contemporary art centre of south australia
The Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia's (CACSA) exhibition program for 2002 was focussed closely on Asian and Asian-Australian artists. The season commenced with Beijing artist Wang Gongxin (21 February - 28 March), and included Liu Xiao Xian (Sydney) and Justina Gardiner (Adelaide) 12 April-12 May; Kale Beynon (Melbourne) 24 May - 30 June; Matthew Ngui (Singapore & Perth) 12 July - 11 August; Emil Goh (Sydney) and Yoko Kajio (Adelaide) 22 August- 22 September; and Simryn Gill (Malaysia & Sydney) 4 October- 3 November.
This has been a marvellous cross-section of significant art in what is an elongated mini-festival. The program is being completed by Gloss, co-curated by Larissa Hjorth (Melbourne) and Eri Otomo and lratu Hirano (Tokyo). Previously, CACSA programming has included a high proportion of local artists.
There are potential dangers in programming from a particular cultural perspective. As an example, the exhibition 'Magiciens de la Terre' (Paris 1989), was both lauded for providing exposure to non-European cultures and criticised for being patronising and imperialist. But the CACSA's program, which was partly intended to bring to Adelaide artists who might not otherwise be able to show here, reveals our changing culture. The artists are judged on their art, which in many cases carries no specific cultural references. Lee Weng Choy's lecture, Authenticity, Reflexivity, Spectacle or The Rise of New Asia is Not The End of The World, which was included to complement the program, observed the revolution in Asian culture and the grow1h of the destructive capitalism that is invading the region. 1
Wang Gongxin's videos included the meditative 'Play Thing', a close-up of a hand rolling Baoding balls, the chrome surfaces of which reflect the view