Net-forum, House of World Cultures, Berlin
This paper explores some of the experiences in the beginning of defining a new space in the Asia Pacific region. Australia has a tiny population (17 million) and primarily a western perception of art. The act of engaging in the region has many responsibilities and being an English speaking country, though a multicultural society, we are aware of old notions of cultural colonization and fundamentally do not seek to impose a rubber stamp passport into the region. Our experience has been taking small steps, achieving one to one relationships that domino while building a structural focus that can support exposure to artists in the region while welcoming regional partnerships and input that will grow to define the space of MAAP.
MAAP (Multimedia Art Asia Pacific) has just held it inaugural festival »MAAP98« 18 -26 September in Brisbane, Australia. After the nine day festival which involved interactive exhibitions, screening programs, training sessions and forums relating and involving artists from the Asia Pacific regions we emerge with reflections and a sense of direction for the future of the organization. MAAP set out to create a space of focus for artists working with art and technology in the Asia Pacific regions - including Australia.
Beginning from scratch, our desire was to create a magnet space to attract artists working in the region, to search out existing networks and place them in a central pool of exchange and promotion. Our first achievement was creating an on-line exhibition, »Shoreline -particles and waves« curated by Beth Jackson. This exhibition commissioned 10 artists from the region (Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand) to create a work based on a developed curatorial theme. This was also presented on a plasma screen in the Queensland Art Gallery. The interesting point was that many of the artists were totally unknown to the normal art channels and an obvious fresh approach that subverts the established channels of curatorial tradition was needed. There is an openness to exchange and discover - a work is just a URL away and communication and viewing artists work over vast geographical distances is no problem. This is all very obvious but once the action starts many ramifications follow, many questions are raised.
The new media space crosses over the known traditional contemporary art territory into other areas where creative people don't necessarily have ties or experience with institutional art supports, especially in Asia. We also find that the traditional contemporary art world is ready and keen to swallow up and process these artists into a manageable space - to blend a select few to represent the medium and therefore seemingly address the new media space. This seems to sanitize and negate the nature and potential of the organic explosion of work in the region and how artists are using that space. MAAP hopes to avoid this trap and look to work created that does not necessarily fit the model of »art« for institutional fodder. The active space that the Internet provides is one that is responsive and one that can morph to accommodate creative dialogue. Artists do have a great empowerment of their web space purely by their control of design and having an upper hand with the technology over many curators coming into the space. It is a collaborative process and not so dictatorial as a traditional »gallery hang«. We are all learning to explore this space; it does not function and should not function as a computer model of the »art world«. To speak directly with artists greatly subverts the problems of distance but we see the physical meeting at the time of the festival important to bring these virtual relationships into real space.
One issue highlighted was regarding artists in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, and that much of the interesting artwork involved content that incorporated politically driven challenges to their established governments. The attention brought to artist's works could potentially endanger them, so sensitivity and awareness is crucial.
From our first event we now intend to build the web presence to include artist in residence, artist run projects, guest curators, site-of-the-month, software give aways, feedback and discussion place. We are contacting other organizations country by country with a purpose and a place to talk. The Asia Pacific region encompasses a huge range of diverse cultures and the coming together on the web is a meaningful way to build dialogue. Also interesting is the willingness corporate partnerships play in future support of new media art in the region. This of course has direct commercial potential but also relates to industry/people desperate to see what content can be created by this young industry. This ability to attract funds from non-traditional art patrons is a reason that attention to this area of creativity will grow so quickly.
The Internet is a unique space to work in. Interest in the web site and festival has not only come from art audiences. People not usually interested in art at all, have been involved through a curiosity as to what the technology can deliver. This expands the conceptual delivery space, audience development and the role of art in our society.
This space is too short to address many of the issues raised in MAAP98 and I look forward to another space to enlarge -, as do many of the artists and participants. I would like to emphasize that we are just beginning and have a rich future of exchange to develop.
Kim Machan: curator, producer, art consultant, designer, she has directed activities towards the goal of using media and new situations to promote and expose contemporary art and art concepts to broader audiences. These activities have lead her into further involvement with technology taking the role as festival director for MAAP98 (Multimedia Art Asia Pacific), Brisbane, Australia.
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Forum of the House of World Cultures, Berlin, on the use of Internet in the cultural exchange with and between Africa, Asia/Pacific and Latin America. 1998/1999