Work by more than 80 artists featured in ‘The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT8) will reflect the vigour of expanding creative centres throughout Asia and the Pacific. This very special event will be held from Saturday November 21 to Sunday April 10. Entry is free.

With each iteration of the flagship Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition series, the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art  examines developments in the contemporary art of Australia, Asia and the Pacific. APT8 emphasises performance, with live actions, video, kinetic art, figurative painting and sculpture exploring how the human form can express cultural, social and political ideas. The exhibition features more than 80 artists from over 30 countries including significant Australian involvement. Mongolia, Nepal, the Kyrgyz Republic, Iraq and Georgia will also be represented for the first time.

Major new commissions include a sprawling structural installation of found materials by India’s Asim Waqif and an elegant suspended sculpture by South Korea’s Haegue Yang. The special focus projects in APT8 are Kalpa Vriksha: Contemporary Indigenous and Vernacular Art of India — the first major display of its kind in Australia — and the Melanesian performance project Yumi Danis (We Dance), which emerged from a creative exchange in Ambrym, Vanuatu, in 2014.

In addition to the exhibition itself, APT8 encompasses APT8 Live, an ongoing program of artist performances and projects; a conference as part of the opening program; extensive cinema programs; publications; and activities for kids and families. Of the 160 biennials and triennials currently staged worldwide, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art is the only exhibition series to focus on the contemporary art of Asia, Australia and the Pacific.