The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

215 Zhu Weibing and Ji Wenyu The Hidden Garden 2009 Zhu Weibing and Ji Wenyu have created a soft sculpture installation built in the style of a traditional Chinese walled garden for Kids’ APT. Foremost in the design process has been the guiding principles of feng shui . This traditional practice was applied to determine the spatial dimensions of the floor plan, as well as the placement and the relationships of the garden and architectural features. The artists invite young children to enter the low-walled fabric garden of understated beauty to admire the tranquil surrounds and take part in gardening activities, while parents and carers watch from the outside, looking over the tiled walls. Acknowledging the recurring subject of nature and the yearly seasons in the history of Chinese art, children can tend to fallen autumn leaves, arrange spring flowers in garden beds, attach or remove leaves from vines, or play with goldfish and frogs in the small padded pond — all made from colourful felts and fabrics. KR Zhu Weibing and Ji Wenyu Zhu Weibing China b.1971 Ji Wenyu China b.1959 The Hidden Garden (details) 2009 Commissioned for APT6 / Courtesy: The artists / Photographs: Natasha Harth YNG (Yoshitomo Nara and graf) The Play House 2009 The Japanese collaborative team of artist Yoshitomo Nara and design firm graf have built a small cubby house environment especially for young visitors to APT6. Responding to the idea that a bedroom is a child’s first creative space, and that our surrounds affect the way we think and feel, this small room is designed to stimulate children’s creativity and to be a site to display creative contributions, creating a cosy atmosphere for the young. Constructed with recycled materials and filled with second hand furnishings, the interior of the little house is decorated with children’s mementos. A growing display of keepsakes placed higgledy-piggledy on the shelves, and in little cabinets for children to explore, is the result of YNG’s request to visitors to leave a small object behind when they visit. The artists also invite children to take a seat at one of the tables and contribute a drawing to the collaborative sketchbooks, based on themes selected by the artists, such as pups and naughty children. Over time, the cubby house reflects the collective creativity of children visiting Kids’ APT. KR YNG Yoshitomo Nara Japan b.1959 graf Japan est.1993 California orange covered wagon (detail) 2008 Blum & Poe, Los Angeles 2008 Image courtesy: The artists and Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo / Photograph: Hako Hosokawa This work is not in APT6 or Kids’ APT