 Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Mediating the Mekong [2005 Martell Contemporary Art Research Grant for the Asia Art Archive report], Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, 2006. 2 Furuichi Yasuko (ed.), Alternatives 2005: Contemporary Arts Spaces in Asia , The Japan Foundation/Tankosha Publishing Co., Ltd., Tokyo, 2004. 3 Maria SI Diokno and Nguyen Van Chinh (eds), ‘Introduction: Mother of waters’, in The Mekong Arranged and Rearranged , The Mekong Press, Chiang Mai, 2006, p.2. 4 Preah Vihear is a Khmer temple on the Cambodian side of the Cambodia–Thai border. It has been the location of a century-long border dispute between the two countries, erupting again in 2008 when Cambodia sought World Heritage Listing for the site, leading to a military standoff. See Jonathan Head, ‘Modern conflict near ancient ruins’, BBC News Online , 15 October 2008, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/ hi/7672506.stm>, viewed 18 October 2009. 5 The Mekong Art and Culture Project comprised lectures, artist and curatorial workshops, art camps, research awards and scholarships run in collaboration with eight art institutes in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam during the period 2006–08. It resulted in a regional touring exhibition in 2008. See Dr Toeingam Guptabutra (ed.), ‘ Underlying’: Contemporary Art Exhibition from the Mekong Subregion [exhibition catalogue], The Mekong Art and Culture Project, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, 2008. Wah Nu, Rich Streitmatter-Tran and Tun Win Aung review art work in the studio, Yangon, Myanmar, November 2008 / Photograph: Aung Ko Sopheap Pich Cambodia b.1971 Binoculars with Buffalo (from ‘1979’ series) 2009 Bamboo, rattan, plywood, paint, wire, wood / 2 pieces: 171 x 61 x 61cm (each); 21 x 28 x 9.5cm / Project for APT6 / Image courtesy: The artist / Photograph: Vandy Rattana