The Ninth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

231 APT9 KIDS NONA GARCIA Born 1978, Manila, the Philippines Lives and works in Baguio City, the Philippines Illuminate 2018 ‘Bones, skulls, shells, corals, are what remain after life. They are proof of previous existence in the physical world.’ 1 Nona Garcia grew up visiting a small hospital in Manila run by her parents and became fascinated by X-rays at a young age. The medical imaging technique represented one of her first remarkable experiences of looking at things in a different way. In APT9 Kids, children can form patterns and designs by rearranging a selection of magnets made from X-ray images. The X-ray images of sea coral and animal bones — such as horns, skulls and teeth — symbolise the impermanent, and therefore precious, nature of life. This concept is emphasised by the temporary nature of the activity, with the designs made by children continually reformed over the course of each day. 1 Email from the artist, 3 February 2018. Gary Carsley Born 1957, Brisbane, Australia Lives and works in Sydney and Amsterdam, the Netherlands Purple Reign 2018 Inspired by R Godfrey Rivers’s painting Under the jacaranda 1903 in the Queensland Art Gallery Collection, Gary Carsley has created a ‘secret garden’ for APT9 Kids that is bursting with the iconic purple blooms of the jacaranda tree. A talking jacaranda greets visitors to explain its history and what they will experience inside Purple Reign . Carsley uses this much-loved tree as a symbol of the dramatic consequences of European colonisation, and in a touchscreen activity, children can learn about the subsequent erasure of animal species that has occurred. ‘Photogenic moments’, created through the use of camouflaged furniture, encourage visitors to pose for their photo and share their image on social media, further propagating the jacaranda, which continues to spread into new territories due to global climate changes. Top: Children’s workshop for Gary Carsley’s Purple Reign 2018 / Photograph: Joe Ruckli Right: Children’s workshop for Nona Garcia’s Illuminate 2018 / Photograph: Chloë Callistemon