The Eighth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

Through a series of case studies, they examine how the exhibition as a form determines our understanding of art practice, and how exhibitions as a medium are read and understood in different social and cultural contexts. Addressing this geo-political area might provide a new approach to art-historical methodologies and act as an anchor for comparative research, which I think is lacking due to the limited exchange between these localities, for example between China and Vietnam or Thailand —much of this communication is done with the so-called West. SK When dealing with a local issue, it is important to have various perspectives through which to look at it, and thus a research-based approach is significant. For example, the REAL DMZ PROJECT is a long- term research-based art project that studies the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone) in South Korea and its border area. It seeks to establish a platform that is both created and made accessible to local and global communities. When regional identity is introduced in a project, it is important to approach a close (accessible) subject that artists and curators can experience and think much about. Geographical closeness serves as a convenience in that it is literally easy for me to ‘visit’ myself. China is a very large country and its economic, commercial aspects also act as a barrier in my travelling around it; working as a co-curator in such regionally defined exhibitions is a good opportunity for me to work on/in/with any neighbouring country. YIL I’m aware of my own contradictions. I often jump from thinking locally to regionally, at least to archipelagic South-East Asia, for readings of shared concerns, comparable histories and skip the national. When I’ve addressed the national in the past, I’ve found myself being recalcitrant, perhaps precisely as a member of this body politic and, although important, this is tiresome. I also like to think of myself as a citizen of the world; humanity allows this, as does contemporary art. I think humanity should always be at the forefront, reaching for others in the present, past and future. How that is framed for an immediate audience is a secondary consideration. DINHQ LÊ What Lay Beyond 2014 Five-channel video, 6:11 minutes / Installation view, REALDMZPROJECT2014 / Photograph: Jeonghoe Kim / Image courtesy: The artist and REAL DMZ PROJECT Committee / © The artist 226—227 APT8 ROUND TABLE