'APT6' Exhibition | Zhu Weibing, Ji Wenyu | People holding flowers (detail) 2007 | The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2008 with funds from Michael Simcha Baevski through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery

For the last year Queensland Art Gallery curator Russell Storer and I have been collaboratively developing a special platform for the latest Asia Pacific Triennial, it's 6th incarnation, launching this December in Brisbane, Australia. Simply called The Mekong, the project looks at connections among the Greater Mekong Subregion nations: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar - some transnational, others culturally specific, and others imagined.

I'll be writing more on the Mekong project, but a quick description of the project can be found on the QAG website, and is pasted here below:

The Mekong
Artists: Bùi Công Khánh, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Pich Sopheap, Manit Sriwanichpoom, Svay Ken, Tun Win Aung & Wah Nu, Vandy Rattana
Co-organised by Rich Streitmatter-Tran (Vietnam) and Russell Storer (Curator, Contemporary Asian art, Queensland Art Gallery)

The Mekong River is one of the longest rivers in Asia, running from its source in China, through the countries of Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Difficult to navigate, the Mekong has historically formed connections, as well as a border, between the peoples who live along its course. In recent years, with the growth of trade and investment, the development of roads and other communication networks and increased migration and exchanges of people, information and ideas, the region has become more integrated than ever before. The Mekong platform within APT6 presents a vivid, multi-layered view of a complex and rapidly transforming region, a place that is becoming increasingly prominent culturally, politically and economically. Key themes include changing societies and cultures, including tensions between tradition and modernity, and between Buddhist teachings and Western values. The shifting dynamics of nationhood and how this impacts on individuals and society is another concern for artists. The presentation will feature a range of media, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and video.

Asia Pacific Triennial (APT6)
A general description of the Asia Pacific Triennial (also taken from the QAG site):

'The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art' (APT6) will profile new commissions and recent work by more than 100 artists and filmmakers from over 25 countries across the region.

APT6 will include for the first time contemporary artists from North Korea (DPRK), Iran, Turkey, Tibet, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma). Australian artists presented in APT6 are the Philippines-born, Brisbane-based husband-and-wife team Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan; the Melbourne collective DAMP; Raafat Ishak (Melbourne); and Tracey Moffatt, who lives and works in New York and on the Sunshine Coast.

APT6 will include three groundbreaking presentations: The Mansudae Art Studio project, co-curated with filmmaker Nicholas Bonner (UK/China), the first presentation in Australia of contemporary art from North Korea (DPRK); Pacific Reggae, co-curated with broadcaster Brent Clough (NZ/Australia), showcasing for the first time music and music video by reggae artists from Hawai'i, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia; and The Mekong, co-curated with artist Rich Streitmatter-Tran (Vietnam), featuring painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and video from Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma).

Internationally acclaimed directors Ang Lee (Taiwan/USA), Rithy Panh (Cambodia/France) and Takeshi Kitano (Japan) are the filmmakers to be featured in the Australian Cinémathèque at the Gallery of Modern Art.

Information
QAG: The Mekong
QAG: The Asia Pacific Triennial (APT6)