The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

210 Ayaz Jokhio 99 Self portraits 2009 In his work 99 Self portraits 2008, Ayaz Jokhio distributed an identical image of his face to 99 friends and colleagues, who each added hair and other features; the images were then returned to the artist and exhibited together. The work carries art historical references — such as Marcel Duchamp’s LHOOQ 1919, in which Duchamp put a moustache on da Vinci’s portrait of the Mona Lisa. It also carries allusions to multiple identities and highlights Jokhio’s interest in what he describes as ‘similarities and differences occurring at the same time within the same thing.’ For Kids’ APT, the 99 Self portraits activity revolves around the artist’s self- portrait, wearing boxer shorts and vest, and a series of beautifully detailed, hand-drawn outfits, which have been made into magnets for dressing the figures. Mixing traditional costumes from all over the world with quirkier pieces inspired by popular culture, the combinations of outfits are potentially endless. Each clothed figure becomes an alternative identity for Jokhio, providing him with a new personality controlled by the participant. Over the course of APT6, the series of portraits will be an ever-changing display, epitomising the variety of Jokhio's practice. RS Ayaz Jokhio Pakistan b.1978 99 Self portraits (detail) 2009 Commissioned for APT6 / Courtesy: The artist Runa Islam Make believe 2009 London-based artist Runa Islam produces poetic films that explore the act of seeing, and ideas of truth and fiction through the vocabulary of cinema and its history. In Make believe , the artist invites children to discover some of the fundamental concepts behind moving images by making their own thaumatrope, also known as a ‘turning wonder’. Invented in the 1820s, the thaumatrope was one of a number of popular optical toys in the Victorian period and, today, it is appreciated as an important forerunner of cinematography and animation. Comprised of a disc or card with a picture on each side — such as a bird and cage — the disc is then attached to two pieces of string, or to a stick. The illusory effect is created when the object is twirled quickly with the hands, relying on the scientific phenomenon called ‘persistence of vision’ and short-term visual memory, which allows the two images to merge and become one. KR Runa Islam Bangladesh/United Kingdom b.1970 Childrens’ workshop, Make believe 2009, Gallery of Modern Art Commissioned for APT6 / Courtesy: The artist / Photograph: Katie Bennett