Writing histories—Reflections on two Australian exhibitions on the arts in the regions
Confess and Conceal is an exposition featuring works by eleven contemporary artists-seven of whom are from Australia while the remaining four are, one each, from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.l Conceived and initiated by the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the show is currently in Singapore and will be touring Indonesia (Jakarta), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and t.k. sabapathy
Thailand (Bangkok). It marks yet another advancement by Australia, in what appears to be a sustained strategy to forge inter-regional artistic connections. It is a show shaped by rigorously considered curatorial aims. The decision to focus on painting as such-in which figuration appears dominant astonishingly, does stand up to close and sustained scrutiny, due in no small measure to the thoughtful selection of artists and the suggestive juxtaposition of their works. One could of course argue the basis for the spread of representation. Why, for instance, seven from Australia? And indeed one should press the argument: given that the focus has sectled on painting, then why have artists from the Philippines been omitted? They are among the most accomplished painters in Southeast Asia.
Be that as it may, the aim here is not to embark upon a critique of this show, as such, but to prise out of it assumptions which permit the development of reflections on another, larger, and somewhat related, undertaking, namely The First AsiaPacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, inaugurated in September, 1993 at the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane. Of course the two bear no ostensible comparison in scope or scale. The Triennial was ambitious and grandiose; it projected sweeping visions of varied artistic practices from complex, vast, interlocking regions. Confess and Conceal, on the other hand, is circumscribed... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline