ESSAY: APT7 projects
The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art is the Gallery's flagship international contemporary art event, and the only major exhibition series in the world to focus exclusively on the contemporary art of Asia, the Pacific and Australia. APT7 continued the series' forward-thinking approach to questions of geography, history and culture and how these questions are explored through the work of contemporary artists.
APT7 also marked the twentieth anniversary of the APT, presenting an opportunity to reflect on the unprecedented transformations that occurred in Australia, Asia and the Pacific over recent decades. Key themes included transforming landscapes, varied engagements with the city, and the adaptability of local cultures in today's globalised world.
Occupying the entire Gallery of Modern Art and key spaces at the Queensland Art Gallery, APT7 featured new and recent works by 75 senior and emerging artists and groups from 27 countries across the region. Major groups of works by younger-generation artists from Indonesia and Vietnam reflected the exciting scenes emerging in those countries. The diversity and depth of Australian Aboriginal art was expressed in the work of five artists, representing some of the most dynamic aspects of Australian art.
Inside Heman Chong’s (Malaysia/Singapore b.1977) contribution to The 20-Year Archive project at GOMA, Asia / Pacific Triennial 2012 / 20-channel sound installation / Commissioned for APT7 / Supported by the National ARts Council of Singapore / Courtesy and © Heman Chong / Photograph: Mark Sherwood, QAGOMA
Papua New Guinea
In a special focus, works from Papua New Guinea included a spectacular group of performance masks and painted and carved structures from New Britain and the Sepik, co-curated by architect Martin Fowler. Dominating the entrance and central atrium of the Gallery of Modern Art, this display reflected the idea of ephemeral structures, a central motif of APT7, and considers how the built environment influences people's engagement with their surroundings and connection to place.
West Asia
'0 – Now: Traversing West Asia' brought together works by seven artists and collectives from the Middle East and Central Asia. Co-curated by Istanbul-based November Paynter, the project considered the shifting borders, cultural interactions and transforming landscapes of this volatile region.
'The 20-Year Archive'
To mark the twentieth anniversary of the APT, artists were invited to interpret archives from across the region for the 20-Year Archive. These included the Gallery's own Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art archive, interpreted by Heman Chong; an installation by MAP Office, working with the Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; and an installation by Raqs Media Collective, working with the Sarai archive, New Delhi. {disarmed} imagining a Pacific archive, a project by Torika Bolatagici, Teresia Teaiwa and Mat Hunkin, addressed aspects of militarisation in the Pacific. Also included was an archive of Kids' APT drawing projects, developed in collaboration with APT artists. It featured a range of children's drawings from Afghanistan, Papua (Indonesia), Papua New Guinea, North Korea (DPRK), Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar, as well as Australia.
Kids' APT7
Kids' APT7 premiered 13 interactive art works and installations for children and their families, while the Kids' APT7 on Tour program traveled to regional and remote Queensland.
Cinema
APT7 included two film programs curated by the Gallery's Australian Cinémathèque, GOMA — the major retrospective 'Mountains and Waters: Chinese Animation Since the 1930s' and the thematic program 'Change: Paths Through 20 Years of Film'.
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