VOLUME 20 NO. 4 DECEMBER 2011 the journal of the asian arts society of australia TAASA Review 2o YEARS OF TAASA C o N t en t S Volume 20 No. 4 December 2011 4 Editorial: 20 YEARS oF taaSa 36 A NEW NaGa riSiNG: CaMBODIAN CoNtEMPORARY art Josefa Green Darryl Collins TAASa’S lEGaCY 38 GALLErY 2902 & CoNtEMPORARY SiNGaPORE PHOTOGRAPHY Gael Newton 6 BUILDING oN taaSa’S FoUNDATIONS Gill Green 42 BEYoND FIRSt iMPrESSIONS: StUdENT PErSPECTIVES oN aSIAN art 10 TAASa rECOLLECtEd Phoebe Scott Jackie Menzies and Heleanor Feltham 44 HiNDI CiNEMa aNd tHE PARADOX oF GLOBALISATION 12 A CoMMUNITY oF iNtErESt: tHE taaSa tEXTILE GROUP Adrienne McKibbins 46 aSIAN daNCE iN aUSTRALIA 14 TAASA MEMBErS’ MEMOIRS Jill Sykes State of tHE artS 48 EARLY ENCoUNtErS WITH aSIA Peter Sculthorpe 20 aN iMMErSiVE EXPERIENCE: iNNoVATIVE aSIAN art EXHiBITIONS iN aUSTRALIA 50 iN PErFORMaNCE: aSIAN MUSiC MaKiNG iN aUSTRALIA Katherine Russell 23 20 YEARS oF CoNtEMPORARY aSIAN art iN aUSTRALIA: RepoSitory oF riches A PErSoNAL PErSPECTIVE Gene Sherman 54 CURATOR’S CHOICE: aSIAN trEaSUrE FROM aUSTRALIA’S PUBLIC COLLECTION 26 aPt tHEN aND NoW Michael Desmond 60 rECENt taaSa aCTIVITIES 28 DOUBlE diP: tHE aSIAN BiENNALE aNd art FAIR 60 TAASA MemberS’ diarY: DECEMBER 2011- FEBRUARY 2012 Gina Fairley 62 WHat’S oN iN aUStralia aNd oVErseaS: 31 PLACE.TIME.PLAY: CoNtEMPORARY art FROM tHE WEST DECEMBER 2011-FEBRUARY 2012 HEaVENS to tHE MIDDLE KiNGDOM Compiled by Tina Burge Chaitanya Sambrani 34 50,000 DAYS IN ASIA: THE ASIALINK ARTS RESIDENCY PROGRAM Lesley Alway a FUll iNdex of artiClES PUBlished in TAASA REview Since itS BEGinnings in 1991 is aVailaBle on tHE taaSa WEB SitE, WWW.taaSa.orG.aU 2 T A A S A c o m m ittee Gill Green • PResident TAASA REVIEW Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC. AbN 64093697537 • Vol. 20 No. 4, December 2011 cHRISTInA SUMNER • Vice PResident ISSN 1037.6674 Principal Curator, Design and Society, Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134 Powerhouse Museum, Sydney ANN GUILd • TReASuReR EditoRIAL • email: [email protected] Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK) General editor, Josefa Green dy Andreasen • SeCReTARY Has a special interest in Japanese haiku and tanka poetry publicationS committee Josefa Green (convenor) • Tina burge Hwei-fE’n cheah Melanie Eastburn • Sandra Forbes • Ann MacArthur Lecturer, Art History, Australian National University, Jim Masselos • Ann Proctor • Susan Scollay with an interest in needlework Sabrina Snow • Christina Sumner JOCELYN cHEy design/layouT Visiting Professor, Department of Chinese Studies, Ingo Voss, VossDesign University of Sydney; former diplomat printing Matt cox John Fisher Printing Study Room Co-ordinator, Art Gallery of New South Wales, with a particular interest in Islamic Art of Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. Southeast Asia PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011 www.taasa.org.au Philip courtenAy Enquiries: [email protected] Former Professor and Rector of the Cairns Campus, James Cook University, with a special interest in Southeast TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members Asian ceramics of The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. TAASA Review welcomes submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and LUCIE FOLAn performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and Assistant Curator, Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia subscription to TAASA Review are available on request. SAndra foRbes No opinion or point of view is to be construed as the opinion of Editorial consultant with long-standing interest The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc., its staff, servants or agents. in South and Southeast Asian art No claim for loss or damage will be acknowledged by TAASA JosefA Green Review as a result of material published within its pages or General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese in other material published by it. We reserve the right to alter ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian or omit any article or advertisements submitted and require art as student and traveller indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. mIn-Jung KIm Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum All reasonable efforts have been made to trace copyright holders. 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Rosenfeld Kant and Co back page $850 state re p rese n tatives Full inner page $725 AUSTRALIAN Capital Territory Half page horizontal $484 Third page (vertical or horizontal) $364 Robyn Maxwell Half column $265 Visiting Fellow in Art History, ANU; Insert $300 Senior Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia Northern Territory For further information re advertising, including discounts for regular quarterly advertising, please contact JoAnnA BarrkmAn [email protected] Curator of Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The deadlinE foR all articles for OuR NexT issue is 15 DeCeMBeR 2011 QUEENSLAND The deadlinE foR all aDvertising Russell STorer for OuR NexT issue is 1 FEBRuARY 2012 Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art, Queensland Art Gallery SOUTH AUSTRALIA JAmes Bennett Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia Victoria CaroL CainS Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International 3 E d IT o R I A L : 2 0 y E A R S o f T A A S A Josefa Green, Editor As you can see, this is a very special issue of ground through their innovative designs and engagement between Australian artists the TAASA Review, to celebrate TAASA’s 20th experiential approach. and Asia are also covered in this issue. The anniversary. Director of Asialink Arts, Lesley Alway, One major private sector player in the explains the aims of its Residency program Given the central place of the TAASA Review Australian cultural scene since the early and gives tangible examples of how some over TAASA’s 20 year life, it seemed fitting to 1980’s has been the Sherman Contemporary have benefited from it. Phoebe Scott do something special, an idea enthusiastically Art Foundation (SCAF). Gene Sherman interviews some of our current arts students, supported by the Publications Committee. provides a personal account of what inspired exploring what has motivated them to learn We felt that this was an opportunity for us her to promote contemporary Asian art with more about Asian art and culture, and how to step back, not only to review TAASA’s such passion, and outlines the impressive list this has affected their work to date. past activities, but, more broadly, to assess of exhibitions and related initiatives taken by developments in the Asian arts in Australia the then Irving Galleries and now SCAF. Her TAASA has tried to maintain a commitment to over the last 20 years to the present. article also acknowledges some of the other cover the performing arts, and this is reflected major players in the contemporary Asian arts by the remaining articles in this State of the Arts This conception has driven the approach scene in Australia in the same period. section. Adrienne McKibbins dissects Hindi taken in this issue. It is divided into 3 main cinema, arguing that the terms ‘bollywood’ and sections. TAASA’s Legacy aims to honour the One major initiative mentioned by Gene ‘globalisation’ are both misleadingly applied many people who have been involved with Sherman is covered more fully by Michael to this industry. Jill Sykes offers personal TAASA over time – committee members, Desmond’s article. This is the Asia Pacific insights into where Asian dance has gone in service providers, supportive art institutions Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) Australia over the last two decades. And we are and members. In State of the Arts, we have which was launched in 1993, with great delighted that Peter Sculthorpe has contributed commissioned a number of experts to assess prescience, by the Queensland Art Gallery. a piece which describes the beginnings of his developments in the Asian arts field, including Michael Desmond assesses the way in which engagement with Asia, its music and ideas. performing arts, and have widened our successive APTs have encouraged interest in reach beyond Australia to cover interesting the arts and wider culture of Asia, at the same Finally, in our “In Performance” segment, four developments elsewhere. Finally, in Repository time putting brisbane on the cultural map. groups or individuals who currently perform of Riches, we have tried to give a feel for the Asian music in Australia are profiled: Adrian range of Asian objects which can be found in As Michael Desmond points out, the current McNeil with bobby Singh; Queensland the collections of our major arts institutions. proliferation of rival biennials in the Asian Conservatorium’s Gamelan Ensemble, the region has affected the impact of the APTs. Nefes Ensemble and Riley Lee. Our opening article in the TAASA’s Legacy This is illustrated by Gina Fairley’s article, section is by current TAASA President, Gill which notes that around 25 of the 80 or so So to the last segment of our ‘twice the size’ Green. In outlining TAASA’s history, she takes international biennales/triennials are now TAASA Review.