PDF media kit - Queensland Art Gallery - Queensland Government

GALLERY OF MODERN ART
QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY
8 DECEMBER 2012 – 14 APRIL 2013
MEDIA KIT
FOUNDING SUPPORTER PRESENTING SPONSOR
PRINCIPAL PARTNERS
Edwin Roseno / ‘Green hypermarket’ series (artist’s impression) (detail) 2011–12 / Image courtesy: The artist
Assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body,
and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.
PRINCIPAL BENEFACTOR
Proudly supporting Kids’ APT7

7 December 2012
Image: Michael Cook / Bidjara people / Civilised #13
2012 / Purchased 2012. Queensland Art Gallery /
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
SEVENTH ASIA PACIFIC TRIENNIAL OPENS AT GOMA AND QAG
A 50-metre snake skeleton by senior Chinese artist Huang Yong
Ping spiralling from the ceiling of the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG)
to the Watermall below, and dramatic architectural installations and
ceremonial masks by artists from Papua New Guinea at the Gallery
of Modern Art (GOMA) are highlights in ‘The 7th Asia Pacific
Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT7) which opens tomorrow in
Brisbane.
Acting Director Suhanya Raffel said APT7, which marked the
twentieth anniversary of the Gallery’s flagship exhibition series, was
the most ambitious to date.
‘When the Gallery established the APT, it sought to redefine the way
audiences experience contemporary art, but no one could have
foreseen just how profound this change would be, and the
tremendous impact it would have on our institution,’ Ms Raffel said.
‘APT7 expands the Triennial’s geographic scope and physical scale,
with over 290 works by 75 artists and artist groups from 27 countries
on display across all of GOMA and key spaces at QAG until April
14, 2013.
‘The only exhibition series in the world to focus exclusively on the contemporary art of Asia, the Pacific and
Australia, APT7 incorporates two cinema programs, Kids’ APT, twentieth anniversary archival projects,
publications, public programs, education resources and the launch of the Gallery’s dedicated online video
channel.’
Ms Raffel said major commissions for APT7 included works by leading artists Huang Yong Ping (China/France);
Atul Dodiya (India); LN Tallur (India); Richard Maloy (New Zealand); Shirley Macnamara (Australia) and Tiffany
Chung (Vietnam/USA).
‘New and recent works by eight Australians, including five Aboriginal artists, are among the exhibition highlights,
with photography, sculpture, installation and painting representing some of the most dynamic aspects of
Australian art today,’ she said.
Works from Papua New Guinea, informed by customary architecture, painting and carving, are featured in a
project co-curated by Melbourne-based architect Martin Fowler. Ten artists from the East Sepik province spent
two months in Brisbane earlier this year creating two major commissions for the project.
0 – Now: Traversing West Asia, a project co-curated with Istanbul-based curator November Paynter, delves into
West Asia in detail for the first time in an APT, and looks at how artists from Egypt, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Syria
and Jordan use landscape to examine the histories and politics of the region.

APT7 also focuses on new work by young artists from Indonesia and Vietnam, where independent artist-run
spaces and commercial galleries support a highly engaged art community.
The Queensland Government is Founding Sponsor of the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art series,
and Santos is Presenting Sponsor of APT7.
Santos Chief Executive Officer David Knox said the company was proud to support its second APT and
make the arts more accessible to Queenslanders.
‘Santos has a strong connection with the Asia Pacific region and we’re delighted we can further strengthen
this relationship by helping to present this exhibition to Queensland,’ Mr Knox said.
Ms Raffel said the twentieth anniversary of the series would also be marked with the 20-Year Archive, a
diverse project which explores existing archives from the region and imagines new ones; and the launch of
QAGOMA TV, a dedicated video channel presenting more than 170 performances, interviews and talks from
the previous six APT exhibitions.
‘The Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque will present two major free cinema programs as part of APT7,’ she
said.
‘Change: Paths through 20 years of Film explores diverse video and filmmaking practices, which draw links
between filmmaking and other forms of contemporary art; while Mountains and Waters: Chinese Animation
since the 1930s is a landmark retrospective that includes the pioneering work of filmmakers Te Wei and the
Wan brothers, as well as contemporary animators from China.’
For Kids’ APT7, QAGOMA’s Children’s Art Centre has developed 13 interactive artist projects especially for
children and their families. A record 80 regional and remote venues across Queensland communities will
host Kids’ APT7 on Tour activities between January and April 2013.
The exhibition is supplemented by a substantial exhibition catalogue; a publication for children developed by
the QAGOMA Children’s Art Centre with exhibiting artist Hahan; and extensive online resources including
QAGOMA TV.
More than 80 Australian and international artists, curators, writers and performers will take part in events
across the opening weekend at GOMA and QAG on December 8 and 9.
For more information visit qagoma.qld.gov.au/apt7
ENDS

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
First staged in 1993, The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) is the Queensland Art Gallery |
Gallery of Modern Art’s flagship international contemporary art exhibition series. It is the only major exhibition
series in the world to focus exclusively on the contemporary art of Asia, the Pacific and Australia. APT7
continues 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 marks the twentieth anniversary of the APT, and presents an opportunity to reflect on the transformations
that have occurred in Australia, Asia and the Pacific over the past two decades. Key themes that have emerged
in the exhibition include transforming landscapes, varied engagements with the city, and the adaptability of local
cultures in a globalised world.
Occupying the entire Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and key spaces at the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG),
APT7 features new and recent works by 75 artists and groups from 27 countries. Major groups of works by
younger-generation artists from Indonesia and Vietnam reflect the exciting scenes emerging in those countries.
The diversity and depth of Australian Aboriginal art is expressed in the work of five artists, representing some of
the most dynamic aspects of Australian art today.
Two co-curated projects explore specific focuses. Works from Papua New Guinea by 10 artist groups include a
spectacular group of performance masks, and painted and carved structures from New Britain and the Sepik,
co-curated with architect Martin Fowler.
0 – Now: Traversing West Asia brings together works by seven artists and collectives from the Middle East and
Central Asia. Co-curated with Istanbul-based November Paynter, the project considers the shifting borders,
cultural interactions and transforming landscapes of this volatile region.
To mark the twentieth anniversary of the APT, artists have been invited to interpret archives from across the
region for the 20-Year Archive, while a trio of Pacific artists imagine an entirely new archive addressing
militarisation in the Pacific. An archive of Kids’ APT drawing projects since 2006 features children's drawings
from across the region.
Kids’ APT7 presents 13 interactive art works and installations for children and their families, with selected
activities travelling to 75 regional and remote Queensland venues.
APT7 will include two film programs curated by the Gallery's Australian Cinémathèque — the major
retrospective Mountains and Waters: Chinese Animation Since the 1930s and the thematic program Change:
Paths Through 20 Years of Film.
An extensive program of performances, artist talks and panels will take place during the opening weekend, and
programs continue throughout the exhibition. A new series of the GOMA Talks evening discussion panel will
commence in February.
The exhibition publication The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art and the Children’s Art Centre artist
publication Hahan and friends are available from the QAGOMA Store and online at australianartbooks.com.au

THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF APT
The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) was first staged at the Queensland Art Gallery in 1993. It
has since become the Gallery’s flagship international contemporary art exhibition, and remains the only major
exhibition series in the world to focus on the contemporary art of Asia, the Pacific and Australia.
Since the first APT, more than 1.8 million people have visited the exhibitions, with more than 700,000
visitors to APT5, a six month exhibition which opened the Gallery of Modern Art, and 531,000 to APT6. In
April 2011, The Art Newspaper’s international survey of 2010 museum attendance reported APT6 was
among the ten most visited contemporary art exhibitions in the world.
The success of the Triennial was crucial in the decision to build a second site for the Queensland Art
Gallery to present the exhibition and house the growing contemporary art collection. The opening of the
Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) with APT5 in December 2006, marked a new chapter for the APT and the
Gallery. GOMA’s dedicated space for the Gallery’s Children’s Art Centre and state of the art cinema have
helped make Kids’ APT and the APT cinema programs integral elements of the Triennial.
The first six APT exhibitions featured more than 1200 works by 400 artists. The first three Triennials
demonstrated the diversity of contemporary art practice across the region, from Pakistan to Niue, by
profiling 220 artists from 20 different countries. APT 2002 considered developments in art over recent
decades through in-depth explorations of 16 individual artists. APT5 featured a selection of works from 35
artists and 2 multi-artist projects from the region across generations. In 2009, APT6 presented over 300
works by more than 160 artists from 25 countries, and featured art from communities that had not
previously been seen in the Triennial, including Tibet, North Korea (DPRK), Turkey, Iran, Cambodia and
Myanmar (Burma).
An ongoing element of the APT series is the commissioning of new works in tandem with an acquisition
program for the Gallery’s permanent Collection, which is internationally renowned for its collection of
contemporary Asian and Pacific art. As a result of this Collection building, the Gallery has been able to stage a
series of exhibitions focusing on specific countries within the region, including ‘The China Project’ (2009) and
‘Unnerved: The New Zealand Project’ (2010).
Since 2002, the Gallery’s Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art (ACAPA) has furthered the research,
documentation, publication, acquisition and exhibition of Asian and Pacific art and supported professional
development opportunities for artists, scholars and museum professionals in the region.
Each Asia Pacific Triennial has taken a forward-thinking approach to examining how contemporary artists
explore questions of geography, history and culture. The complexity of the region is reconsidered each time,
and in APT7, new focuses include Pacific structures, including ephemeral architecture and ceremonial
structures, particularly from Papua New Guinea; a younger generation of artists from Indonesia; and artists
working in West Asia.
APT7 marks the third time the exhibition has been staged across both GOMA and QAG, and is the most
ambitious Triennial to date in terms of geographic scope and utilisation of the Gallery space for bold site
specific works.

Image: Heman Chong /Asia / Pacific / Triennial 2012 / Installation
view / Photo: Mark Sherwood/QAGOMA
THE 20-YEAR ARCHIVE
In {disarmed} imagining a Pacific archive, I-Kiribati African–American poet and academic Teresia Teaiwa,
Samoan–New Zealand illustrator Mat Hunkin and Fijian–Australian photographer Torika Bolatagici address
the historical and contemporary processes of militarisation in the Pacific, particularly in Fiji. Together, the
artists have begun to imagine and create a new ‘Pacific archive’, presented in the exhibition and online.
Hong Kong-based MAP Office was conceived in 1996 as a framework for studying the contemporary city.
Artist–architects Laurent Gutierrez and Valérie Portefaix combine methods from both fields to produce maps,
drawings, books, exhibitions and installations. For this project, MAP Office presents an ‘atlas’ of Hong Kong’s
Asia Art Archive, mapped via 111 artists from across the region.
Before extending into visual art, Raqs Media Collective explored urban geography through experimental
documentary film and television. For APT7, they delve into the Sarai Archive, New Delhi, bringing together
publications, documents, interviews and project proposals as an interactive installation.
As part of Kids’ APT and the 20-Year Archive, the QAGOMA Children’s Art presents Kids’ APT Drawing
Projects 2006–12. See the Kids’ APT7 fact sheet for more information.
Complementing these long views on the history of the region will be the launch of QAGOMA TV, a dedicated
video channel on the Gallery’s website that will be launched with an extensive archive of talks, performances
and panels from past Triennials. New material from APT7 will be added throughout the exhibition.
View the online elements of the 20 Year Archive at the QAGOMA website.
View QAGOMA TV at tv.qagoma.qld.gov.au
The Gallery has acknowledged the 20 year history of
APT by commissioning a number of artists who work
with archives for the 20-Year Archive.
Heman Chong’s practice often draws on the imagined
futures expressed in literature, politics and philosophy.
For his work Asia / Pacific / Triennial 2012, the
Singaporean artist turns his attention to the past,
creating a sound installation based on texts uncovered
in QAGOMA’s Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art
(ACAPA) archive. Chong describes his spoken
soundtrack as a kind of ‘epic poem’, inviting viewers to
make their own associations between fragmented
documents and moments from a shared history.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Mohammed Qasim ASHFAQ
b.1982, Falkirk, United Kingdom
Lives and works in London, United Kingdom
Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq is a British artist of Pakistani heritage known for drawings, sculptural maquettes and installations
that combine aspects of Islamic art, North American modernism and science-fiction aesthetics. For APT7, Ashfaq has
created two aluminium-tape wall installations, employing the symmetry and repetition of Islamic geometric patterns.
Asmat artists, Papua
Ben Afex, Antonin Arke, Paulis Komare, Unknown, b.unknown, live and work in Basim | Amatus Ahmak, b.unknown, lives
and works in Unir Sirau, Mbu | Primus Isimin, b.unknown, lives and works in Emari Ducur, Pupis | Stefanus Jakfu,
b.unknown, lives and works in Jamasj | Norbertus Jokomen, Dinisius Sirets, b.unknown, live and work in Atsj | Paulis
Pokman, b.unknown, lives and works in Yawis | Yakobus Serambi, b.unknown, lives and works in Sawa-Er
Asmat people, Papua, Indonesia
The Asmat region of Papua is known for its woodcarving. Many works are created for feast cycles where the recently
deceased can move from the human to the spirit world. The importance of trees in the cycle of life and death lies at the
heart of Asmat art. Bisj poles, carved from tree trunks, powerfully demonstrate these beliefs. Spirit masks also derive from
tree bark and are worn in ceremonies to farewell the dead.
Rina BANERJEE
b.1963, Kolkata, India
Lives and works in New York, United States
Rina Banerjee combines materials she finds in New York junk shops — textiles, clothing, antique furnishings, taxidermy
animals — in new and exotic arrangements. Using a visual language steeped in fairytales and mythology, and a similarly
diverse range of objects, Banerjee presents a series of recent wall-based sculptures.
Daniel BOYD
Kudjla/Gangalu people
b.1982, Cairns, Australia
Lives and works in Sydney, Australia
Daniel Boyd’s recent paintings and video use the dot as a lens through which our view of the world is shaped and distorted.
Interrupting our access to an image by over-painting it with dots, Boyd gives us a new perspective. Using this device, he
also explores his own family history, alternative genealogies, and the extent to which Aboriginal and indentured labour
histories in Australia can be traced and known.
Louisa BUFARDECI
b.1969, Melbourne, Australia
Lives and works in Melbourne
Louisa Bufardeci has recently become fascinated with string theory, a mathematical formula being developed by theoretical
physicists who are attempting to explain the workings of the universe. Her large-scale wall drawings and intimate woven
sculptures in APT7 draw on this branch of experimental physics.
Neha CHOKSI
b.1973, New York, United States
Lives and works in Mumbai, India
Neha Choksi is represented in APT7 by her lyrical videos and related paintings that document a group of rural actors as
they denude a Bodhi tree, leaving behind a single leaf. Themes of absence and erasure pervade Choksi’s work, and here
the near-stripped tree becomes a potent symbol of decay and renewal.

Tiffany CHUNG
b.1969, Danang, Vietnam
Lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tiffany Chung combines playful imagery with critical observations of the changing cultural and socioeconomic
landscape of Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Touching on themes of evolution and progress, she uses the migration of
thousands of handmade glass animals to suggest disappearing histories and memories in the face of mass production,
overdevelopment and environmental disaster.
Lorraine CONNELLY-NORTHEY
Waradgerie (Wiradjuri) people
b.1962, Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia
Lives and works in Culcairn, New South Wales, Australia
For APT7, Lorraine Connelly-Northey has created a series of powerful sculptural works that refer to the traditional
practices of her mother’s Waradgerie country. Connelly-Northey reconfigures traditional containers and vessels such as
narbongs (string bags) and koolimans (bush bowls) using rough materials — rusted fencing wire, corrugated iron, bed
springs and farm machinery found in country rubbish dumps — giving these forms new life.
Michael COOK
Bidjara people
b.1968, Brisbane, Australia
Lives and works in Brisbane
Michael Cook’s ethereal photographs ask a simple question: what if the Europeans had taken a more open approach to
Aboriginal culture, civilisation and knowledge systems? The all-Aboriginal world depicted in ‘Civilised’ 2012, his new
suite of works in APT7, imagines a colonial history without the complication of race; his central figures are both
conquerors and conquered. Through the use of images of Aboriginal people, often in roles that challenge stereotypes,
Cook ensures an Aboriginal voice is ever-present.
Timothy COOK
Tiwi people
b.1958, Milikapiti, Melville Island, Australia
Live and works in Milikapiti
Leading Tiwi painter Timothy Cook’s works focus on designs related to Kulama, the major yearly ceremony once central
to Tiwi life and culture. His paintings are inextricably linked to stories of Tiwi ancestral heroes Purrukuparli and Japara
— and the ceremony and law they left behind. The three monumental carved and painted Pukumani poles and group of
large Kulama paintings featured in APT7 are imbued with Cook’s own understanding of these ceremonies, law and
creation stories, in the face of massive changes in contemporary Tiwi society.
Atul DODIYA
b.1959, Mumbai, India
Lives and works in Mumbai
Atul Dodiya draws on politics, art history and folklore for his work, as well as Indian and North American popular culture.
He is renowned for his series of paintings on roller shutters and for his cabinet works, which are filled with objects,
artefacts, photographs and paintings. APT7 features a new cabinet installation, in which Dodiya looks closely at
regional art histories.
Inci EVINER
b.1956, Polatli, Turkey
Lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey
The human figure, particularly the female body, is central to Inci Eviner’s work, which references Ottoman miniatures,
wallpaper and tiles, and Orientalist engravings. Eviner’s video installation Broken manifestos 2010 presents a dense
frieze of small female figures performing repetitive and often absurd actions. Eviner has described the work as ‘an
enormous fresco’ showing details from the 'history of a timeless revolt'.
Graham FLETCHER
b.1969, Auckland, New Zealand
Lives and works in Dunedin, New Zealand
A New Zealand artist of Samoan and European heritage, Graham Fletcher has long been interested in Pacific colonial
history. His work often references objects he sees in museums in New Zealand and Europe. Fletcher’s ‘Lounge Room
Tribalism’ series (2010–ongoing) continues his interest in the collection and display of Pacific ethnographic material,
using imagery sourced from periodicals, design books and online resources

Parastou FOROUHAR
b.1962, Tehran, Iran
Lives and works in Frankfurt, Germany
Parastou Forouhar makes works in a variety of media, including photographs, textiles and installations, combining
traditional and modern, beauty and violence to explore questions of exile, belonging and memory. Here, Forouhar covers
the walls and floor of the Gallery with elegant lines of Farsi calligraphy, variously recording names and elements of words.
The meaning of her script is fragmented, obscure even to those familiar with the language.
Uji Handoko Eko SAPUTRO (aka HAHAN)
b.1983, Kebumen, Central Java, Indonesia
Lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Much of Hahan’s practice offers a raucously critical take on the international art market from the perspective of an
emerging Indonesian artist. Themes of rejection and success filter through his paintings, which draw on comics and street
art as well as Javanese mythology. His series of three sculptures caricature key art-world figures — the curator, the artist
and the collector — representing the conflict between critical success and commercial gain.
HUANG Yong Ping
b. 1954, Xiamen, China
Lives and works in Paris, France
Huang Yong Ping came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the instigator of the Chinese avant-garde movement Xiamen
Dada. He has become known for narrative works that combine incongruous objects and materials drawing on the artistic
and philosophical traditions of China and Europe. Ressort 2012, created for the Queensland Art Gallery’s Watermall,
takes the form of a massive snake skeleton that spirals from ceiling to floor, metaphorically linking sky and water.
GIMHONGSOK
b.1964, Seoul, South Korea
Lives and works in Seoul
Gimhongsok is represented in APT7 by two sculptures, including Canine Construction 2009, a dog made with garbage
bags cast in resin. Gimhongsok’s work is characterised by a deadpan, sarcastic humour, as references to historical and
contemporary art collide with political and ethical questions, visual gags, and a sophisticated treatment of materials.
Roslisham ISMAIL (ISE)
b.1972, Kota Bharu, Malaysia
Lives and works in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Bharu, Malaysia
Ise’s work centres on his personal interactions with different communities. Each of his projects — installations,
publications, animations, collages, and participatory events — celebrate dialogue and diversity. For APT7, Ise has
produced The Langkasuka Cookbok, inspired by time spent with a number of families in his home state of Kelantan,
renowned for its unique cuisine.
Takahiro IWASAKI
b.1975, Hiroshima, Japan
Lives and works in Hiroshima
Takahiro Iwasaki’s sculptures and installations translate existing structures as delicate, miniature forms, in order to
question their interpretation. Reflection Model (Perfect Bliss) 2010–12 is a scale model of Byodo-in, a tenth-century
Buddhist temple near Kyoto. The temple’s perfect reflection in an adjacent pond is captured by Iwasaki in a seamless
doubling of its detailed architecture, crafted from Japanese cypress — a traditional temple-building material — and
suspended as a single object.
Susan JACOBS
b.1977, Sydney, Australia
Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia
Susan Jacobs’s art encompasses drawing, sculpture, video and installation. A consistent focus in her work is the formal
and metaphorical potential of materials and specific sites. For APT7, Jacobs has created a field of objects that cuts
diagonally through the space, framing a single perspective that inevitably shifts as we move around it.
Chia-En JAO
b.1976, Taipei, Taiwan
Lives and works in Taipei
Fascinated by the relationship between identity, languages and cultures, Chia-En Jao’s work explores translation. His
multi-channel video installation REM/Sleep 2011 reflects on conditions that have brought thousands of South-East Asian
migrant workers to Taiwan since the 1990s. It offers an insight into the histories, fears and aspirations of these workers as
they recount their nightly dreams.

Tomoko KASHIKI
b.1982, Kyoto, Japan
Lives and works in Kyoto
Tomoko Kashiki’s beautifully crafted paintings depict an intimate world of dreams and desire. Their surfaces are created
by layering acrylic paint, sanding it back, and then applying more paint, with the process repeated over and over.
Kashiki’s technique and ghostly painterly style draw on an array of references — from Heian Buddhist painting to bijinga
(paintings of beautiful women), through to the early canvases of Takashi Murakami.
Sangdon KIM
b.1973, Seoul, South Korea
Lives and works in Seoul
Sangdon Kim’s works address the effects of social and economic policy on marginalised communities. Working
between art and cultural activism, Kim stages workshops, gatherings, street parties and collaborative productions,
where residents, activists and artists can engage in creative discussion. He channels his research into unconventional
assemblages, creating audiovisual landscapes from sculptures, photographs, videos and texts.
Joanna LANGFORD
b.1978, Gisborne, New Zealand
Lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand
Joanna Langford’s wondrous constructions experiment with objects usually found in backyards or on farms. Delicate
and site-specific, her work is developed in a process that the artist describes as ‘anti‑engineering’. Using a range of
metaphors for natural or man-made landscapes, her works reflect on our relationship to, and effect on, our immediate
environment.
An-My LÊ
b.1960, Saigon, Vietnam
Lives and works in New York, United States
An-My Lê’s photographs examine war and its consequences. Suspended between the traditions of documentary and
staged photography, Lê’s work studies the disjunction between war as a historical event and its depiction in
contemporary media, politics and entertainment. Lê’s photographic series ‘Events Ashore’ documents her travels with
the US armed forces to different sites of non-combat operation, with the images suggesting the global circulation of
people, resources and power.
Shirley MACNAMARA
Indilandji/Alyawarre people
b.1949, Australia
Lives and works in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia
Shirley Macnamara works with native spinifex, a ubiquitous grass in rural Australia, to create sculptures that reflect her
surroundings, culture and history. Spinifex, particularly as a source of shelter, is important to Macnamara — Indigenous
people have long used the grass for this purpose. Memories of this have inspired her work for APT7, in which she
intertwines spinifex strands with the roots of an upturned turpentine shrub.
MADEIN COMPANY
Est. 2009, Shanghai, China
Based in Shanghai
MadeIn Company is an artist collective that makes art, curates exhibitions and supports art criticism. The creation of the
company was seen as a practical intervention into the established structures of contemporary Chinese art. MadeIn's
installation and tapestry presented in APT7 combines a range of references to create frivolous, ornamental and
unrealistic scenes. By celebrating the ornamental, MadeIn reconsiders the role of beauty and decoration in
contemporary art.
Basir MAHMOOD
b.1985, Lahore, Pakistan
Lives and works in Lahore
Basir Mahmood’s meditative photographs, films and videos depict social identities and class distinctions as they unfold
in daily life. Mahmood presents two works in APT7: Lunda Bazaar 2010, which shows men trying on coats in a secondhand
market in Lahore, unaware that they are being filmed; and My father 2010, which shows the painstaking effort of
an old man as he attempts to thread a sewing needle.

Sheila MAKHIJANI
b.1962, New Delhi, India
Lives and works in New Delhi
Sheila Makhijani creates abstract paintings on canvas, drawings in gouache on paper, stitched paper works and
papercuts. Her works quietly advance the tradition of abstract art in India, revealing new variations on how line, shape and
colour might layer and unfold.
Richard MALOY
b.1977, Auckland, New Zealand
Lives and works in Auckland
Richard Maloy experiments with audience experience by using everyday materials to create playful environments. His
gigantic work for APT7, Big Yellow 2012, is constructed from cardboard and paint, transforming these simple materials
into a vibrant, amorphous structure that can be walked through. Thirty metres long, the work's bright colour and angular
shapes create new visual and spatial possibilities.
mixrice
Cho Jieun, b.1975 | Yang Chulmo, b.1977, Seoul, South Korea
Est. 2002, Seoul
Based in Seoul
mixrice position themselves as social mediators, integrating personal and collective memory within the wider flows of
globalisation. Their strategies are diverse — archives, workshops, photography, design and performance — conditions of
labour and migration are a key focus. Linking experiences of geopolitical division in Gaza and Korea, their work in APT7
expands on the notion of the tunnel, literally and figuratively, as a breach, a connection and a hiding place.
NGUYEN Manh Hung
b.1976, Hanoi, Vietnam
Lives and works in Hanoi
Nguyen Manh Hung makes satirical works about everyday life in Vietnam. The artist describes his sculpture in APT7 as a
‘vertical village’, alluding to the Soviet-style public housing blocks so common across the country. Presented as a
diorama, a form that impressed the artist on a visit to New York’s Museum of Natural History, the small-scaled structure’s
exaggerated height is more like that of the extravagant buildings making up the new skyline of Hanoi.
NGUYEN Minh Phuoc
b.1973, Son La, Vietnam
Lives and works in Hanoi, Vietnam
Nguyen Minh Phuoc creates moving portraits of contemporary Vietnamese life. His video in APT7 focuses on an elderly
woman moving rhythmically through a sequence of tai chi steps, set against scenes of Hanoi street life. Dressed in
military uniform, the woman also holds red fans, which she weaves into her choreographed performance.
NGUYEN Thai Tuan
b.1965, Quang Tri, Vietnam
Lives and works in Dalat, Vietnam
In his ‘Black paintings’ series, Nguyen Thai Tuan conjures headless and limbless human figures, their garments hanging
in folds suggestive of absent bodies. These shadowy apparitions give a haunting sense of the impact of decades of war in
Vietnam. Three paintings from this series feature in APT7, along with his moving work Room of the prince 2010.
Manuel OCAMPO
b.1965, Quezon City, The Philippines
Lives and works in Manila, The Philippines
Manuel Ocampo is known for a raw style that is both romantic and irreverent. His works are steeped in art history,
alongside a commitment to social satire and political allegory. For APT7, Ocampo presents a series of 21 new canvases
that reference two decades of his own paintings, one for each year, forming a link with the APT’s history while testifying to
his ongoing exploration of painting as a medium.
PARAMODEL
Yasuhiko Hayashi, b.1971, Higashiosaka, Japan
Yusuke Nakano, b.1976, Higashiosaka, Japan
Est. 2001, Osaka, Japan
Based in Osaka
Inspired by the industrial landscape of Osaka, Paramodel create dense, playful micro-worlds. Their work typically involves
reorganising everyday materials, turning materials from toy railway tracks to plumbing tubes into vast, complex systems,
covering floors, walls and ceilings. These intricate assemblages, described by the artists as ‘Paramodelic graffiti’, are
punctuated with toy cranes, animals and even plastic sashimi, shifting our experience of scale, space and perception.

Pratchaya PHINTHONG
b.1974 Bangkok, Thailand
Lives and works in Bangkok
Pratchaya Phinthong’s projects move between locations and economic systems, testing ideas of value and exchange.
For Give more than you take 2010–ongoing, Phinthong went to Sweden where he joined Thai seasonal workers picking
wild berries, who are paid according to the weight of berries they collect. After two months, Phinthong accumulated 506
kilograms, and this weight of materials is installed each time the project is staged, with the content and display
determined by the curator.
PHUAN Thai Meng
b.1974, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia
Lives and works in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Phuan Thai Meng’s photorealist paintings depict the in-between spaces of cities, creating unsettling representations of
urban life. His work for APT7 shows a tangle of freeway overpasses and slip roads in Kuala Lumpur. By cutting the
surface of his canvas, Phuan draws an analogy between the role of illusion in painting and the fallibility of civic
ambitions.
THE PROPELLER GROUP
Phunam Thuc Ha, b.1974, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Matt Lucero, b.1976, Upland, California, United States
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, b.1976, Ho Chi Minh City
Est. 2006, Ho Chi Minh City
Based in Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles, United States
The Propeller Group produce online videos, art installations and large‑scale film productions as well as a variety of
collaborative projects. Their works offer alternative media content, build networks and create new perspectives on
popular culture and nationalism. For APT7, they have created a giant canvas in collaboration with graffiti artists El Mac
(Los Angeles) and Shamsia Hassani (Kabul).
Sara RAHBAR
b.1976, Tehran, Iran
Lives and works in New York, United States
Sara Rahbar began making her ‘Flag’ series in 2005. Taking the symbolically loaded flags of her adopted country, the
United States, and her birthplace, Iran, as the foundation of her work, Rahbar then sews on fine embroidered fabrics,
carpet, fragments of text, and religious and political symbols relating to both countries. Her works reflect a personal
sense of dislocation, and also display the artist’s attentiveness to material detail and ornamental beauty.
Wedhar RIYADI
b.1980, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Lives and works in Yogyakarta
Wedhar Riyadi is from a generation of Indonesian artists who came of age during the turmoil of the 1997 Asian financial
crisis, the 1998 fall of the Suharto regime, and the country’s subsequent transition to democracy. These experiences
inform the exaggerated violence of Riyadi’s work. The anti-Establishment aesthetic of Indonesian street culture and
underground comics can be seen in his large-scale oil paintings on display in APT7.
Edwin ROSENO
b.1979, Banyuwangi, Indonesia
Lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Edwin Roseno is a contemporary photo-media artist who links social and environmental responsibility with creative
production. His ‘Green hypermarket’ series 2011–12 consists of 150 images of local plants, such as orange, jasmine,
bamboo and pepper, planted in discarded food packaging. Food in its most natural and fragile state is contrasted with
the mass-produced containers, suggesting that the primary need to eat has become confused with consumer desire.
ruangrupa
Est. 2000, Jakarta, Indonesia
Based in Jakarta
ruangrupa’s projects are characterised by cultural exchange and collaboration, extensive research, and the construction
of narratives in which personal experience, imagination and memory hold as much authority as official history. The
collective’s APT7 presentation is a mini‑museum of memorabilia, inspired by Indonesian rock of the 1970s and accounts
of Queensland’s underground music scene of the same era.

Dominic SANSONI
b.1956, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Lives and works in Colombo
Dominic Sansoni has an international reputation as a photojournalist. His photographs convey a fascination for the
architecture and festivals of Sri Lanka, characterised by an attention to the nuances of light and colour, and a fondness
for the idiosyncrasies of vernacular culture. Sansoni’s images of local roadside shrines, present worship in its most
modest and personal forms.
Greg SEMU
b.1971, Auckland, New Zealand
Lives and works in Sydney, Australia
Greg Semu’s meticulously composed images, with their rich colour and theatricality, are also a critique of the historical
use of photography to document Pacific people. His ‘The Battle of the Noble Savage’ series ‘re‑enacts’ scenes, directly
referencing French history paintings to reconsider aspects of Pacific history. Semu’s photographs from collaborations in
New Caledonia and Taiwan are also shown in APT7.
Raqib SHAW
b.1974, Kolkata, India
Lives and works in London, United Kingdom
Raqib Shaw’s extravagant paintings are fantasy worlds. A vast range of sources inform his hybrid imagery, from English
literature and Renaissance painting to Japanese kimonos and Chinese cloisonné techniques. Its visual opulence comes
from Shaw's unique and laborious process, during which he teases stained-glass paint, enamel, glitter and rhinestones
into place with a porcupine quill.
Dayanita SINGH
b.1961, New Delhi, India
Lives and works in New Delhi
Although best known as a photographer, Dayanita Singh describes herself as a maker of books. Containing little or no
text, her books convey their themes and narratives through images. For APT7, portraits, street scenes, interiors and
archives from cities across India are constructed as interconnecting visual stories, drawing on Singh's early career as a
photojournalist, as well as on literary fiction, producing lyrical combinations.
Tadasu TAKAMINE
b.1968, Kagoshima, Japan
Lives and works in Kyoto, Japa
Tadasu Takamine’s practice spans theatre, dance, sound and interactive technology. The direction of his work is driven
by the histories and experiences that determine the character of a particular place. In the wake of disasters in both
Queensland and Japan, Takamine has developed an ambitious multimedia environment, presenting a narrative of
memory and loss that plays out across a landscape of disappearing languages and abandoned possessions.
LN TALLUR
b.1971, Tallur, Karnataka, India
Lives and works in Koteswara, India, and Daegu, South Korea
LN Tallur’s sculptures blend traditional craftsmanship with technology and social critique. His ‘Chromatophobia’ series
uses currency and the gold standard to invoke the contradictions of global exchange. His works featured in APT7
include a traditional Hindu sculpture in which the central figure has been displaced by a mass of concrete and coins; and
an ornate votive chariot based on the shape of the largest nugget ever found, unearthed during the Australian gold rush.
Fiona TAN
b.1966, Pekan Baru, Indonesia
Lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Fiona Tan’s video and film works often feature characters who live between the past and the present, evoking the
importance of memory. The film Cloud Island 2010 moves quietly across an island in Japan’s Inland Sea, documenting
abandoned buildings as well as its elderly inhabitants. The thoughtful pace of the film creates a sense of waiting.
However, construction can be sighted in the background, foreshadowing change in the life of the island.
Sopolemalama Filipe TOHI
b.1959, Ngele'ia Nuku‘alofa, Tonga
Lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand
For almost two decades, Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi has worked with the ancient Pacific art form of lalava (lashing), a
technique for binding materials together. Tohi translates and reinvents lalava forms and patterns in a variety of
contemporary expressions — precisely cut wooden sculptures, intricately lashed poles, and densely woven panels. Tohi
also delves into the lyrical abstraction of lalava through exquisite line drawings.

TROMARAMA
Febie Babyrose, b.1985, Jakarta, Indonesia | Herbert Hans Maruli, b.1984, Jakarta, Indonesia | Ruddy Alexander
Hatumena, b.1984, Bahrain
Est. 2004, Bandung, Indonesia
Based in Bandung
The Indonesian collective Tromarama works in stop-motion video, animation and installation, using diverse techniques
such as woodblock printing, photocopy, collage, embroidery, painting and drawing. Their art often questions accepted
reality, infusing everyday events with fantasy and humour, along with subtle political commentary. Happy hour 2010
references the 2009 Indonesian bank scandal, with the group imagining that the stressed banknotes at the centre of the
affair deserved a 'happy hour', while EVERYONE IS EVERYBODY 2012 looks at the construction of identity through
consumer products.
Tintin WULIA
b.1972, Denpasar, Indonesia
Lives and works in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Melbourne, Australia
Drawing on her own experiences, Tintin Wulia works with themes of migration and bureaucracy. In her video Microstudy
of Wanton 2008, mosquitos are squashed inside a passport to leave blood-stained stamps, evoking the sometimes
violent control of national borders and anxieties about migration across the world. In Eeny Meeny Money Moe 2012,
Wulia invites visitors to play an arcade game to win their own ‘passport’.
YUAN Goang-Ming
b.1965, Taipei, Taiwan
Lives and works in Taipei
Yuan Goang-Ming is a new media artist who manipulates images to reflect human experience in a world saturated with
technology. Disappearing Landscape – Passing II 2011 is a video installation contrasting the artist’s personal experience
with the urban landscape of Taipei. Using long camera pans and shifting film speeds, Yuan distorts physical time and
geographical space to suggest the nature of memory.
ZHOU Tiehai
b.1966, Shanghai, China
Lives and works in Shanghai
Zhou Tiehai began to question artistic conventions and traditions in the late 1990s, replacing the paintbrush with an
airbrush and mixing classical imagery with absurdist elements. Le juge 2006–08 comprises more than 150 paintings,
presenting a diverse range of images from art-historical icons to cartoons to classic French desserts. Here, gastronomy,
politics and art intersect, in a comment on taste and consumption.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
This project, co-curated by architect Martin Fowler, features works by artists and artist collaborations from nine cultural
groups from New Britain and the East Sepik.
ARAWE
Bruno Akau, b.c.1971 | Alfred Sapu, b.c.1968
Arawe people, Pileo Island, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea
New Britain is famed for the variety and scale of its masks. Today, Arawe artists from West New Britain, such as Bruno
Akau and Alfred Sapu, create masks using a fusion of traditional and contemporary materials. Their Tabuan Kamut Mut
are constructed with commercial cloth and decorated with dynamic patterns. Masked figures are believed to embody
ancestral spirits and their dramatic visual impact helps move the audience beyond the everyday and into the spirit world.
BAINING
Katnanat Elison, b.c.1976 | Allana Movana, b.c.1979
Baining people, Kaligur, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
The Baining people of East New Britain are renowned for spectacular kavat, barkcloth masks that are danced in
dramatic night-time fire ceremonies. Their innovative and majestic mandas masks are used in rousing ceremonies that
take place during the day. Allana Movana’s large‑scale mandas mask, Rarapka 2011, represents a tree trunk and the
exuberant growth of the garden towards the sun, while Katnanat Elison’s Guaramgi nimenenga (Male and female spires)
2011 combines a female entity, Guaramgi, with the rounded male entity, Nimenenga.

BRIKITI Cultural group
Waikua Nera (team leader), b.1955 | Nikit Kiawaul, b.1979 | Kano Loctai, b.1976
Abelam people, Brikiti, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
Est. 2006
Imposing spirit houses are the focus of artistic expression in the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. As with the
art that adorns ceremonial and religious buildings around the world, the designs on these houses reach beyond the
everyday, engaging visitors in important narratives relating to religious and community beliefs. For APT7, the Brikiti
Cultural Group created a work inspired by the korumbo (spirit houses) built by the Abelam people for male initiation
ceremonies.
COASTAL ARAPESH
Alex Gabour (team leader), b.c.1955 | Connor Auka | James Ausori | Alex Berry | Connor Komonain | Joan Mabut | Joe
Sakum | Fransica Salid | Rupina Suna | Baka Wilson | b. unknown
Coastal Arapesh people, Dagua, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
Senior artist Alex Gabour creates innovative masks, exploring the potential of found materials. Full-body masks and a
selection of headdresses feature in APT7, decorated with brightly coloured feathers and commercial paints. Each mask
is topped with a large fish sculpture, referring to the story of male and female fish spirits, Ule and Neo. As with many
Arapesh masks, they also feature mwai masks on the front of the conical framework, representing mythical siblings of
the clan.
Damien GULKLEDEP
b.c.1968
Pomio people, Bitapaka, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
In New Britain, exchanges between neighbouring cultural groups have resulted in a cross fertilisation. Believed to be
inspired by the celebrated parasol-shaped Sulka hemlout masks, the Avalau 2011 by Pomio artist Damien Gulkledep, is
painted with bold geometric outlines filled with brightly coloured detail. This patterning plays an important role in Pomio
ceremonies, where it is dramatically revealed during the performance, visually engaging the audience and conferring a
transcendental power on the ritual.
IATAPAL CULTURAL GROUP
Tolai people, Iatapal Village, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
The introduction of Christianity had a huge impact on the artistic traditions of East New Britain, evident in the tokatokoi
(headdresses) in APT7. In the work Mary 2011, the saintly form of the Catholic Virgin adopts the posture of the Tolai
ancestral spirit figure traditionally found on these headdresses. These works demonstrate the artists’ ingenuity in
surrounding Mary with the distinctive sawtooth edging, found in much Tolai art, to reference a heavenly halo.
VUNAPAKA CULTURAL GROUP
Tolai people, Reimer/Livuan, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Tokatokoi are headdresses created by Tolai men, and sometimes women, for ceremonial dances. Predominantly carved
from wood and decorated with feathers, tokatokoi are often used in conjunction with other dance items such as dancing
sticks and shields, spirit figures, masks, spears, axes and clubs. These works are modelled on a group of tokatokoi worn
for a dance known as tabaran kakakao (crawling), historically performed by initiated males for mortuary ceremonies.
SULKA
Camilus Tepe (team leader), b.1965 | Paskalis Bill | Moky Camilius | Makude Joeseph | Tadius Lohali | Joeseph Lormot |
Herman Pape | Antonius Savuo Jr. | Herman Tep | Bernard Vieton | b.unknown
Sulka people, Bitapaka, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
In northern New Britain, the Sulka and Pomio people fashion vividly coloured masks from local plant pith and
commercial fibres. Performances are dramatically staged, with dancers emerging from the forest, disguised by the
masks and leaf underskirts. Presented in APT7 are two groups of masks known as susu or sisiu: the figurative O nunu
2011, believed to represent the head of a mythical being; and the more abstract O ptaek 2011.
YENCHEN
Gibson Kapun (team leader), b.c.1972 | Ganot Kam, b.c.1973 | Aamus Kamduka, b.c.1975 | Willie Maso, b.c.1975
Iatmul people, Yenchen, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
Mavetgowi and Palengowi are Iatmul ancestral figures in the form of crocodiles. In the Middle Sepik Iatmul village of
Yenchen, these figures are transformed into masks for particular occasions. These life-sized masks are worn for
ceremony, where they are danced by initiated men in sinuous movements that resemble the grace with which these
reptiles move through the water.

David YAMANAPI
b.1966
Iatmul people, Kanganaman, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
David Yamanapi has carved three garamut (slit gong) beaters or jai for APT7. His intricately carved Jai represent snake,
pig and crocodile (puk puk) spirit or clan animal designs. The jai are tapered on one end, allowing the drummer to both
hit and scrape the beater on the surface of the garamut, creating unique sound patterns that translate to symbols and
messages.
Issac KAPUN
b.1975
Iatmul people, Yenchen, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
Isaac Kapun creates works that directly reference Iatmul culture. The Iatmul people are renowned for their intricately
carved garamut or slit gong. While often used for musical purposes during ceremony, the distinctive rhythms played on
the garamut are translated into words that represent a person, clan or location, and can transmit messages up to 20
kilometres away. The carvings on Kapun’s Kulinginbu (Fish garamut drum) 2003 represent the spirit of a fish.
KWOMA Arts
Anton Waiawas (team leader), b.1952 | Kevin Apsepa, b.1971 | Simon Goiyap, b.1973 | Jamie Jimok, b.1982 | Nelson
Makamoi, b.1982 | Rex Maukos, b.1964 | Terry Pakiey, b.1974
Kwoma people, Tongwinjamb, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
Est. 2012
Seven Kwoma artists have created a large-scale structure based on the customary koromb (spirit house). In Kwoma
villages, the koromb is used as a place where men, and sometimes women, gather to hold ceremonies and discuss
important issues. It is decorated with paintings and carvings tied to clan affiliations and cosmological beliefs. The
presence of the ancestral spirits embodied by the works assists community members to energise ceremonies, make
decisions and generate new ideas.
0 – NOW: TRAVERSING WEST ASIA
Co-curated by Istanbul-based November Paynter, this project brings together works by seven artists and collectives
from the Middle East and Central Asia.
Cevdet EREK
b.1974, Istanbul, Turkey
Lives and works in Istanbul
Cevdet Erek’s diverse experiences in the fields of architecture, sound engineering and rock music drive his artistic
practice. He often combines installation with image and sound. Featured in APT7 is his series ‘Rulers and rhythm
studies’ 2007–11, which records key moments in one’s life, or political events, on the length of a plastic or wooden ruler.
Erbossyn MELDIBEKOV
b.1964, Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Lives and works in Almaty, Kazakhstan
Erbossyn Meldibekov combines images of heroes, monuments, landscapes and weapons with elements of humour in
works that reference the history and politics of Central Asia. In Seasons in the Hindu Kush: Spring, summer, autumn,
winter 2009–11, Meldibekov fabricates versions of Afghanistan’s famed mountain peaks from enamel cooking pots.
Family album 2011 pairs photographs of family members posed in front of Soviet monuments with more recent
enactments where the monuments have been replaced, linking private experience to wider social change.
Almagul MENLIBAYEVA
b.1969, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Almaty
Almagul Menlibayeva uses photography and video to reflect on history, memory and landscape, imagining a pre-Soviet,
pre-Islamic realm in collision with the present. Her video installation Kurchatov 22 2012 revisits Semipalatinsk in northeast
Kazakhstan, the main site for Soviet nuclear testing during the Cold War. Blending documentary with performance,
Menlibayeva investigates the lingering impact of historical acts on future generations.
Hrair SARKISSIAN
b.1973, Damascus, Syria
Lives and works in London, United Kingdom
Hrair Sarkissian creates eerie urban and landscape photographs that retain traces of human presence and conflict.
Captured at dawn or in the depths of winter, his images are an exercise in contrast: between the beauty and calm of the
environment and the lingering memory of terrible events. His 2006 series ‘In Between’ grew out of the artist’s experience
of visiting his ancestral homeland of Armenia for the first time.

Wael SHAWKY
b.1971, Alexandria, Eqypt
Lives and works in Alexandria
Wael Shawky’s film and photographic works re-interpret past events as games, often using children or puppets as actors.
In this way, he proposes alternative views through which to consider the inconsistencies of history. Featuring Kenyan
Muslim children on donkeys, laying siege to a fort adorned with flags, Telematch Crusades 2009 offers a wryly beautiful
take on the Crusades – the medieval Christian army expeditions seeking to regain the Holy Lands from Muslim rule.
SLAVS AND TATARS
Est. 2006, Eurasia
Slavs and Tatars is an artist collective devoted to the area ‘east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of
China’. Their installations, performances and publications focus on the histories, cultures, languages and politics of the
region to challenge perceptions of ‘East’ and ‘West’. PrayWay 2012 considers the sacred and syncretic as agents for
change in the contemporary world.
Oraib TOUKAN
b.1977, Boston, United States
Lives and works in New York, United States, and Amman, Jordan
Oraib Toukan often appropriates existing information or institutions for her projects, from Christie’s auction house to
Wikipedia. The Equity is in the Circle 2007–09 is a fictional advertising campaign to auction off countries across the
Middle East under 100-year leases. By using techniques associated with advertising, international diplomacy and the real
estate market, Toukan offers candid and ironic perspectives on the complex state of affairs in the Middle East.
The 20-Year Archive
To mark the twentieth anniversary of the APT, artists have been invited to interpret archives from across the region,
including the Gallery’s Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art archive, for the 20-Year Archive.
Heman CHONG
b.1977, Muar, Malaysia
Lives and works in Singapore
Heman Chong’s practice often draws on the imagined futures expressed in literature, politics and philosophy. For his
work Asia / Pacific / Triennial 2012, he turns his attention to the past, creating a sound installation based on texts
uncovered in the archive of QAGOMA’s Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art (ACAPA). Chong describes his spoken
soundtrack as a kind of ‘epic poem’, inviting viewers to make their own associations between fragmented documents and
moments from a shared history.
{disarmed} imagining a Pacific archive
Torika Bolatagici, b.1976, Hobart, Australia, lives and works in Melbourne, Australia | Mathew Hunkin, b.1977, Auckland,
New Zealand, lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand | Teresia Teaiwa, b.1968, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, United States,
lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand
In this project, I-Kiribati African–American poet and academic Teresia Teaiwa, Samoan–New Zealand illustrator Mathew
Hunkin and Fijian–Australian photographer Torika Bolatagici address the historical and contemporary processes of
militarisation in the Pacific, particularly in Fiji. Together, the artists have begun to imagine and create an open‑ended
'Pacific archive', presented in the exhibition and online.
MAP Office
Laurent Gutierrez, b.1966, Casablanca, Morocco | Valérie Portefaix, b.1969, Saint-Etienne, France
Est. 1996, Hong Kong
Based in Hong Kong, China
MAP Office was conceived in 1996 as a framework for studying the contemporary city. Artist–architects Laurent Gutierrez
and Valérie Portefaix combine methods from both fields to produce maps, drawings, books, exhibitions and installations.
For this project, MAP Office presents an ‘atlas’ of Hong Kong’s Asia Art Archive through documents on 111
contemporary artists.
Raqs Media Collective
Jeebesh Bagchi, b.1965, New Delhi, India | Monica Narula, b.1969, New Delhi | Shuddhabrata Sengupta, b.1968, New
Delhi
Est. 1992, New Delhi
Based in New Delhi
Before extending into visual art, Raqs Media Collective explored urban geography through experimental documentary
film and television. For APT7, they delve into the archives of the Sarai research centre in New Delhi, bringing together
publications, videos, interviews and project proposals as an interactive installation.

APT7 CINEMA - Change: Paths Through 20 Years of Film
Image: Production still from Roozi ke zan shodam (The Day I Became a Woman) 2000 /
Director: Marzieh Meshkini / Image courtesy: British Film Institute, Makmalbaf Film House
Change: Paths Through 20 Years of Film uses the motif of change to explore 20 years of filmmaking throughout
the region, reaching from the Middle East across Asia to Australia and the Pacific. Featuring a wide range of
video and filmmaking practices, genres and makers, across more than 80 films, the works consider social,
political and aesthetic transformations in moving‑image culture.
Change highlights a contemplative mode of storytelling that sets individual experience within the context of
social change. In particular, children and young adults are shown as a locus for change within cinematic
narratives. The intertwining of documentary and narrative elements also marks the creation of new cinematic
forms which expand the traditional categories of documentary and fiction.
The program features films by some of the most celebrated directors of the past two decades, including Jia
Zhang-ke (China), Wong Kar-wai (Hong Kong), Abbas Kiarostami (Iran), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
(Thailand), Deepha Mehta (India), Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan), Brillante Mendoza (Philippines), Vimukthi
Jayasundara (Sri Lanka), Lav Diaz (Philippines), Pema Tseden (Tibet), Semih Kaplanoğlu (Turkey), Elia
Suleiman (Palestine), Taika Waititi (New Zealand), Warwick Thornton (Australia), Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil
Joreige (Lebanon), Zhao Liang (China), Jafar Panahi (Iran), Tusi Tamasese (Samoa), Chan‑wook Park (South
Korea), Tsai Ming-liang (Taiwan) and Wang Bing (China).
For film notes and screening times see qagoma.qld.gov.au/apt7cinema

APT7 CINEMA - Mountains and Waters: Chinese Animation Since the 1930s
Image: Production still from Yěmán Cóngshēng (Savage Growth) 2008 / Director: Bu
Hua / Image courtesy: the artist
Following the inclusion of animation programs in APT5 (Japan Fantastic: Before and Beyond Anime) and APT6
(The Cypress and the Crow: 50 Years of Iranian Animation), the Gallery's Australian Cinémathèque presents a
landmark retrospective of Chinese animation as part of APT7. Mountains and Waters: Chinese Animation Since
the 1930s features around 200 works of animation in techniques ranging from the use of ink-wash painting,
shadow plays and papercuts, to puppetry and woodblock prints.
The program opens with profiles of contemporary artists and filmmakers whose works participate in this
extraordinary tradition. Contemporary feature animations screen in January, while a highlight for February is a
focus on animations from Hong Kong and Taiwan. From March to April, Mountains and Waters showcases
classic works by the Wan brothers, who pioneered animation in China from the 1920s, as well as key directors
of the Golden Ages of Chinese animation between the 1950s and the 1980s — Te Wei, Hu Jinqing, Jin Xi, A Da,
Qian Jiajun and many others.
For film notes and screening times see qagoma.qld.gov.au/apt7cinema
The program has received generous assistance from the China Film Archive, Beijing; the Centre de
Documentation sur le Cinéma Chinois, Paris; the Hong Kong Film Archive, Hong Kong; the Chinese Taipei Film
Archive, Taipei; Sunny Sun at A4 Contemporary Arts Center, Chengdu; Kiki Fong; Dr Leong Ko, Geng Liying,
Huang Liwen, Li Bing, Liu Yamin, Sun Mei, Zheng Yujie at the University of Queensland, Brisbane; and the
artists and filmmakers together with their representatives.

Kids’ APT7 mascot Pong Pongan, created
by Uji Handoko Eko Saputro (aka Hahan)
KIDS’ APT7
Kids’ APT7 features 13 interactive art works by exhibiting artists
especially for children and families. Offering a rich participatory
experience and curated to reflect key themes of the exhibition, Kids’
APT7 provides meaningful insights into contemporary art created
across Asia, Australia and the Pacific region.
Pong Pongan, the hermit crab — the Kids’ APT7 mascot created by
Indonesian artist Uji Handoko Eko Saputro (aka Hahan) — guides
children through the exhibition.
Selected activities will also travel to 75 venues around regional and
remote Queensland from January to April 2013 as part of Kids’ APT7
on Tour.
Daniel Boyd (Australia)
History is made at night 2012
For Kids’ APT7 Australian artist, Daniel Boyd has created an engaging multimedia activity programmed to
respond to visitors’ movements.
Tiffany Chung (Vietnam/United State of America)
one day the bird flies across the sea 2012
Tiffany Chung invites children to view a spectacular display of colourful miniature glass animals, draw their
impressions in a palm-sized booklet and write a story about the menagerie.
Parastou Forouhar (Iran)
Persian for kids 2012
Persian for kids invites children and families to create their own animal figure using Farsi script. The creatures
come to life through animation and sound effects, and can be shared with friends and family via email and social
media.
Uji Handoko Eko Saputro (aka Hahan) (Indonesia)
Memento masko 2012
Inspired by themes of family and childhood, Hahan has created a series of black-and-white masks for children
to complete by drawing their own facial expressions. Located in a space with a large‑scale mural depicting an
idealised family portrait, the activity is a tribute to children and their families.
Roslisham Ismail (aka Ise) (Malaysia)
Sira pisang (Glazed banana) 2012
Malaysian artist Ise shares one of his favourite childhood dishes — Sira pisang (Glazed banana) — at the
GOMA Cafe Bistro during the summer holidays. Young diners can enjoy a feast of the senses while participating
in a cultural tradition generously shared by the artist’s family and local community.

Takahiro Iwasaki (Japan)
Out of disorder 2012
Takahiro Iwasaki invites children to discover one of the smallest works ever displayed in the Gallery. The
artist uses delicate found objects, such as strands of hair, cotton thread and even dust, to create an exquisite
miniature replica of nearby Brisbane landmarks, presented in a playful way for visitors to discover.
Kwoma Arts (Papua New Guinea)
Kwaia koromb 2012
Kwoma Arts presents Kwaia koromb, a structure similar to houses built in the East Sepik Province of Papua
New Guinea, which are used for relaxing and teaching children cultural customs, painting and stories.
Visitors can enter the house and draw from a stunning display of wooden carvings.
Richard Maloy (New Zealand)
Yellow or Blue? 2012
Two colourful spaces — one clad in yellow cardboard and the other in blue — provide a setting for
construction and performance as part of Kids’ APT7. Using coloured cardboard, children are invited to either
camouflage themselves in the spaces or contrast their figures in the coloured environments.
Erbossyn Meldibekov (Kazakhstan)
Family album: From Queensland to Kazakhstan 2012
Erbossyn Meldibekov introduces young visitors to his homeland — its history, culture and landmarks —
through photography. In this activity, children take photographs of themselves in front of key sites in
Kazakhstan and surrounding areas. Images can be added to a virtual travel album on display in the space,
or sent to family and friends via email and social media.
Paramodel (Japan)
Paramodel joint factory 2012
Created in collaboration with children, Paramodel's spectacular artificial landscape covers the walls, floor
and ceiling of the gallery space with toy rail networks. Throughout the course of the exhibition, children can
create patterns to add to the installation.
Tromarama (Indonesia)
Wattt?! 2010
Set in a typical living room, the imaginary after-dark activities of lamps take centre stage in the playful stopmotion
animated film.
Te Wei (China)
Where is Mama? 1960, The Buffalo Boy and his Flute 1963 and Feeling of Mountains and Waters 1988
Chinese artist and director Te Wei is widely regarded for his animations which use traditional ink-wash
painting techniques depicting popular Chinese stories and fables for children. As part of the APT7 cinema
program Mountains and Waters: Chinese Animation Since the 1930s, Kids’ APT7 screens three beautiful
animations that will delight visitors of all ages.
Kids’ APT Drawing Projects 2006–12
Kids’ APT7 presents Where I live: Drawings from Papua and Where I live: Drawings from Papua New
Guinea 2012, collections of drawings by children and young people. Participants attended drawing
workshops, facilitated by artists and QAGOMA curators, and based on the subject of the family home. A
selection of drawings from past Kids’ APT projects will also be on display, as part of the 20-Year Archive,
including Khadim Ali The Bamiyan drawing project 2006, Rich Streitmatter-Tran My river, my future: A
children's drawing project 2009 and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Mansudae Art Studio
children’s drawing project, also 2009.

PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
Opening weekend: Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 December 2012
To celebrate the APT7 opening, and the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of this flagship exhibition series, more than
80 Australian and international artists, curators, performers and special guests will participate in a range of artist talks,
performances, tours and discussions.
APT7 Up Late animates both QAG and GOMA for one night only from 6pm on Saturday December 8. Live music from
Syrian folk-pop sensation Omar Souleyman, will be complemented by a special local performance and guest DJs. Entry
is free.
For full opening weekend details, view the full program of APT7 opening weekend events or pick up a Preview
brochure onsite.
Ongoing programs and events: December 2012 – April 2013
Special event: Artist project performance: Hu:In Meditation
2.30pm, Sunday February 24 | GOMA
Parastou Forouhar has invited a local musician to respond to her immersive installation Written room (1999–ongoing).
Music by Brisbane-based composer and ethnomusicologist Dr Nicholas Ng will be played on a range of contemporary
Iranian instruments.
New art floor talks
QAGOMA curators will explore key themes and ideas in the exhibition, focusing on recent art works and new
commissions through short floor talks in exhibition spaces. See the website for dates and details.
Conversations with APT7 artists
Exhibiting artists will be joined by QAGOMA curators for insights into their works on display in APT7. See the website for
dates and details.
My Gen 50+
A range of programs and events developed for visitors aged over 50 are held in conjunction with APT7. Visit My Gen
50+ for more information.
GOMA Talks
6.30–7.30pm Thursdays fortnightly | February 21 – April 4, 2013 | Cinema A, GOMA
Audi GOMA Bar opens from 5.15pm
Presented in partnership with ABC Radio National, the entertaining evening discussion program GOMA Talks returns
during APT7. Join special guests and ABC Radio National hosts as they explore a range of topics that delve into
Australia’s place in the ‘Asian Century’. Visit www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/gomatalks
For full details, view ongoing APT7 programs and events online or pick up a Preview brochure onsite.

APT7 PUBLICATIONS
The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art
Across 320 illustrated pages, the exhibition publication for APT7
emphasises the voices of exhibiting artists, and explores the
extraordinary artistic, social and economic changes that have taken
place across Asia and the Pacific in the two decades since the
inception of the APT series.
The publication features in-depth writing by curators and specialists in
diverse fields: Peter Brunt, Senior Lecturer in Art History, Victoria
University of Wellington, New Zealand; Martin Fowler, consultant and
writer specialising in architecture and cultural patterns of Melanesia,
and co-curator of the Papua New Guinea component of the exhibition;
Joan Kee, Assistant Professor, History of Art, University of Michigan,
United States; Michael Kisombo, former education officer with the
Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery; November
Paynter, Associate Director of Research and Programs, SALT,
Istanbul and co-curator of the APT7 project 0 – Now: Traversing West
Asia; and Michael Wesley, academic and former Executive Director of
the Lowy Institute for International Policy. There is also a key essay by
highly esteemed Pacific writer and scholar, the late Epeli Hau’ofa.
The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art presents texts on the work of the 75 participating artists,
collaborations and collectives from across Asia, the Pacific and Australia, and offers insights into cultural
production in West Asia and Papua New Guinea. This substantial publication also documents two
accompanying curated film programs: Change: Paths Through 20 Years of Film, profiling this 20-year period of
expanding film production and distribution throughout Asia; and the retrospective Mountains and Waters:
Chinese Animation Since the 1930s; as well as the 13 artist projects that make up Kids’ APT7.
ISBN 9781921503375 | Softcover, 320 pages, 305 x 240 x 30mm | RRP $49.95
Hahan and Friends
Indonesian artist Hahan (Uji Handoko Eko Saputro) has collaborated with QAGOMA’s
Children’s Art Centre to develop a limited edition, richly illustrated children’s book that
explores the artist’s life and art works. The first solo artist publication from the
Children’s Art Centre, Hahan and Friends presents art‑making activities for children to
complete at home or in the classroom.
ISBN 9781921503511 | Softcover, 56 pages, 297 x 210 x 6mm | RRP $12.95

EDUCATION RESOURCES
Newly commissioned art works, education resources and interactive Kids’ APT7 projects will inspire students
of all ages to explore the diversity of the Asia Pacific region. A range of education resources are available for
use on site or in the classroom, and student groups are welcome.
APT7 provides the ideal opportunity to address cross-curriculum priorities such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander histories and cultures (ATSIHC), Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia (AAEA), and
Sustainability (SUST). The content will be of interest to students of Visual Art and Design, Humanities, Modern
History, Studies of Society and Studies of Religion.
RESOURCES
• Worksheets for primary and secondary levels with questions to stimulate discussion and
investigation plus teacher notes with curriculum links and inspiring classroom activities
• A Design your own APT7 tour allows students to create their own tour of selected art works in the
exhibition, with images and expanded label information
• Throughout the exhibition, QR codes unlock video iTours of key works, accessible via smartphone
in the Gallery spaces, or as a classroom resource via QAGOMA TV.
Student Choice: APT7 Video Project
In the lead-up to APT7, year 7 students from Coorparoo State School and year 11 students from Villanova
College were invited by the Gallery to witness the installation process, meet some of the exhibiting artists and
discuss art works in their own words. Their interactions with artists and curators are captured on camera and
offer a unique perspective into the making of a large-scale exhibition. The students’ insights will be available
from February 2013 on the QAGOMA website, and by scanning the QR codes featured in the Gallery’s APT7
education resources.
EDUCATION BOOKINGS
Group bookings are required at least 72 hours in advance. Contact the Education Bookings Office:
E: educationbookings@qagoma.qld.gov.au
T: (07) 3840 7255 or book your group visit online
LOOK OUT TEACHER PROGRAM
A program for teachers on Saturday February 9, suitable for all teaching levels, offers a look behind the
scenes of the exhibition, as well as at the art work and Kids’ APT7 activities, and a discussion panel with
artists. Book online only (fees apply and space is limited)

On the Asia Pacific Triennial series and APT7
• Suhanya Raffel, Acting Director, QAGOMA
On APT7
• Suhanya Raffel, Acting Director, QAGOMA
SPOKESPERSONS
• Maud Page, Acting Deputy Director, Curatorial and Collection Development, QAGOMA
• Russell Storer, Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art, QAGOMA
• Ruth McDougall, Curator, Pacific Art, QAGOMA
• Reuben Keehan, Curator, Contemporary Asian Art, QAGOMA
On the Australian component
• Julie Ewington, Curatorial Manager, Australian Art, QAGOMA
• Bruce McLean, Curator, Indigenous Australian Art, QAGOMA
• Diane Moon, Curator, Indigenous Fibre Art, QAGOMA
Co-curators
• Martin Fowler (Papua New Guinea)
• November Paynter (0 – Now: Traversing West Asia)
On the Cinema program
• Kathryn Weir, Curatorial Manager, International Art and Australian Cinémathèque, QAGOMA
• Jose Da Silva, Senior Curator (Film, Video and New Media), Australian Cinémathèque, QAGOMA
On Public Programs and Kids’ APT
• Simon Wright, Assistant Director (Programming),QAGOMA
• Donna McColm, Head of Public Programs, Children's Art Centre and Membership, QAGOMA
• Tamsin Cull, Senior Program Officer, Children’s Art Centre, QAGOMA
On the Education Programs
• Melina Mallos, Program Officer, Education & Curriculum Programs, QAGOMA
Selected exhibiting artists may be available for interview on request. Please contact
media@qagoma.qld.gov.au for more information.

USE OF IMAGES AND COPYRIGHT
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art respects the rights of artists and copyright holders when
providing images for media use.
The Gallery grants permission to approved media representatives to communicate, broadcast and reproduce
selected art works contained in ‘The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT7) for criticism or
review, and reporting the news.
Images strictly for criticism, review or reporting the news are available online at:
http://drive.qagoma.qld.gov.au
Username: apt7media
Password: media
The responsibility for securing permission from the copyright holder for any additional purposes of image
reproduction remains solely with the party reproducing the images.
In addition, any print reproduction of these images must be accompanied by the full caption, including the
credit line and the relevant copyright information, as provided with each image.
Any party communicating, broadcasting or reproducing these images must not crop, distort or manipulate
the images in any way. No images can be bled off the page, or printed in a single colour other than black, or
overlaid with text.
Copying, dissemination or redistribution of any image is strictly prohibited without prior written permission
from the Gallery.
For images or further information regarding image use, please contact the QAGOMA media department:
ph: +61 7 3840 7162 or email: media@qagoma.qld.gov.au