APT6 in Review

2 Gallery of Modern Art, February 2010. Photograph: Ray Fulton. Introduction ‘The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT6) attracted more than 531 000 visitors to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and Queensland Art Gallery (QAG). Public support for and engagement with the Asia Pacific Triennial series (APT) over the past 17 years has been phenomenal and continues to grow. Since the first Triennial in 1993, more than 1.8 million people have visited the exhibitions, with APT6 recording the highest daily average of over 4400 visitors. Still the only ongoing exhibition series to focus on the contemporary art of Asia, Australia and the Pacific, the scope and ambition of APT6 was unprecedented. It was the largest curated exhibition presented by an art museum in Australia, occupying the entire Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) as well as the iconic Watermall and adjoining galleries at the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG). The exhibition featured the work of more than 100 artists, collaborators and collectives from over 25 countries and included, for the first time, contemporary art from Tibet, North Korea (DPRK), Turkey, Iran, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma). APT6 also presented a major thematic program exploring film culture across the Indian subcontinent, West Asia and the Middle East. Pacific Reggae: Roots Beyond the Reef looked at how this musical genre has developed in Hawai‘i, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Zealand, and included an opening night event. Celebrating a decade of Kids’ APT, the Children’s Art Centre presented the biggest program to date, with 17 artist projects and a successful Summer Spectacular festival. The festival included a satellite program across 40 regional galleries and other venues in Queensland, and for the first time in New South Wales and Victoria. The exhibition was curated by a Queensland Art Gallery team lead by Suhanya Raffel, Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art (now Deputy Director, Curatorial and Collection Development), and was realised through the efforts of the entire Gallery staff. Each APT showcases the Gallery’s accumulated knowledge, expertise and ambition in this area, which is demonstrated throughout this report. The extraordinary success achieved with APT6 would not have been possible without the unique partnerships with supporters, sponsors and governments (outlined on page 5). We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our supporters for their generous contributions. Professor John Hay AC Chair Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees Tony Ellwood Director Queensland Art Gallery