The Culturalist Series: How to make the most of APT8’s opening weekend
For our fifth instalment of the Culturalist Series, we are focusing on the best ways to make the most of the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8), exploring the Culturalist app’s APT8 Plus playlist in the Public category.
Last week in The Culturalist Series, we listed a bunch of ways to let your inner child free with a host of activities that encourage embracing child-like wonder. For our final instalment of the series, we are focusing on the best ways to make the most of the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8), commencing on Saturday November 21. Using the APT8 Plus! playlist on the Culturalist app, you can plan your visit to take in one of QAGOMA’s flagship exhibitions, as well as catching several other great experiences around the precinct before they wrap up.
The opening weekend of APT8 is jam-packed with things to do. Several exhibited artists will be hosting free talks and Q&A sessions with gallery curators and notable figures in the artistic community. On Saturday November 21, APT8 artist Yuki Kihara will participate in a must-see discussion of her work, which focuses on gender and history and how both are represented in contemporary Pacific societies. Sunday November 22 will see Venkat Raman Singh Shyam in conversation with Tarun Nagesh, Associate Curator, Asian Art, QAGOMA, as he discusses his work displayed as part of the special APT8 project ‘Kalpa Vriksha: Contemporary Indigenous and Vernacular Art of India’.
The eighth edition of APT emphasises the role of performance in contemporary Asia Pacific art, with live demonstrations from performing artists taking place throughout the opening weekend. On Saturday November 21 Melati Suryodarmo will perform ‘I’m a ghost in my own house 2012’, in which she will crush hundreds of kilograms of charcoal over a 12-hour period. Over the opening Saturday and Sunday Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra will reimagine characters from traditional mythology in a processional performance that moves between GOMA and the Queensland Art Gallery’s Stanley Place entrance. Anida Yoeu Ali will don a caterpillar-like costume for a series of social encounters over the opening weekend as part of her interactive work ‘The Buddhist Bug 2015’, which spawned out of the artist’s fascination with Buddhism as a Khmer Muslim woman.
In addition to all of the unique and amazing things to see and do at QAGOMA during APT8, there are several other exhibitions that you should not miss out on. The Queensland Museum is hosting The Great Barrier Reef, an outdoor photographic exhibition of the largest reef system on Earth, until Sunday November 22. A short walk away, the State Library of Queensland is continuing the photographic trend with the 2015 Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition being showcased in the Infozone until Sunday November 22 as well. Over at QPAC, Les Misérables is being staged until January. To complement the dazzling stage production, QPAC has amassed an extraordinary collection of original posters from many productions around the world as well as rehearsal photographs, original costumes and memorabilia. Les Misérables: From Page to Stage offers a glimpse into one of the world’s most acclaimed musicals, and is worth a look even if you’ve already seen the stage show.
Image one credit: Melati Suryodarmo / I’m a Ghost in My Own House 2012 (detail) / 12 hour performance, mixed media installation and single-channel video / Documentation of performance staged at Lawangwangi Creative Space, Lawangwangi Foundation, Bandung, Indonesia, 2012 / Image courtesy: The artist / © The artist
Image two credit: Anida Yoeu Ali / The Buddhist Bug, Into the Night (production still) 2015 / A project of Studio Revolt. Concept and performance: Anida Yoeu Ali; Video: Masahiro Sugano / Commissioned for APT8. The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2015 with funds from Michael Sidney Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist
Image three credit: 2015 Nikon-Walkley Press Photography exhibition, Adam Houda, “See you in Court” (detail), Photo by Nic Walker, courtesy State Library Queensland
Image four credit: Great Barrier Reef Exhibition, Photo Gary Cranitch, courtesy Queensland Museum
Image five credit: Les Misérables, Photo courtesy QPAC
To find out more about what’s on in Brisbane, head to our Event Guide.