just said about somebody who is bored with being in a local

Suharto's regime.

forum and wants to get more information in a larger forum.

With respect to Taring Padi group and Apotik Komik

Nevertheless , afterwards , after about five years of experience

mentioned by Dr. Poshyananda, yes, Taring Padi tries toof being involved in regional exhibitions , artists and curators

continue the revolutionary criticism shown by works inlike me can see a clear benefit of being included in regional

Suharto's time . These artists claim they are leftist andforums . The process of discoursing is just one example, in thecommitted to social realism. In my opinion , the representations

sense of not just discoursing within a certain country but also

in works done by Taring Padi artists are less relevant to today's

discoursing at regional level. Once a regional art discourse ispolitical condition. Their radicalism, for example , doesn't takeestablished and mediated by a New World art discourse, therisks in comparison with the radicalism of artists in Suharto's

contribution of the "brought-in"time. I don't believe that they really understand what social

artists will become clear.

To answer Dr. Poshyananda' s question, yes, there was arealism is, or even what socia lism is. Apotik Komik is a bit

reaction and even some debate over whether it is significant todifferent because, beside political matters, they represent theenter the regional or international forum. The reaction was ,actual situation. Their idea of creating huge comic strips in"There is nothing important to be gained in getting

public spaces is interesting.

international acknowledgement."

This statement is based on akind of nationalistic attitude . The artists included in regional

MC (A. Miki) : I would like to invite Mr. Tani to respond to theexhibitions didn't give serious attention to this kind ofpresentation on India.

accusation. In fact they are no longer committed tonationalistic exclusivism.

Tani Arata: I am Tani Arata. I work at the Utsunomiya

A week ago, when you (Dr . Poshyananda) joined a

Museum of Art. I must confess that I am not that well-informed

discussion in Jakarta you witnessed another kind of reaction .

about the Indian situation. But quite recently , in connection

Artists, critics and scholars insisted that we , as "brought-in"with next year's third Kwangju Biennale, I had an opportunity

curators , draw up a strategic plan for changing the world art.

to go to Mumbai(Bombay), where I met Mr. Hoskote who

They suggested we should not just accept the concepts given

helped and assisted me.

by international forums or the regional forums organized by

I should like to mention here that Mr. Hoskote explores theJapan and Australia. We answered that we became curators

issue of curation at length, an issue about which Mr. Shioda

by accident because nobody else could do the job . We statedquestioned Mr. Supangkat. In referring to the phrase thethat it is not that easy to draw up the sort of strategic plan they"Third World," one aspect of the issue is how the West views

have in mind and that it is more important to develop our

this world. In this respect, Japan's involvement is also anawareness and anticipate whatever conditions may occur.

issue and Mr. Hoskote perhaps took this into account.

Nearly in the same way, regional exhibitions have developed

You point to internationalization as one of the major

through many coincidences and it is not clear anymore who

aspects of Indian art in the 1990s. You describe this aspectneeds whom in developing regional forums.

from two sides ; one being the artists' motivation to engage

On the post-Suharto trend , I think it is difficult to identify awith the world outside , and another being the problems intrend. As I have stated before social commentary indoing so. You seem to always be looking at both sides of an

Indonesian artworks are not dependent on particular politicalissue, and thus coined the term , "kaleidescopic realism." Can

conditions . It could not be said that artists stopped creating

you elaborate on what you mean by "kaleidescopic realism"

works after the political pressure ended. Yes , artists joined theand touch on the issue of the "gaze of the others ," or the

rallies during the political reform that brought Suharto down

issue of curation as a catalyst. Also, can you talk about theand created instant works in the middle of the rallies. As I

relationship between internationalism and regionalism?

mentioned in my presentation, the instant works were not

Furthermore, you write about Bhupen Khakhar andinteresting. I got the impressions that artists had lost theirdescribe his work as deceptive. From my experience of seeing

confidence . I was upset to hear from many artists that they are

Khakhar' s works in the "Private Mythology" exhibition last

not interested in art anymore because art is useless in theyear here at this venue, I feel that Mr. Hoskote distinguishes

process of political change.

Khakhar' s work from that of Group 1890 or its antithesis, theTo me, the fact that a social dimension in contemporary

Neo-Tantara movement. The same can be said about Nalini

artistic representation is not dependent on the political

Malani or Sudarshan Shetty. Can you comment on yoursituation can be seen in the emergence of the unexpectedly

views?

critical attitude towards the political elite which I havementioned before. Artists have maintained an oppostional

Ranjit Hosko te: There is quite a range of issues to be looked

position, yet it is not a political opposition. We should include

at. Let me try and begin with this conflation of the

Moelyono in this tendency . Previously Moelyono was the mostcontemporary with "internationalism"radical artist. His political representations intense ly criticized

the Indian art circles. The context for that is, really, the sense130

that has taken place inof belatedness which has always haunted Indian art -thewhich exercises observers of Indian art today-

the question

sense that the action is probably elsewhere while we areof how the artist is always on a seesaw between a contact andalways in a lag twenty to thirty years behind thesean alienation from the viewing public. What we might be

developments. Suddenly, in the 1990s, the lag or thelooking at is a question of possible incompatibility between

belatedness seems to have been closed and what we areform and content. On the one hand, richly veined stories havelooking at is a kind of crisis that emerged out of thisbeen told by artists, but it seems as though the audience or thedevelopment. I think our main problem is that so much of, if

public may not have developed a way of comprehending andyou like, the content of contemporary Indian art comes out of

accepting those stories. So the search is really for a common

local history and local concerns. On the other hand, theground where artists and their public in India might actually

language which had been proposed, the pictorial languages,

have something to say to one another. It is in that sense an

the image-making languages , are all in some sense non-local

internal linguistic problem. So, consider how much moreor international. That has been a debate that has haunted

complex the question would be when all of these art practices

modern Indian art since the early 1900s, the idea that theare exposed before a global audience, which would also havelanguage itself or those languages might somehow be

to have a fair degree of acquaintance with the history from

irrelevant to India's social mainstream.

which such art emerges. I do hope that this has helped toI think what we are looking at here is the contradiction

clarify something.

between a generic cosmopolitan language of image-making,on the one hand, and an individualistic localism, on the other.

MC (A. Miki ) : I have been struck by the difficulty of trying toam sorry to deal in these very broad and general labels, but

sum up the past decade. As we had feared , we have run out ofthat seems to be the only way of compressing what is at hand.

time for further discussion , but I would like to take one last

I think international curatorship tends to become a problem

question from the floor or the panelists.

because there is a sense that certain options, certain
alternatives are privileged over certain others. This leads many

Question ( Kawachi ) : My name is Kawachi and I am a

Indian artists and critics to worry about whether it is, in fact, allfreelance film producer and director.

that important to be represented in an international arena

Recently, China and Asia seem to be the focus of attention

because representation then, as we all know, becomes a veryin the United States . For example, Iris Chang's Rape ofpolitical act. The question is, "Does this strategy or

Nanjing has become the New York Times bestseller . In theperspective of the curator produce a skewed or partial image

West , there seems to be movements that protest againstof what might actually be happening on the Indian art scene?"

China's policy on Tibet.

I do not know if this will lead to answering the questions you

I had a chance to see Ma Liu ming' s performance at NIPAF

had in mind, because the curatorship issue has somehow got

between 1995 and 1996, and sensed a strong emphasis on

mapped onto the avant-garde issue.

personal expression. My question is what do Chinese artists

The main thrust of Indian art criticism, as developed largely

think about communication with the Western audience?

through the work of Geeta Kapur , suggests that the main
propulsion in any art scene comes out of the constant updating

L. Leng: Concerning communication between China and theof oneself, through the supersession of one image-making

West, it has gone through many different stages of a process.

language by another. That is effectively the theory of the

In the 1990s, Chinese artists were very much isolated fromavant-garde. I am sure many critics and artists today wonder

China itself although they actually lived there. They wereabout the viability of that way of looking at things. It does seem

actually living in China and creating "Chinese"that in a highly plural situation, where ambient reality is being

playing a role that satisfied Western curatorial eyes. Thisaddressed in a variety of ways, it is a little difficult to apply that

relationship between Chinese artists and the West in theworks , often

highly linear model. A variety of ways of approaching reality

1980s was not a very substantial relationship. But at the end of

through art may all be equally valid, which is why you have thethe 1990s , the artists turned to local concerns. This localism

coexistence of abstraction drawn out of a traditional tantric

was connected to social practic~s and emerged everywhere ,symbolism on the one hand, and cutting-edge video andregardless of the geographical region.

conceptual art on the other. It is very difficult then to make aThis localism of the 1990s art revived an aspect of thevalue judgement on what is more contemporary or

history of Chinese art in the past one hundred years . What I

international and what is not. Because the real problems, itmean is that there was a similar trend of localism in the 1930s.

seems to me, are of a very different order in India. The main

So, although what is happening in the 1990s is not related toproblem is the uncertainty of the audience. You have artists

what had happened in the 1930s, history seems to be

who might even take on popular idioms of representation , but

repeating itself when we look at the phenomenon in historicalthen classicize them in such a way that they no longer remainterms.
When we discuss the communication between China andcomprehensible to the viewing public. It is really that issue

131the West , we must look at it from a long-term point of view ,examining the historical context , and look to see if there areany definite paths .
MC (A. Miki ) : We did not have enough time to sum up thepast decade . We were only able to run through some basic
issues , achievements , and key factors. Since we were not able
to have a closer look at the issues, I hope we will have that
opportunity in Session II .
As I mentioned at the opening of this session , it would be
impossible to map all the activities , issues , and achievementsof Asian contemporary art from the examples drawn just fromfour countries . I hope there will be other opportunities whereother countries will also be examined .
In discussing Asia , with its religious and ethnic complexity,
national borders often hide the essence of things . Many artists
are crossing the borders and are involved in activities indifferent regions. I would like to add that, as I listened to thediscussion today , I also saw the importance of observing
artists who were born or live in certain countries in aframework that is different from a country-by-country analysis .

132

time available, either in the main presentations or through theReport and Comment on Session I

questions and responses given by the other panelists. So I
would like to tentatively list what I see as being the main areas

Recognition and Action :Issues to be Solved in the Next Stageof achievement and the main problems mentioned in eachpresentation. The purpose of this list is to summarize andclarify the main points , some of which may have been left

Miki Akiko

ambiguous during the session. There may be others that I

Independent Curator

missed while reading (or listening to) the reports. It should be
noted that the content reflects the opinions of the individualThis symposium brought to the same table eighteen art

speakers representing the various countries. Also , although

professionals from Asian and Western countries. Most of thethe explanations of local circumstances provided a general

panelists must have come away with a similar impression ofunderstanding of what has been achieved, they were

how difficult it is to hold a discussion when not all thesomewhat short on specifics, so I would like to mention someparticipants share the same frame of reference. Of course, thisof the trends and changes which I see as being especiallyis a difficulty that can be expected at any international

positive. Some developments are ambiguous , and might besymposium with a large number of participants. When theconsidered either positive or negative depending on one's

theme is broad, it is inevitable that the construction of an

point of view. Before making such a judgment , however ,effective argument will not be simple. In this, the third

further research and analysis is needed , taking in othersymposium in the series , there were more participants fromcountries and regions besides the four considered here.

the West and more from a younger generation, yet everyone
invited had experience in organizing exhibitions of Asian

1. China

contemporary art. Compared to the previous symposiums , I

Achievements

believe that an effort was made to advance the discussion on

A shift away from copying of Western concepts , pursuing thethe basis of a shared awareness of the issues . Personally , I

autonomy of art , and making antisocial art toward attempting

expected that the discussion would focus more on theto depict concrete realities of which the artist is immediately

problems of cu ration and organization of exhibitions, and thataware; that is, greater individuality and a closer connection

there would be an active debate about the problems involved

to society.

in introducing and being introduced. However , things did not

Obtaining freedom from the rule of conventional structures.

turn out as simply as I had imagined. In addition to theCreation of new spaces for art in society .

differences and complex circumstances of each country , I felt

Problems

the presence of an invisible , subtle divergence of outlook that

Lack of a domestic audience.

permeated the proceedings like a fine mist and hindered theTense relationship with domestic market (relating to attempts

development of the discussion.

to create an artistic style specific to China to adapt to the

In Session I , representatives from China , Korea,

expectations of an overseas audience).

Indonesia, and India gave a general account of the art in theircountries during the 1990s and discussed its connections to

2. Korea

the international art scene. The session was intended toAchievements

explore the achievements and problems of the decade in

Growing awareness of national identity in Korean art.

contemporary Asia art, taking the viewpoint of the

Appearance of a new generation with a new sensibility ,"introduced"

more vigorous expression , and diverse subjects andas reflected in the experience of these four

countries.

methodologies.

Discussion of this subject might focus on any one of three

Popularization of art (subjects and modes of expression

areas, the artists and their art , presentation such as exhibitions

rooted in familiar reality).

and the relationship between those two. The reports from

Problems

China and Korea, with some differences of emphasis , touched

Confused artistic sensibility in the new generation ,on all of these areas. However, the reports from India andoveremphasis on ideas.

Indonesia seemed to place more emphasis on the second
point. The Indonesian report in particular concentrated mainly

3. Indonesia

on curatorial activities restricted to the Asian region , giving a

Achievements

clear explanation of the problems involved.

Increased general understanding of art within the country

There is a need for an orderly analysis of the achievements(resulting from participation in art activities limited to theand problems of the last decade in the contemporary art ofregion).

Asia, but it proved impossible to achieve this during the limited• Shift from the politicization of art that has occurred in some133

recalled a number of words that came up during thequarters in recent years to more cultural expressions.

symposium , for example , Apinan Poshyananda's

Problems

and Jim Supangkat's

Problems in determining which countries participate in"glocal""discoursing ." There was also Niranjan

exclusively regional exhibitions .

Raja's question , "What does Asia want to do as a region?"

Limited modernist perspective in selection of artists andAnd the word "cooperation"

works; excessive influence of politics.

people.

was mentioned by a number of

These words suggest the need for a more careful approach

Conflicts between countries involved and the sponsoring
country when organizing regional art activities (in selection

to examining the conditions of each country and region, moreof artists, intentions) .

academic research and historical investigation , and the

Bipolar understanding of contemporary art within the regionbuilding of theory for speaking of Asian art. Systematic, long-(need of discoursing).

term, cooperative action is needed on a pan-regional level andDifferent levels of development of commercially viable art

with an international viewpoint and a concrete vision . Actually ,and internationally-oriented art.

there is nothing new about any of this. Many experts havealready raised these points. Caroline Turner , organizer of the

4. India

Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT), gave

Achievements

especially specific and effective recommendations at theEmergence of artists who create identity , more interesting

previous Asian Center symposium in 1997 ( ':O.sianand diverse subject matter and modes of expression.

Contemporary Art Reconsidered"). Although we know what

Less sense of a time lag, of being behind the West.

needs to be done , we have yet to find practical ways of doing

Problems

it. We have not taken the necessary concrete steps (at least ,Internationalism as a form of neocolonialism.

with some exceptions, on a significant level) because of the

Risk of bipolarization between cosmopolitan art and art

overwhelming scale and difficulty of the problems. This is therooted in regional traditions .

problem that we face.

Problems in curation by outsiders (advanced countries)

One of the Japanese panelists who has long been involvedin this field declared that "we have come to a turning point."

Problems of international cultural dynamics.

I agree with this in general. With the tremendous expansion of
the Asian contemporary art scene , we have arrived at the

The reports from each of these four countries made it clearthat their art has been tremendously influenced by the muchstage where we need to take a more serious , strategic , andcloser relationships between art communities within Asia andcooperative approach , rather than the scattered , hit-and-missbetween Asia and the rest of the world resulting from theattempts of the past, to carry out our tasks. Everyone who is

rapidly expanding globalization of the 1990s and the escalating

attracted to today's Asian art and has any hope for its future

development of information media and technology. Moreshould be thinking seriously about the concrete methods wecontacts and interaction with "others"

need to adopt.

has made the art

scene more active and diverse, but this trend has also caused

In order to explore the possibilities for concrete action andproblems that are increasing in severity. Although the content,

to continue deepening our mutual understanding, it isdevelopment, and extent of these problems is different in eachextremely important to create more opportunities for meetings

country, some of the most commonly cited problems were:of concerned individuals. In addition to large-scale

bipolarization and dual structures in art, problems of cu ration ,symposiums which include the general public , such as those

problems of international cultural dynamics and modernism ,organized by the Asia Center or the APT , it might be a goodand problems with theory and criticism. However , theseidea to hold meetings of smaller groups on a regular basis ,problems do not affect every country in the same way.

dealing with more focused topics as a way of preparing for

Furthermore , the divergences in outlook that pervaded thethese larger symposiums. Also, how about forming a

symposium took the clear form of different ways of using theprofessional association for people involved with Asian art

words "art"along the lines of other academic and professionaland "contemporary ," words that are essential

associations? There may be other , more effective methods.

to creating a shared frame of reference that makes discussion
possible. The need for greater knowledge of the context andAll the possibilities should be explored from all relevant

cultural and historical background of each country became

points of view, believing in the possibility of new development

obvious , but the differences in outlook made it easier for us toin artistic creation in Asia and more effective ways of studying

perceive various levels of difference. Paradoxically , I believe

them that are hidden behind the mists of misinterpretation andthis was one of the main achievements of this symposium.

exotic fantasy.

However , how can these differences in outlook be overcome,(Translated by Stanley N. Anderson)and how can we begin solving the problems listed here? Whatneeds to be done? While pondering these questions, I

134

Session II
Examining Asian Contemporary Art of the 1990s ,Part 2: Perspectives of the Presenters

Session II"Examining Asian Contemporary Art of the 1990s,
Part 2: Perspectives of the Presenters "Since the end of the Cold War in 1989 , there has been an
urgently felt need to reassess the Eurocentric view of art
history and attempts have been made to construct new
systems of value. An active effort has been made to study
and exhibit the art of countries previous ly considered marginal , and this has meant renewed attention to the contemporary art of Asia . Contemporary Asian art of the
1990s has been discussed in terms of the various theoretical trends of the time , including postmodernism ,Orientalism , postcolonialism , multiculturalism , and globalism.
In this session , the achievements and difficulties of thedecade will be covered by representative curators and critics from Europe, Australia , Singapore , and Japan , places
that have been active in exhibiting the modern and contemporary art of Asia.
1. " ' Asia': Enduring Stereotype or Black Hole?"
David Elliott (Director, Moderna Museet, Stockholm/
Sweden )2. "Why Australia?"
Rhana Devenport (Senior Project Officer , The AsiaPacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art
Gallery / Australia )3. "Appropriating Alterity: The Museum and Contemporary
Art Practice in Singapore"
Ahmad Mashadi (Curator , Singapore Art Museum /Singapore )4. "Who 'Introduces' What to Whom and Why?"
Nakamura Hidek i (Professor , Nagoya Zokei Universityof Art and Design / Japan )Discussion
Report and Comment on Session II"The Sea of Diversity: Divisions and Syntheses"
Nanjo Furnia (Independent Curator/ Japan)

Perhaps we in Europe have some kind of submerged• Session II Presentation # 1

collective memory of the Mongol Hoard sweeping in from the"Asia": Enduring Stereotype or Black Hole?

East? Certainly this is still an active part of tradition on theeastern borders of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and ofEuropean Russia. The word "Asia" itself comes from theGreek and is probably derived from an Assyrian , Semitic orDavid Elliott

Sanskrit root which refers to the dawn or the rising of the sun.

Director , Moderna Museet , Stockholm

Such collective "memories,"

however , are primarily

associated with cruelty, destruction and what appeared like"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

godlessness. And if you put the two sets of associations

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

together , as did the Russian poet and novelist Andrei Bely in

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

the early years of this century , you have an inevitable

Through caverns measureless to man

apocalypse before a new dawn. An apocalypse on a grandDown to a sunless sea."scale in which the Mongol horsemen and their heirs far(Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kub/a Khan , 1797. )outnumbered the four pestilences in the Book of Revelations .
To Western eyes these people all looked the same and they

"Kurt Wachtveitl , doyen of the world's top hotel managers ,moved over the countryside in such closely packed waves thatruns the Oriental [Bangkok], a pearl of the east. He said recent

everything crumbled in their path ; they seemed to be more likepolitical and economic events in south-east Asia had dented

insects-

western confidence in the region . 'People are cancelling ,' heor machines-thanhumans!

The pressure and raw energy caused by teeming numbers ,said. 'Americans hear that people are hitting each other intheir lack of individuality , cruelty , irrationality andIndonesia and cancel their trip.'""godlessness,"(Peter Whitehead , "Good times , golf and 'Gucci',"

became compounded in the Western

stereotypical view of Asia . The fact that it was not a single

London ,Financial Times, May 15, 1999 , p. xxi.)

region or place heightened the sense of threat and fear . From
Genghis Khan , to Marco Polo , to Anthony van Diemen , to Sir

Plus 9a Change?

Stanford Raffles , to E.M. Forster , to the Financial Times-

Wachtveitl's understanding of his customers' comprehension

one could predict what was going to happen next. But the bestnoof current realities in Southeast Asia has a distinctly old-world

form of defence is attack and to protect itself the West has inring. It could have almost appeared in a novel by G.A. Henly, aturn mounted wave upon wave of religious , economic andVictorian doyen of the Imperial adventure story in which thecultural crusade.
Religion and economy were decisive but there was also a

Anglo-Saxon races were forever confronted by an inchoate ,inscrutable and above all unpredictable mass of subjects.

strong sense of difference-

When the Dacoits got "uppity ," the Malays ran amok or the

stimulated desire. Early attractions to the continent were theof the dark and exotic-

whicharrows started to fly we used to "teach them a lesson ," butspice and opium trade , but the pretext-thenow, in a postcolonial world , the sensible white man either

colonization was often couched in terms of the "civilizing

ducks or cancels his trip.

mission" of the West-Kipling's

reasoning-forWhite Man 's Burden.

Furthermore within the Christian world view , redemption had to
But How Should We Approach What Asia is Today?

be achieved within the span of a single life unlike the longer

There is a problem in comprehending its vastness. Asia is thepath of birth and rebirth which was fundamental to older

largest of all the continents and comprises a huge number ofEastern animist , Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. For us there wasdifferent cultures , nearly one third of the world's land mass andno second chance and this contributed a sense of bothmore than half of its population. It is an unmanageable andpositive ardor and feverish desperation to the whole colonial

perhaps an unimaginable category-episode.

of ancient Greek cartographers-

a eurocentric construct

rather than based on any

Of course , rooted in antiquity there had been many greatsocial, political, economic or cultural coherence.

Eastern civilizations-most notably in the Middle East, India

and China. Trophies from these had been taken back andIn looking for some historical precedent for unity within thisvast expanse only the Mongol Empire during the first part ofdisplayed as a form of hubris in the great Western imperial

the thirteenth century fits the bill. Under the brilliant leadership

capitals because these cultures had long since entered a stateof Genghis Khan , his sons and grandsons , this , for a shortof entropy and decline . The reasons for this were thought to betime stretched from Java and Korea in the east to Poland inquite simply lack of both christianity and industry-both

the west , from the Arctic Sea in the north , to Turkey and Persia

people , who were often characterized as chaotic , passive orin thein the south. But it rapidly began to fragment. This was thelazy - and in the economic infrastructure . Yet with its naturallargest land empire in the history of the world .

and human resources , Asia also seemed like a large , luscious ,137ripe fruit waiting to be picked - if only it was not so frightening!

category?

as good FreudiansWith the worldwide interest in the contemporary culture of

we find ourselves incapable of accepting death without a good

Asia which has developed over the past decade , this question

Fear and desire go hand in hand-and

helping of sex before it. This now brings me, perhaps rather

has become particularly acute. What should an exhibition ofindelicately, to the central metaphor of the Black Hole andAsian art look like and what would the artists have in common,

what relationship this has with Asia. The first obvious

other than some abstract, and almost certainly by themassociation is with events which took place in Calcutta late inunacknowledged, "Asianness"? At one time being Asian wasJune 1756 when the surviving members of the East Indiaa near synonym for being a member of the Third World but thisCompany Garrison were thrown into gaol by the victorious

is just another manifestation of the Black Hole which may be

Nawab Siraj-ud-Dawlah of Bengal. The Black Hole of Calcutta ,applicable to some parts of the continent but certainly not toas it was called , became a cause celebre in the idealization ofothers. No one would disagree that large parts of Asia are less

British Imperialism in India and has subsequently been subject

well developed than some parts of the West but Asia also

to a number of revisions. The original story, based on the East

includes populous, vital cities like Mumbai , Bangkok, Hong

India Company report , was that 146 prisoners had been

Kong , Shanghai and Tokyo as well as vast tracts ofconfined in the summer heat in a space of 5.5m by 4.5m with

undeveloped countryside and agricultural land. In fact , theonly two small windows. Not surprisingly only twenty-threestate of industrial and technological development is such thatemerged alive and this was taken as confirmation of British

the city and country still live together in dynamic tension , theheroism and the Nawab ' s callousness . In 1915 the historian

one literally feeding off the other as was the case in Britain

J.H. Little questioned the veracity of the whole affair implying

during the first half of the nineteenth century . Perhaps thethat it was imperialist propaganda; in 1956 the Black Hole wascannibalization of country by town is something that can now

reinstated in history when Brijen Gupta established that the

be regarded as quintessentially "Asian"?
But no good art exhibition can seriously claim to take theincident did occur but not on the scale that was originallyclaimed: the Nawab was negligent rather than cruel and only

continent in which its participants happen to live as a central

sixty-four entered the prison out of which twenty-one survived.

theme. The Council of Europe has sponsored exhibitions of

Phew! The Black Hole survives in the English language as ayoung European artists and this is a nonsensical category.

figure of speech for any dark , smelly and cramped place.

Such displays are only ameliorated by the quality of the work

The second "black hole" has less squalid connotations ; itof individual artists which remain the same whatever thequality of the exhibition. For me there are only two possible

is that invisible region in outer space with a gravitational field
so intense that no matter or radiation can escape from it.

approaches in organising regionally-based exhibitions of art.

These are thought to be formed when massive stars become

They should either introduce into the discourse of

exhausted and collapse under their own gravity. No one hascontemporary art previously unseen work from unknown

ever seen a black hole but we know that they exist. Perhaps

territories or search for some common history, experience,

this is similar to the status of Asia as a viable cultural locus?

belief or approach which surfaces in the work. In addition , theNo one has ever seen its whole body , yet we know it exists.

work selected has to be defendable as being of high quality

But why does it exist and what is it function other than as anaccording to values held in the place where it is shown .

exotic screen on which the West can project its fears andAnything less is anthropology . A common history, experience ,belief or approach gives a specificity both to the art infantasies?
In the contemporary world I find this question difficult to

exhibition and to its place of origin in that the work could nothave been produced anywhere else.

answer. The four continents (Europe, Asia , Africa , theThis may seem to run counter to the argument that visual

Americas) are the product of an antique pre-Enlightenment
categorization of geography yet , with the exception of Asia , allart is a universal medium but this is not the case. While somecover discrete and easily identifiable land masses or havepeople maintain that if art is not universal it must be either

more or less cohesive cultural traditions .

provincial or unintelligible, I would argue that there need be no

And there are groups of countries which we regard as

conflict between the specific and the universal. Contemporary"Asian" simply because there is no other workable

art is a universal, international discourse yet to have life anddescription . Those for instance situated in Asia Minor , Central

quality it must also, at some level, be rooted in specific, real

Asia, East Asia or Southeast Asia do not quite correspond tofeelings and experience.
The large exhibitions of contemporary art from Asia which

other subcontinental or regional Asian identities like the Middle
East, the Far East, Arabia , the Himalayas, the Indian

have so far taken place-subcontinent and Inda-China. And we may ask what all these- have been presented in the spirit of opening up a region toin Brisbane , Fukuoka and New Yorkdifferent Asias now have in common if the whole of Asia as aa new audience with varying degrees of thematicization. In

concept is to be regarded as more than a Black Hole , an

Delhi the Triennale has long been established , but not with aenduring stereotype or a rather unsatisfactory geographicalpurely Asian remit. In all these exhibitions the art came first138and was exhibited as it would appear in any large group

Kawamata Tadashi have left the white cubes of galleries andexhibition in the West ; some curators felt the need to add a

museums to make social sculpture which directly interacts withlarge amount of didactic material or to organize the work on a

lived experience . But this cannot be the point that the curators

national basis , others didn't. The Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale

are making because they have re-entered the space of theis perhaps slightly different in that it has been organized by amuseum or gallery to make it as much as possible like the city

museum and curators who feel themselves to be part of Asia ,outside. The effect of this conceit is that the art is downgradedbut the other exhibitions , although not situated in Asia , haveto little more than a curatorial accouterment. And theemployed curators from the continent . The definitions of what

impression that this makes - as it is the first large exhibition of

constitutes Asia as reflected here have differed wildly . Some

contemporary Asian art to be seen in London - is that in sometimes India has appeared , at others not , but the Middle andway this art is inferior because it is not given its own space like

Near East, the Himalayan states and Central Asia have been

the art shown in other exhibitions in the same space.

largely shunned as have "problem"countries

like Myanmar ,Everything is subordinated to the overriding modernizing ethos

Laos, Cambodia and North Korea . Reasons for this may beof the exhibition itself and the art in it does not seem to bethat nothing that we would understand as being contemporary

taken seriously in its own terms.
An opportunity to carry out serious research presenting theart is being made in these places or that their regimes areunwilling to cooperate , but I suspect also that these places are

exhibition from the perspective of what artists are actually

still in a sense Black Holes in the collective curatorial

doing and thinking in East Asia has been missed to bememory-we know they exist , but we have never seen them .

replaced by what seems like a contemporary reworking of an
all too familiar view of the teeming , exotic and chaotic East.

Is this really just a matter of poor quality hotels?

So what are we left with? Another Black Hole . A

Of equal concern is the omission of virtually all of thethe exceptions of Pakistan and Indonesia.

stereotypical , technocratic, post-8/aderunner image of the city

It seems that to both East and West this remains a vast Blackof the future where East meets West , chaos meets order andHole but one with a strong sense of its own identity , withapocalypse meets utopia. Unfortunately it also seems to be theIslamic world-withstrongly competing ideas about what constitutes modernity

kind of place where buildings and machines are treated betterand a vigorous internal market and infrastructure. Perhaps thisthan people.

is the point , it can exist in its own right and on its own terms
without affiliation with either "Asia" or the West. Also theWestern demonization of Islam following conflicts in the Middle
East has led to reluctance on both sides for an opening up
which is only now beginning to evaporate .
The most recent exhibition to take a look at contemporary
art in Asia is "Cities on the Move: Urban Chaos and Global
Change , East Asian Art , Architecture and Film Now"curated
by Hans-Ulrich Obrist and Hou Hanru. The exhibition has beenshown in a number of European cities and its form changes
from place to place. In its London manifestation 107 artists,architects and filmmakers (Asians as well as non-Asians who
have worked in the continent) were included in a tightly
designed installation by Rem Koolhaas which recycled parts ofprevious exhibition installations at the Hayward Gallery.
Walking around it is a physical , chaotic and noisy experience ,and is intended to be rather like that of passing through an
Asian city. But is this experience so different from walking
around any busy city-Asian, American , European or African?

I don't think so . And where does art fit in? Unfortunately the
curators do not answer this question because art to them here
is a symptom of modernization and urbanism. In their own
words "'Cities on the Move' celebrates the contemporary East
Asian urban condition as shifting, expanding , modernizing,
unstable and exciting."
It is true that in both Asia and the West contemporary art isin a sense marginal and from this paradox derives much of its
power. Also a number of artists like Rikrit Tiravanija or

139

t

almost 17.9 million , 4 million (26%) were born outside Australia

Session II Presentation #2

with just over 1 million (5.7%) born in Asia or in nearby Pacificislands. The highest proportion of Asian-born Australians are

Why Australia?

from Vietnam and China. In Australia , 350 ,000 (2%) are
indigenous (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) . Both these

Rhana Devenport

percentages have almost doubled since the early 1990s.'

Senior Project Officer , The Asia-Pacific Triennial of

How do Australians engage with the arts? Current figures

Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery

note that 17% visit art galleries (more than twice the number
who attend cricket matches) . 83% of the adult population are

Location

involved in some form of cultural activity. 7% of the Australian

As part of Rene Block's 1990 Sydney Biennale, Ben Vautier' s

workforce earn some income from arts related work withwork declared, "Am I or is Australia too far away?" In

400 ,000 defining themselves as "practising professional

response to the title "Experiences in Australia ," I speak

artists."

directly from my own experiences since 1993 working with theAsia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) as

Who supports the arts? Total monetary contribution of the arts

performance facilitator for the first Triennial and as co-ordinatorand culture related industry accounts for $19.3 billion (2.5% offor the second and third APTs. This paper offers one

gross domestic product). Australian governments provide $3.1

perspective among many varied opinions on the Australianbillion each year to arts , recreation and cultural activities.'

scenario.

Corporate support is fledgling with only $65 million contributing

In 1997, soon after the second APT , while walking into thecity , I noticed a tattoo on a young girl's armTakashi' s "Mr Dob"-theto the arts in 1996.

it was Murakami

How do Australians perceive "Asia"? Australia's

key promotional image for thatgeopolitical and economic context is a dynamic that has

APT. It is rare that any cultural event in the country would

certainly fuelled a refocusing in the 1990s towards a more

inspire a sixteen year old country schoolgirl to tattoo! Indeed ,active engagement with Asia. The term "Asia"(itself

the APT seems to connect with audiences in direct andimpossible clustering of cultures and peoples) is perceived

personal ways . During the 1990s , the APT has established andtoday in Australia as both "neighbor" and "future ," as bothanextended its audience base to an estimated total of 400 ,000

"foreign" and " close-by ," as originator of ancient culturalvisitors-treasures and fabulous food, and as "tourism partner ."with one in ten Brisbane residents attending the1996 APT. The conference is now the largest arts symposium

Governments , particularly the Labor Governments , during thein Australia. Audiences, particularly the young , now expect to1970s and again in the early 1990s drew attention tobe "entertained"

Australia's particular form of "multiculturalism"and "educated" -evenamused andswayed by their experiences with APT . This has occurred in aand our

relationships with our Asia-Pacific neighbors.

climate where contemporary art in Australia has apparently

How do Australians perceive their cultural diversity? Fromearned a reputation amongst some sectors of the community

1995 until 1998 , debates concerning immigration , race ,as impenetrable. In contrast, the artists involved in the APT

ethnicity and multiculturalism in Australia heightened intenselyoffer experiences that are translated as genuine and moving

given the alarming rise and rapid fall of the One Nation Party .

by those who visit. Why this response? Why here? Why now?

This has been a volatile (and highly embarrassing) phase of

What next?

Australia's history which hopefully , has reached a positive

Firstly I will briefly address the context of siting this project ,outcome . The front page of Brisbane's Courier-Mailfrom its inception a decade ago , within the Australiannewspaper on July 10, 1999 stated: "Queensland has

demographic and cultural situation. Secondly , throughembraced multiculturalism in an extraordinary turnarounddiscussing its intentions , achievements and difficulties, I will

since the emergence of Pauline Hanson four years ago."consider why the APT has drawn favor and attention within

Good news! However the events of the last four years came asAustralia. Thirdly , "Prospects for the Future" will bea sharp reminder to those of us involved in cultural practice ,addressed with regard to engagements with Asianthat vigilance is always required . Brisbane artist Gordon

contemporary art as they may unfold within an Australian

Bennett in his series , "Notes to Basquiat" speaks to his

context.

personal experience with textual and linguistic racism through(The art that accompaniesthis paper is from the APT whicha coalescence of disparate images referencing American cultopened on September9, 1999 in Brisbane.)cartoon "The Simpsons ," Basquiat' s iconic imagery ,Australian indigenous art , historical and recent AustralianContext: Australia-A

Decade of Shifting Focus

events as well as the powerful legacy of language itself.

Before discussing Australia's current cultural context , I will

Entities such as the Federal Government funded SBS TV

briefly sketch out aspects of Australia's populace. Of thestation respond directly to Australia's cultural diversity. While140

Australian soap operas , American sit-corns and "real-life"

thirty locations in Asia. Additionally , Asialink runs an active

police dramas clutter other stations - SBS screens Chinese

exhibition program of mostly Australian art to 140 exhibition

news broadcasts , Filipino soap operas , language instruction ,venues in Asia as well as initiating professional development

Kurosawa and Fellini films , experimental video art, andprograms for Asian and Australian arts professionals . The

Japanese manga to 6.3 million (35%) of Australians per week .

continuing relationships formed through these residencies

Meanwhile, within the Australian fashion milieu, the current

have generated numerous projects as well as stimulating"star" is Japanese-born , Sydney-based Isagawa Akira. The

substantial shifts in perception and understanding.
Additionally , a number of universities (in Brisbane ,Asian-Australian community will be more closely involved with

Lismore , Nepean , Wollongong , Canberra , Sydney , Perth and

APT3 as Filipino artists Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan are
working with those who have departed the Philippines for

Darwin) have played a key role in the exchange of research ,Australia-

discourse , ideas and scholarship between Asia , the Pacific

it is their collected memory tokens , sourced fromthe private realm of the home that will form the artwork-a

and Australia. A recent direction has been into the territory ofcommunal sea of recollection.

cross-cultural and cross-discipline research. Partnerships
between the Gallery and universities have been important.

Context: Art-wise
APT: Intentions, Methodology, Achievements, andThe nature of today's engagement between Australia , Asiaand the Pacific through contemporary art is multi-faceted-

Difficulties

it

Why the APT? The intentions of the Triennial project could

includes cross-cultural exchanges , the exhibition of

be summarized as firstly , a desire to enhance culturalcontemporary art of Asia and the Pacific in Australia and theunderstanding through long term engagement withrecognition of Asian / Pacific-Australian artists .

contemporary art and ideas of Asia and the Pacific; secondly ,From the 1950s , the cultural expressions of migranta commitment to co-curatorship and consultation as apopulations , (initially from England and Europe) havecontributed substantially to Australian cultural life. Welcomed

methodology to realize the project and thirdly , the location of

to Australia (like so many Chinese in 1990 after the Tian'anmen

the artist and the artist/artwork/audience relationship as central

Square incident) Sydney-based artist Guan Wei teases andwithin the entire process.
The Queensland Art Gallery developed the Triennial

interrogates his own location and dislocation with insight andwit. Collaborations by Australian artists from varied culturalproject in the early 1990s following an exhibition co-curated bybackgrounds are also increasing. Sydney-based artist Tim

staff of the Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art , Saitama inJohnson's collaborations with Tibetan-Australian , Vietnamese-

1987 and 1989 which presented Japanese art in Brisbane andAustralian and indigenous Australian artists draw references

Australian art in Saitama. Soonafter, in the early 1990s, afrom popular culture , music and spirituality as a hybrid

number of exhibitions such as "India Songs" at the Art

iconography is formed through a process of cultural production

Gallery of New South Wales , and "Zones of Love," "Maounique to this particular moment of making .

Goes Pop" and "Art Taiwan" all at the Museum of

The artists and communities of Australia'sContemporary Art , Sydney were received in Australia with" cultural

diversity" (and particularly the promotion of "culturalinterest and excitement. More recently , on the west coast ,understanding") has recently been identified as one of three

Apinan Poshyananda' s Asia Society showpriorities for the Australia Council's 1999-2001 policy (support"Traditions/Tensions"drew positive responses.

Perhaps one difficulty encountered has been a "suspicion

for the artists and communities of rural Australia and ofof intention." In 1993 there were claims that the project was aAustralian indigenous peoples being the other two) .'guise for Australia's pursuit to be part of Asian's economic

Clearly , the APT did not develop in isolation. Over the past
decade three important contributors to Australia's cultural"miracle."engagement with Asia and the Pacific have existed . One

end of the decade , but the Gallery's interests are still as

The "miracle" is somewhat more pragmatic at thisinfluential project is ARX (Artists Regional Exchange).

intense. Some have seen the project as an attempt to colonize

Organized in Perth since 1987, ARX occurs every two years as- a form of dominance of a cultural kind over an artificiallya forum for exchanges between Australian and (South andcreated region. With such a small population and meagre

Southeast) Asian artists. ARX is residency-based with an

global importance , Australia could hardly hope to exertemphasis on discourse and experimentation rather than being

influence over the complex , layered and varied cultures thatexhibition-focused .

comprise this multifarious , immense "Asia." One of theAnother major contributor to Asia-Australia relations overcentral ideas of the project is its potential to provide a space

the past decade is Asialink {The Asia Education Foundation

for conversations to be started (if not finished) , for art to be

based at the University of Melbourne). Since 1990 , hundreds

seen - and for ideas to be discussed. The Gallery intends toof Australian artists, writers, performing artists , curators, arts

facilitate not dominate communication. So rather than being aand festival managers have undertaken studio residencies indifficulty , perceptions over the last decade have changed as141

intentions have hopefully become clear through action andentirely different way , the "spectacular"

practice . The integrity of the project should be self-evident-

and events. How this idea of "spe ctacle" is deliberately

scrutiny and discourse welcomed .

exists within APT art

employed by the APT artists in turn provides for intriguing

One of the most enlivening aspects of any ongoing project

analytical possibilities . Especially when some of this material

is its ability to adapt and respond to new circumstances. There

has developed out of deeply personal , often painful

are a number of new dimensions within the APT project which

environments. The APT has shifted perspectives of how

evolved from the layering of experience , memory andAustralian audiences think about contemporary Asian art , howinnovation by those involved with the project over the past

they think about contemporary art in general and mostdecade. These include the adoption of the theme, "Beyond

importantly , how they think about themselves . The art , throughthe Future ," the inclusion of artists selected through theallowing us to look at "the other ," provides a way to look at"Crossing Borders" curatorial avenue ; the Virtual Triennial (aoneself. The negotiation of life occurs as artists and audiences

web site , online exhibition and discussion group) , Screen

shift the ground between them and touch on issues of what it is

Culture (short film , video and animation screenings) and a

to be human -to

special focus on young audiences through the introduction of

to seek justice. How do we look at ourselves? How do we look

Kids ' APT (interactive and online programs as well as

at others? The Netherlands-born , Yogyakarta-based artist

be gentle , to remember, to breath, to forgive ,artworks specially devised by participating artists for children

Mella Jaarsma has fashioned the skins of chicken, fish, frog

aged 3-12) .

and kangaroo into elaborate and bizarre jilbab-like cloaks .

For APT3, around twenty artists were selected through theMella invites audiences to think about the transformations that

"Crossing Borders" curatorial avenue which focused onthese costumes-these"globally-mobile"to those watching the wearer-emphasising

artists and collaborative practice . Today ,cultural and social forms travel as influences , appropriations
and hybridities take place . "Transexperience"skins-maketo those wearing , andaspects ofdifference while revealing the shared human condition . She

is a term usedprovokes us to consider how it might be to look at the world

by artist Chen Zhen to refer to a new formation of experiencethrough the mantle of another's skin , how it might be to be

grounded in the ungrounded. Simryn Gill is an artist who

seen through another' s veil.

references her own "transexperiences"and cultural

Another achievement of the APT is its ability to stimulate

memories that include Malaysia , India , Singapore and now

and support a network of artists, curators , writers and scholars

Australia . Through the persona of costuming , through dressing

through the exhibition , research (with over 3 ,000 on theplants as people and people as plants, Simryn explores theGallery's Asia Pacific Artists Database) and what is now

notion of "naturalization"and displacement as both arecognized as Australia's foremost Collection of contemporary

botanical and political term , creating an uneasy disturbance

Asian art (with around 200 works) . Given that the project is

between photographic " documentation ," anthropologicalintegrated into the Queensland Art Gallery's operations , there"findings " and botanical "truth."is a sense of continuity and longevity as research is

Simryn offers a fascinatingtake on a particular nuance of the formation of identity within

undertaken and expanded . This institutional connection has

an Australian context.

dangers but also strengths . A number of curators involved with

Certainly the positive reaction from audiences has been a

APT have said that the intric ate process of co-curatorship has

central achievement. The exhibition attracts a wide cross-been simultaneously the most challenging and rewarding

section of general visitors , families, students and scholars. The

project experienced to date . At the last Japan Foundation Asia

public goes to the Gallery and the Gallery goes public .

Center symposium in 1997 , "Asian Contemporary Art

Australian audiences have been intrigued , confronted andReconsidered ," Vish akha Desai made a plea to support

informed as artists invite audiences to consider their own

younger curators and scholar s -perceptions, prejudices , relationships and understandings. It is

APT project is now responding to in more depth with a number

this connection with audiences that I think defines why thisof postgraduate scholars from Japan , the Philippines ,this is something that the

project has captured the imaginations of Australians-

Singapore and Australia undert aking substantial internships

triggering a direct connection between memory and identity aswith the project and another forty student postgraduate

explored by the artist and by the visitor . The APT is now part ofvolunteers . Additionally with over eighty-five catalogue writers

the Queensland secondary school art syllabus. A

and more than fifty curators involved, fresh invigorations are

consideration of audience response has always been a criticalconstantly occurring.

factor in the final selection of artworks presented in the

During the last APT the " Asia-Pacific Artists Solidarity"

Triennials .

was formed by artists (in amongst the official events) and has

Australians particularly enjoy festivals and spectacle-for

continued to exist as a non-institution al, global network ofexample over two decades Sydney' s Gay and Lesbian Mardi

ideas and art making . Although it would be entirely na'i've of meGras has attracted increasing street crowds-

to suggest that the water ponds and concrete walls of thereaching

650 ,000 this year with a TV audience of 1.7 million. In an

Queensland Art Gallery are in any way " neutral spaces ," (any142

museum , any institution , any site of engagement is loaded,

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with some (usually in-subjective and local}-kind) support from the corporate sector. There is always muchthere are particular conditions thatprovoke particular results in the location of the project inmore we would like to do in connection with artists, their work

Brisbane. The power and dynamism of projects initiated fromand audiences. For APT3 , partnerships (with multimedia

cities that may be considered "marginal"

centers , with government education departments , with new

in some spheres(e.g. Kwangju, Fukuoka , Sao Paulo , Havana, Johannesburg,

media arts festivals , with universities) have provided practical

Istanbul} have made a immense difference to contemporary art

and creative avenues towards the realization of shared visions,discourse in local and global territories. The APT is an

research and cultural endeavors.

exhibition constructed around particular geo-cultural terraina terrain , as today's brief states , "previously considered

Prospects for the Future: Beyond the Millennium?:marginal." The perspective from and within "the margins"

Looking Backgenerates unique conversations.

In Australia , links with Asia have long existed , the second

The inclusion of work by artists from Australia and artists

major Australia-Asia encounter was formed in the gold fields infrom the Pacific alongside the work of artists from Asia creates

Victoria in the 1850s when thousands of Chinese immigrants

sometimes unexpected , often discordant but always an"prospected"

enlivening dynamic. The exhibition does not claim to be a

was the basis of the nations' wealth at the time. Controversial

singular curatorial vision but rather a platform for many voices ,scientist and writer Tim Flannery suggests• the first major

to find gold in the Australian earth - the gold

many languages . The APT has created a new platform forAustralia-Asia encounter was a more ancient one-engagement between audiences and art-

journeying by sea across the "littoral zone" by the Banda

perhaps an unlikely

being thejuxtaposition but certainly a context generated from within apeople from Southeast Asia some 60 ,000 years ago-to

local situation . The art of the Pacific , particularly by indigenous

is now Australia's Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea ,whatartists, has contributed substantially to the discourse

probably through Timor. Much later , around 3,500 years ago ,associated with the APT - perspectives are constantly

the sea-faring Lapila peoples populated the entire Pacificevolving. New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai speaks

excluding Australia and New Guinea . (The Lapila were also

enthusiastically of the utterly successful appropriation by Maoriprobably from Southeast Asia-

people, of Western rock' n' roll in his work , Ten guitars.

both Bahasa Indonesia and Maori and was connected to theWithin any inter -cultural project , the complexity of multiple

their language was similar to

Astronesian language family which traced back to China andlanguages is both a difficulty and a strength. lwai Shigeaki' s

Taiwan dialects some 6,000 years ago) .

Dialogue project, provokes a metaphoric questioning ofexperiences and communication in "multicultural"

Looking Forward

environments. Translations and mistranslations , cultural

There is no doubt that in Australia now , references to "theunderstandings and misunderstandings: these challenges takemillennium" are strewn across newspapers , magazines andtime to unfurl . Composer Richard Barrett has noted theTV . Whether the references are to "bugs ," the information

complexities of translation and mistranslation in relation to his

economy , the Olympics , or planes falling out of the sky-theforthcoming collaboration with Indonesian artist , Heri Donopromise of the year 2000 is undeniably looming large for many

and Australia's Elision contemporary music ensemble :Australians. But an essential question remains - whose
millennium is it? Of course there exists , simultaneously, many

"It's a truism of art and music history that the creativity of

global calendars , the West's is but one.

each generation has its roots in misunderstanding that of"Beyond the Future" is the theme for the forthcoming

the previous one. On the other hand , collaborations across

APT - an intentionally ironic and paradoxical title , asking more

artforms and across cultural geography are usuallyquestions than it answers . The theme has come to be more ofcharacterized by over-polite mutual accommodation , eacha launching point for ideas . Issues of indigeneity ; of re-participant tiptoeing around in an attempt to understand andenergizing traditional practice ; of moving towards the past ,show respect for the other , resulting in dilution andfrom the future , through the present ; and of parallel or cyclic

compromise of both. Heri Dono and I are committed tobut separate time zones are some of the ideas stimulated by

misunderstanding one another."discussion on the theme. So how does one move beyond thefuture? How does one "prospect the future?"

Finally, there is no question that funding is always a

The APT project has shifted memory and identity withindifficulty. Although the Gallery has recently attracted

Australia , it has become part of a changing consciousness thatconsiderable private support towards the collecting ofpenetrates beyond a fashionable , surface tattoo , becoming

contemporary Asian art , the APT project relies heavily onpart of a fractured and constantly re-forming cultural

major support from the Queensland Government and from thelandscape. The art , the process , the discussions , the networks

Australian Government through the Australia Council and theand the communications associated with the project are now

143embedded in the cultural life in this country. In his artist
statement for APT3, Dadang Christanto writes, "Andcommunication through dialogue can set us free - I hope toshock the APT audience, a shock of emancipation. A shock
capable of illuminating our sense of humanity."
Through entering the now of their times, throughnegotiating cultural moments and memory, contemporary
artists in the Asia and the Pacific can offer critical, intimate,powerful and idiosyncratic perspectives to those who
encounter their work. There is a particular resonance between
these perspectives and Australian audiences. Vietnamese
writer Dao Minh Tri states in the APT3 catalogue, "The worldis immense, concepts are immense, technology is immense.
So, one can only choose to work with things that are close to
oneself." It is hoped that the Queensland Art Gallery's
continuing work with the Triennial into the next decade andcontinuing engagements with the current cultural practice inAsia and the Pacific will assist in this evolving , and energizing
conversation between people.

Notes:

1 . Australian Bureau of Statistics: 1996 Census of Population andHousing.
2. Cultivating our Culture , Australia Council , June 1998 .
3. "Major Council Policy Statements" in Australia Council Policy

Directions 1999 - 2001 , p 13.
4. Tim Flannery , The Future Eaters: An ecological history of theAustralasian lands and peoples , Reed New Holland , 1994 .

144sake of further economic progress. Further to the idea of theSession II Presentation #3

arts as an extension of economic status , its other roles has

Appropriating Alterity:
The Museum and Contemporary Art Practice inSingaporealso been emphasized as those that: firstly, referential to theSingaporean concept of multiculturalism and various traditional
cultures of the major ethnic groups (political categories much
more than anthropological ones) , the arts serves a cultural

Ahmad Mashadi

ballast against the seeming threat of individualism , the code

Curator , Singapore Art Museum

for Western liberalism. Secondly , maintaining links to notionsof economic pragmatism , the arts is also to be seen as a

In his introduction to a session on contemporary art andpotential industry that contributes rather than drain economic

cultural institutions in the last symposium organized by the

resources , thus preferably revenue oriented and having

Japan Foundation Asia Center , Apinan Poshyananda outlined

populist appeal. Needless to say, these requirements can bea principal concern which is the need for a critical look into

at times be contradictory to each other having to be referenced

exhibition practices via the rethinking and relocking into theto narratives on nation and nationhood concomitant to ideas of"authority of cultural and curatorial arbitage" through threeprogress and maintenance of the traditional ethnic cultures ,interrelated issues: museums as potent forces of ideas andbut at the same time accessible , lucid , popular andplaces that collect and curate contemporary art, cultural

profitable. This cursory and preliminary comments that I havearbiters as innovators and agents of change in contemporary

just made provide an insight into the structure of cultural

Asian art , and , processes and issues of collaboration between

production in Singapore and the institutional logic which tocultural arbiters and artists. In the ensuing discussion thatsome large extent governs cultural institutions like a museum .

followed , four models were introduced , each highlighting theWhat I am interested to do here is to generally outline theirvarying and differing attention given to presentation andimplications on the development of contemporary visual arts inrepresentation , its inclusivity or exclusivity , curatorial

Singapore , which by its very nature , have to play a role ofnegotiations and evolvement , centering predominantly onquestioning and deconstructing the very propositions

international initiatives of presenting Asia , implicitly refering toproselytized within the popular discourse on the arts as hosted

the regional mediations that were taking place through suchby the state.
What I hope to do in this paper is to briefly elicit someprojects .'In Singapore, popular discourse on the development on art

general remarks on the curatorial mediations that take place inhas been very much centered on its infrastructural determinant.'

Singapore , particularly looking into the relationship between

Its early development has been associated to the formation of

the Singapore Art Museum and contemporary art. Such

the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1938 , while its

relationship is both collaborative and tensive , bearing in mind

contemporary development often referenced against the state's

the differing basis and rationale of museums as a nationalchanging attitude and policy for the arts and culture towards

expression of culture and contemporary art as means of

the later part of the 1980s , after thirty years of unrelenting

breaking down set categories , myths , texts and narratives.

economic pursuit , with the formation of new arts institutions

will outline this differing trajectories in later paragraphs .

and facilities. By and large , artists and their practices wereConvergences or associations between the two , not merely

consigned as results and manifestations of that infrastructural

incidental but at times necessarily programmatic , takes placedevelopment. With the many state initiatives , including theintermittently where each , the Museum and contemporary

formation of a Ministry of Information and the Arts in 1990 , thebody , attempt to seek validation , consolidate and appropriate

National Arts Council in 1991 , the National Heritage Board andeach others goodwill as well as resources.

the museums in 1993 , the arts were seen to have flourishedthrough state support. The now yearly Arts Festival , which

Earlier Artists Initiatives and Emerging Concepts ofconcentrates on the performing arts (music and theater), is

Alterity

seen as a testament of the growing national emphasis on the

Looking at Singapore contemporary art over the past ten

arts. Artists' initiatives were discussed within the evolving

years, it may be said that one of the key moments was thenational regard for culture , contextualized to the economic

establishment of Artists Village in 1989 , led by Tang Da Wu. It

affluence and achievements and creation of a "culturally

operates principally as an alternative space, both notional as

vibrant" society.' This last term "culturally vibrant" is an

well as physical space , that is "dedicated to the promotion

operative term ; used within the Singaporean public discourseand encouragement of experimental and alternative arts inon the culture and arts to suggest alignment to a widely held

Singapore."•While the operational term here is "alternative"

view that the arts is a necessary symbol of a maturing nation ,(contesting the market driven value system of art practices

signalling economic achievements, and the role of the arts inthen) , conditions for practice was not held exclusive to thenurturing and sustaining the well-being of Singaporeans for the

initiatives and resources of the Artists Village . Collaborations

145

with state institutions were strategic tools in expanding thearticulation and transmission of desired values and thus heldgroup's programs. In the same year of its establishment theas strategic component of the state's cultural infrastructure ,Village worked together with the National Arts Council in thehence the many exhibitions on art celebrating theCouncil's Arts Festival's fringe program in presenting a series

achievements of the nation and its multiracial people.

of performances at Orchard Road, a shopping center district inDifferences if any were leveled out and culture and the arts

Singapore . In 1992, again during the period of the Arts

demonstrates notions of nation-building, communitarianFestival, the Village was able to secure a large abandoned

idealism, communal harmony within the context of multi-

warehouse and presented an event called "The Space." In

cultural and multi-religious Singapore.

both instances , the collaboration had enabled the Singaporean

The Museum's role is made complicated by the concurrent

audience to witness differing modes of artistic productionneed to identify itself to and gain validation from a group ofincluding installation and site specific art as well as

differing if not contesting parties. In identifying its institutional

performance art. In 1991, the Village was again prominent co-objective, the Singapore Art Museum's promotion oforganizers of Sculpture Seminar held in-conjunction with thecontemporary art has to be concomitant to the state's

National Museum's"Sculpture in Singapore" exhibition whererationalization of museums and their ascribed roles. As

notions of sculpture were effectively expanded to include thearbiters of cultural knowledge, it needs to demonstrate abilities

performative , process and the ephemeral. Collectively theseto partake into two discourses. Firstly, administrative

events were statements, both by the national bodies and therationalizations based on the state's own vocabulary andVillage, of the congruous nature of contemporary practice tocultural rhetoric. Secondly , it has to engage into thethe cultural aspirations determined by the state, a case ofcontemporary discourse that more often than not , offers

mutual appropriation. Particular to those events , contemporary

criticism against the state's prescriptive cultural formulations

art was seen to be exploratory, grounded on the quest forand expectations. As a mediatory entity , the Museum's

progressiveness, thus relevant to the evolving national

primary role of accommodating the state's interests is madediscourse on culture. In collaborating with the state, Artists

complicated by having to rationalize to and gain support andVillage widened its option and access to necessary resources,

endorsement from the state , its interests and policies on

although mindful that the very co-option by the state would

contemporary art.

render problematic its very assertions on alterity and its

While the rationalization in favor of contemporary art

peripheral position.

projected to the state by an art institution such as the Museum

The establishment of Artists Village also paved the way foris often based on the very vocabulary provided by the state , it

the formation other loose or formal groupings and othercan also become difficult once the state itself directly defines

initiatives, emphasizing diversity of contemporary responses tothe value and currency of contemporary art and its formal

the evolving, economic, political and social conditions inconstituents, for example performance art. Here I shall return

Singapore. Other groups or organizations that followed after

to Fifth Passage. In 1994 the National Arts Council announced

Artist Village's establishment included the artist-run spacethat it will no longer fund performance art, following a media

called Fifth Passage and recently PKW (Plastique Kinetic

outcry over a performance by Josef Ng in an event organizedWorms). I will return to Fifth Passage later on in thisby Fifth Passage.' Performance art was not banned. However,presentation. PKW, run by artist Vincent Leow echoes the very

the impact was significant as official perceptions to the term

idealism of the Artist Village , aiming to "create a platform for"performance art" since 1994 were clouded by uneasy

young contemporary artists."'

association to the "distastefulness" or "vulgarity" of Josef Ng

But such idealism is intervened

and counter-balanced by its interest to co-opt the devices ofbriefly exposing part of his posterior in his Fifth Passage

the commercially run galleries with works displayed in clinicalperformance, as well as the perception that performance art

white-cube spaces and mostly for sale. In many instances inallows for an artist's persuasive psychological control over his

the organization of their exhibitions , the groups had sought

audience. Before the incident , performance art through theand obtain some financial support from National Arts Council,

activities of the Artist Village was gaining ascendancy, eventhe main arts funding body for practising artists and art groups.

having been included in the National Arts Council funded"The Space," an Arts Festival Fringe in 1992 . Having to

The Singapore Art Museum and Engagement withrespond to the media outcry of 1994 , only scripted

Contemporary Art

performances are allowed to be presented in public. As such,

The Museum is part of the state's cultural articulation thus

the featuring of any performance art pieces in any context or

embodying the values and precepts held by the state. To many

event is to be handled sensitively, fulfilling the various

commentators, Singapore having gained its politicalconcerns laid out by the state through the Arts Council andindependence only slightly more than thirty years ago , is still in

preemptying any possible media attack. Aside from those thata stage of nation-formation.'comply by submitting scripts before each performance to be

As such for the state , cultural

apparatus like the Museum play vital roles in the further

approved , some artists had also since look into ways to146circumvent the obstacles levied against performance art

practices and pointing towards the possibility of the presence

including organising private rather than public sessions, andof a discernible set of institutional va lues in operation. The

recasting performance art as theater productions. The result is

Museum also presented "Trimurti & Ten Years After" (1998)

a performance art scene that is mindful of public and official

which examines the practices of three contemporary artists ofgaze, if not surveillance, and reflexive to the very problem ofdiffering ethnic background and their responses to notions of

categorization and its implications.

multiculturalism. The Museum had also presented

Art museology in Singapore is at its infancy. As the only

contemporary art of Germany, China and India. In these
instances , the placement of the contemporary art ismajor gallery or art museum in Singapore, it becomes
necessary for the Singapore Art Museum to embrace andunproblematic, as they provide extensions to larger issues ofallow space for contemporary practice as an integral part of its

art history and modernity. Nevertheless , where politicalprogramming rationalized by the value of contemporary art ascontents referential to the Singaporean condition of an artworka subject of cultural discourse as well as institutional

may operate against the goodwill and relations between thepositioning within a network of international museums and theMuseum and the state, aspects of contemporary art can be

many contemporary art events taking place.

problematic. In 1998 the Museum presented

As manifestations of current cultural discourse ,"A RX5:

Processes (Artist Regional Exchange) ," an art residency andexhibition project in collaboration with several co-organizers

contemporary art becomes partly the subject that the museum
seeks to explain and unravel via its primary role ofincluding the ARX of Australia and Hong Kong Arts Centre.

classification and orderings of historical categories. We may

The withdrawal of a single piece of a Hong Kong cartoonist by

also inverse the relationship between the contemporary andthe organizers• brought about intense discussions about

historical categories. Selective representation of contemporary

issues of censorship , and artist's loss of agency over theart serves to test or validate the historical assumptions madetreatment and presentation of his works.' The incident hadby the museum thus deconstructing or enforcing a constructedalso highlighted the subjective reading of the rights and values

narrative of art, given that the museum is a pursuant of suchof contemporary art across geopolitical spaces, and ensuing it,

constructions and reviews of art history.

the severe difficulties in mediating differentiated or opposing

Further, contemporary art provides access for a museum

values; between hosts and artists, between context andto connect to an ever widening international discursive interest

universality. While contemporary art initiatives in Singapore

while concurrently disconnecting or distancing from the narrow

emanating from artists and art groups since the 1994

interests that are defined by immediate participants within its

performance art incident have somewhat been overcome by alocality. It allows the museum to enquire into systems andlack of confidence, it becomes necessary for institutions likevalues that pervade the manner in which structures are

the Museum to encourage the growth of artistic space throughorganized including the Museum itself thus affiliating itself tothe careful management and nurturing of official perceptions

the very concerns held by the contemporary practitioners. It

on contemporary art. The withdrawal of the work by thealso allows the museum to validate itself by way of its

organizers , which featured a caricature of two of Singapore's

suggested alignment with a wider international value system

leaders and suggested the nature of their political relations ,that pervades the circles of contemporary art shows.

was to be the final act after an impasse in the frantic

Contemporary art thus is a necessary tool for a museum tonegotiations between the organizers and artist regarding theextend its assertion as a conduit of knowledge, testing andextent and manner of presentation."even validating its treatment of the past art historicalinstitutional perspective of the need to guard further depletion

categories, by its continual assessment of the constituents ofof space (notional and physical) available to contemporary art,

art and their relationships. Contemporary art also serves thethe preemptive request made to the organizers of ARX5 for theViewed from thepractical function of connecting institutions to with a larger

removal of the work may be justified. The showing of the work

international fraternity due to its vigorous engagement with or

may result in another public outcry and further , an arbitrary

against systems and values, while at the same time provide apolicy shift similar to that in 1994 in the state's attempt tochannel for intermittent foray beyond familiar grounds andplacate the Singaporean public for its outcry against art's

terrains.

perceived transgressions. However , not showing the work
have also meant denying the contemporary art's potential role

Since it began operation in 1996, the Museum hadorganized a number of exhibitions featuring contemporary art.

in the wider public discourse on culture and politics. Art canThis includes a series of exhibitions that exemplify practices by

also be a vehicle that activate civil initiatives. It was a clear

artists graduating from or associated to the various art schools

dilemma , the risk of backlash from action (withdrawing thein Singapore-work) and non-action (allowing the work to be exhibited}

National Institute of Education (1996) ,Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (1998), and LaSalle College of

emanates from both sides. To a limited extent, this response

the Arts (1999)-

by the Museum in advising the ARX5 organizers for thethus demonstrating the differing

withdrawal of the work, can be contextualized to theperspectives of art education and its impact on contemporary147

the event is an open exhibition where all artists were invited togovernment's firm response to commentaries in 1994 made bya well-known Singaporean fiction writer , Catherine Lim , which

submit pieces for selection , display , and sale. Later , consistentwere political in nature . For the government , politicalas an event that operationalize official views on art andcommentaries is to be made within a delimited institutional

culture , another element was added in, an exhibition section

space, thus allowing for its clear management. As such privatefeaturing artists that were conferred with national awards. By

individuals should enter into political parties before partaking in

1990s, where the state's objective was to develop "Singapore

public political debates ." An implication one may suggest from

into a gracious, cultured and well-informed society ," thishere is the consignment of individuals into their ascribed

exhibition series became a clear an example of the state's

sphere of "competence."value system at work , where rationalizations were madeThe artistic space is to bestemming from notions of artistic and cultural acquisition as

differentiated from and should not overlap the political space
and thus, practitioners are expected to refrain from blatantindicator of social maturity of a nation; artists, although often

commentaries or references to local political issues or

consigned to their sphere of technical competence i.e. art , assituation s. Having said this , it is important to note that there isparticipants of nation-building; and art exhibition as ano professed interests by the state to closely monitor contents

demonstration of communitarian idealism includingof art being presented anywhere in Singapore ."multiculturalism and meritocracy , coupled with material
pragmatism, an economic principle applied to culture and theConclusion:arts.

"Nokia Singapore Art 1999" as a Model for

The event for 1999 will maintain the interest for an "artFuture Engagements?

fair" concept of mass participation as well as further provide

Alterity in art , by its very definition defies appropriation andcontrol. To maintain its "alternativeness ," it has to continually

recognition to artist-recipients of national awards. In otherreinvent itself as its past propositions become accepted thus

words, it is still an exercize to demonstrate the very idea ofconsigned into historical categories . For the practitioners ,community and nation building. Included for the very first time

access to the Museum is both desirable and undesirable .

in the bi-annual event will be a "curated section" featuring a

Desirable for the opportunities of representation, by way of

selection of contemporary artists and expressions .

acquisition and exposure via exhibitions . Undesirable due to

The "Nokia Singapore Art 1999" serves as a multi-coded

the very logic of alterity itself , where the monoliths or canons

spectacle ; its meaning shifts from entity to entity. For the stateof the establishment are to be deconstructed and criticized ,that enables and hosts it, it celebrates a specific notion ofand the Museum is exactly that-establishment

nation and progressiveness.

. While the

For the contemporary

Museum may understand the need to allow contemporary art

practitioners , the event represents on one hand an avenue toto remain as an evolving entity mutating beyond set

articulate propositions, and on the other an interesting or

categories by way of acknowledging its key devices such asperhaps insidious attempt by the state to appropriate and thus

initiatives , reflexivity and activism, in summoning support andneutralize some of these propositions. As an apparatus thus

appropriating it for the Museum's practical and pedagogic

complicit to the state, the Museum manages theends , contemporary art has to be conceptually dislocated from

representation of contemporary art by referencing it to theits oppositional stance, explained and realigned in officious

values of the state, strategically highlighting to the stateterm to the public as elements that help mobilize the state's

elements that can be allied to its objectives and negotiating

vision and thinking , however at the same time utilising thethose that are problematic . By remaining mindful of thedevices of museological didactics (wall captions and exhibition

boundaries and engaging carefully with these boundaries ,catalogues) to surface the many issues of the arising fromartistic spaces becomes protracted , hoping that it may growcontents .

sequentially. That is to say, the Museum must necessarily playa pragmatic role , as one that enhances the opportunities forGiven the complex sets of motivations at play , therelationship can be tensive as demonstrated by the case fromcontemporary art while acknowledging and understanding thethe ARX exhibition. In December this year , the National Arts

dynamics and relations between artistic space and the state ,Council and the Museum , will co-organize a contemporary art

expressed through policies .T.K . Sabapathy wrote in 1993:

event , "Nokia Singapore Art 1999 ." Given the background of"Collaboration between establishment and art groups orengagements between the Arts Council and the Museum withperformance art and political commentary respectively , thisinstitutions and individuals need not entail absolute

event should provide some useful observations from which we

correspondences of aims and ideals ; neither does co-may draw further implications on the place of contemporary art

operation necessarily imply co-option. Both collaboration

within the activities undertaken by state supported institutions.

and co-operation can lead to tolerance of divergent values

The national art event is backgrounded by a complex andand agendas; this is essential as the practice, production

meandering history , having been revamped and renamed

and propagation of art will increasingly require an ever-

several times since its inception in the late 1960s. Traditionallywidening base of both institutional support and the active

148