The deconstruction of national representation as a Biennial concept was to be expected. Commodities and culture are in motion as never before and national populations are increasingly mixtures of cultures, ethnicities and races, each with varying commitments to the government in their adoptive territory. Everyday household objects, like egg beaters, disposable cameras, toys, and other more exotic ephemera, as well as photographs of them, were pinned in perfect order from floor to ceiling around the walls. In addition to the sheer beauty of the delicate, colourful arrangements, the surfeit of objects commented both on the global circulation of mass produced pop cultural artefacts and the Philippine diaspora. Reciprocation was built into the exhibition in the form of an oblique invitation to the visitor to donate local objects, suggesting that within the anonymity of kitsch lies personal histories and collective longings.
Artists are especially mobile, and contemporary art is a floating world currency.
For the present generation of artists, it has become exceptionally important to orient art practice internationally. Often, contemporary artists turn to global popular culture for an international language of common references. Ron Terada's conceptual jeopardy game show paintings questioned the interpretive element of guesswork in painting, and Myfanwy Macleod's larger than life inflatable mascot entertained our mute infantilisation. The contrast could hardly have been greater with the more traditionally universal concerns of established Japanese artist Leiko Ikemura at Sutton gallery. Re-expressed in blurred colour oil paintings, this figure attempted to engage more than the contingencies of most fashionable contemporary art.