APT6 in Review

Students at an APT6 Behind the Scenes Tour with Reuben Paterson’s Whakapapa: get down on your knees 2009, November 2009. Photograph: Natasha Harth 24 Education and Public Programs A range of programs and resources focusing on APT6 artists and themes were provided for educators, students, children, families and adult audiences. Online education resources Innovative online education resources were made available to educators and students. • A virtual tour enabled teachers and students to prepare for their APT6 visit by viewing the exhibition layout and highlights. The virtual tour received 9385 unique visits and 26 029 page views. • The Kids’ APT online PowerPoint featured images and video interviews with artists involved in Kids’ APT. Teacher notes accompanied this resource and summarised the major exhibition themes. The resource assisted teachers to guide students through the exhibition and included curriculum information and ‘before and after viewing’ classroom activities. • For the first time, the Gallery produced a blog for secondary students — Blog it: apt6 — where students posted comments, shared photos or voted for their favourite art work. • Behind the Scenes: APT6 Access All Areas was the Gallery’s first project organised in conjunction with a school to present student-generated content. Students from Brisbane State High School produced a series of short films about their APT6 experiences, featuring interviews with artists, curators, and design and installation staff. These edited videos were made available on YouTube and received 1413 hits. Look Out teacher programs More than 230 teachers attended two Look Out teacher programs: the first, an exhibition viewing and curatorial overview held during the first week of the exhibition; and the second, an intensive workshop at the start of the 2010 semester. The workshop provided information on the exhibition themes, artists, education resources and programs to engage students of all levels in both Gallery and classroom contexts. Sessions included talks by APT6 curators, overviews of education resources and hands-on activities with APT6 artists. Opening public programs More than 30 exhibiting artists participated in the opening weekend of public programs, providing insights into their art practice and works in the exhibition. The program of 40 artist talks, in- conversations, artist performances, special presentations and the APT6 Symposium attracted more than 2600 attendees. The symposium featured both current and previously exhibiting APT artists, including Dadang Christanto, Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Minam Apang and Robin White, as well as keynote presentations by speakers such as Ross Gibson, Professor of Contemporary Arts, University of Sydney; Tim Page, photographer and Adjunct Professor, Griffith University; and Erin Gleeson, freelance curator, Cambodia.