Impressions of the 8th Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh
The Asian Art Biennale in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is indeed a significant commitment realised by a country many art enthusiasts seem to overlook.
More from this Issue
Dragon seeds and flea circuses: some moments and movements in contemporary Chinese art
Post-revolutionary China was a time of testing boundaries of official tolerance and experimentation with the newly accessible Western art ideas. The first art exhibitions were held and groups formed, as artists started to realise they were not, as Mao said, just the hair on the skin of socialism. Resistance to the old political order and a deliberate courting of Western buyers with post-Mao imagery has to give way to finding an original voice.
The Arts of Diplomacy
Manton looks at the relationship between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the art world in Australia, one that seems to have been difficult, particularly since the 1970s when the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board gave way to a National Gallery and an Australian Council for the Arts. Furthermore this text examines the growing relations between Australian and Asian art communities during the second half of the 20th century.
Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia 1859-1939
David Walker, University of Queensland Press, 1999, 312pp, paperback RRP $29.95
Australia and Asia: Friends and Family
The past 10 years have seen the building of ties between Australians and Asians through the interactions occasioned by the three Asia-Pacific Triennial exhibitions in Brisbane. There are now many personal and binding friendships across the region which did not exist before. This changes our concept of 'region' significantly.
Modern Asian Art
John Clark, Sydney: Craftsman House, 1998,
344 pp., 48 colour plates, hardcover, ISBN 90-5704-04-17, $85
344 pp., 48 colour plates, hardcover, ISBN 90-5704-04-17, $85
Beyond Language
Although often disguised as an innocent communication tool, language is defined, and, in turn, defines the parameters of all aspects of life, from the most personal and private to socio-political conditions and power structures. Giakoumi discusses this fact in relation to artist's experiences of living and working in countries where language barriers are apparent. Four works by artists Shigeaki Iwai, Xu Bing, Kim Young-Jin and Lee Mingwei are closely examined through this text.
Kimono as Canvas
Gallery East or 2000 Perth International Arts Festival 12 February - 5 March and touring for two years
Geography, Indigeneity and Dissonance
Some of the many complex questions raised by the Asia-Pacific Triennials relate to where artists originate from, how they relate to indigenous issues of their country, and the possibility of dissonant voices being heard through the exhibition which would not be tolerated in their country of origin. This is increasingly important in an Australian political climate which has downplayed our relations with the Asian region.