back issue

Artists are naturally suspicious of maps. These often arbitrary-seeming demarcations of nationhood can impede the flow of creativity, reducing us to mere cultural artefacts. As novelist Brian Castro writes about the idea of 'Asia' in this special issue of Art & Australia: 'Where it begins and where it ends has been at the whim of colonial mapmakers. Step over this line and you're 'Asian'; Step back over and ... well, we don't know; let's check your eyes, the shape of your skull.'

For almost twenty years, Queensland Art Gallery's Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) has showcased a region without maps, where East and West and South creatively converge. In the increasingly globalised world of contemporary art, who can tell where Asia ends and the Pacific begins? With collaboration being at the artistic and moral heart of this year's triennial, it seems only natural that we join forces with the APT's curatorial team to present our 6th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art focus issue featuring the work of Yoshitomo Nara, Gonkar Gyatso, Thukral & Tagra, Reuben Paterson, Farhad Moshiri, Shirana Shabazi, Mansudae Art Studio, Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan, Mataso Printmakers, Robin White, Bale Jione, Leba Toki and Rohan Wealleans.