APT6 in Review

36 Elaine Ng, New York publisher and editor of Art Asia Pacific , has described the Gallery’s Collection as a ‘goldmine’ and credits the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art and the Queensland Art Gallery with ‘setting the trends and forecasting where the creative energy is’. (Rosemary Sorensen, The Australian , 1 December 2006) One of the factors that differentiates the APT from other recurring biennial and triennial exhibitions is the Gallery’s ongoing commitment to collecting, researching, exhibiting, publishing and interpreting art of the Asian and Pacific regions. The legacy of this important exhibition series can be demonstrated in the recognition of our contemporary Asian and Pacific collections both nationally and internationally. The calibre of the Gallery’s Collection means we are able to present major collection-based exhibitions with extensive catalogues. Research and development of APT is supported by the Queensland Art Gallery Research Library, a considerable resource reflecting the Gallery’s collection areas and attracting many researchers from all over the world. The Gallery has committed to present a series of country-specific exhibition projects focusing on its contemporary collection and has already staged the 2009 exhibition ‘The China Project’ and 2010 exhibition ‘Unnerved: The New Zealand Project’. Key works from our Collection recently included in major international exhibitions include Bharti Kher’s The skin speaks a language not its own 2006 and Takashi Murakami’s And then, and then and then and then and then 1994. APT6 acquisitions Of the works exhibited in APT6, 95 are now part of the Gallery’s Collection, with four of the 17 Kids’ APT projects also acquired. APT6 commissioned six major works, of which four were acquired by the Gallery. This substantial collection development was enabled by the significant support of the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation and the Queensland Government. APT6 acquisition highlights include: • Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s shimmering six-panel mirror mosaic Lightning for Neda 2009, commissioned for APT6; • the collaborative work commissioned from YNG (Yoshitomo Nara and graf), Y.N.G.M.S. (Y.N.G.’s mobile studio) 2009; • two major series of works from Vanuatu — ranking figures, slit drums and guardian tabou house figures from North Ambrym; and a suite of prints and paintings by young artists from Mataso; • the multi-channel video installation O 2009 by Japanese artist Hiraki Sawa, commissioned for APT6; • Work team contest 2009 — a large mosaic commissioned from Kim Hung Il and Kang Yong Sam of the Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang, North Korea (DPRK); • 48 large black-and-white photographs from Yao Jui-chung’s series ‘Everything will fall into ruin’ 1990–2009, gifted by the artist; • a magnificent masi (barkcloth) work, Teitei vou (A new garden) 2009, by New Zealand artist Robin White in collaboration with Fijian masi artists Leba Toki and Bale Jione; • key additions to the Gallery’s outstanding contemporary Chinese collection: two large paintings by senior artist Yang Shaobin from the ‘X-Blind Spot’ series (one gifted by the artist); the powerful video work Garden 2009 by young Chengdu-based artist Chen Qiulin; and the soft sculpture People holding flowers 2007 by Zhu Weibing and Ji Wenyu; The Collection Legacy APT6 speaker Norbert Napong, APT6 Opening Weekend, December 2009. Photograph: Ray Fulton