The Eighth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

What Storer alludes to is a shift, in popular culture, of the body as a marker of human, individual identity, to one that stands in for a homogenised mass. This is the political undercurrent that pervades this APT. It reacts to the shifting social, cultural and political environments facing various communities in the region — it responds to the transformation of different cultures in the context of change and global movement. APT8 takes as its theme movement and the body: in simple terms, performance, but an idea of performance that is a reflection of the dense variety of social and cultural positions that might be encapsulated by the vast geographic expanse of Asia and the Pacific. It is a highly layered understanding of the breadth of practices that illustrate how the body is employed in space, which seeks to draw out nuance, respond to history, champion the vernacular and create critical spaces for art. This APT asks, what makes these bodies reflective of their histories and environments? What can be learnt, and how can individuality be reinserted? Key ideas in APT8 have structured this publication. In his essay, Reuben Keehan explores the body as carnal (p.42). Keehan references the gendered space of modernity and the intersection with colonialism, economic and social transformation through artists including Morimura Yasumasa, Duan Jianyu, Angela Tiatia, Yamashiro Chikako and a core group of younger-generation Mongolian painters. Taking her title from Paul Gauguin’s painting Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? 1897–98 (which has subsequently been re-adopted by the artist Shigeyuki (Yuki) Kihara), Ruth McDougall examines the body as mortal, the way bodies occupy space and the intrinsic values of local or indigenous and Pacific thinking (which are so often at odds with colonial settler views) in the face of economic development, environmental and climate change (p.78) — some of the major issues facing individuals in the region. Tarun Nagesh looks at the role that artists play in society (p.118), from Australia to West Asia, South Asia and the Middle East. Nagesh suggests that complex social structures emerge from experiences of diaspora and mass migration, labour economics and global interest in regional religious complexities. These shape our communities and our interactions with each other. Abigail Bernal examines debates around the vernacular in art, and the way APT8 critically refocuses the variety of traditions and contemporary approaches to the everyday (p.162). This publication also includes a round table discussion — convened by Russell Storer, with a group of artists and curators whose deep understanding of practice in the region —which provides further analysis of issues in current artistic and curatorial practice relating to the circulation of ideas and knowledge from distinct regional perspectives. José Da Silva presents an overview of two Cinémathèque projects co-curated with two leading artists: ‘Filipino Indie’ with Yason Banal, and ‘Pop Islam’ with Khaled Sabsabi (p.200). These projects, though dissimilar in their material, look towards new forms of cinema emerging from the availability of recording devices and audiences that, in part, spring from communities emerging out of social media connectivity. In the case of ‘Filipino Indie’, this has seen a variety of productions sometimes filmed with the most basic available technology, including mobile phones. For ‘Pop Islam’, we see the extent of creative activity, both secular and religious, which emerges from Islamic popular culture. The APT has a global outlook, but its edge is defined by its long-term view and commitment to the region. The APT’s history, the discussions it has generated across each exhibition and the collection that it has assembled in over 20 years of curatorial activity, illustrates a vast accumulation of knowledge. Each iteration builds upon this understanding. APT has been at the forefront of a developing conversation that is becoming increasingly sophisticated and widely appreciated in Australia. The political and social DUAN JIANYU China b.1970 Art Chicken No.6 2003 Oil on canvas / 180 x 140cm / Image courtesy: The artist and Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou