APT10 - a Monumental Art Show

This weekend saw the opening of the APT10 - the Asia Pacific Triennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art from the region with 150 artists from 30 different countries. It is of course a testament to GOMA and all its teams that they were able to curate and exhibit these works when the whole world has been suffering the effects of a pandemic.  

The show is astonishing in its breadth and scope, though a few common threads emerge such as artists connection with their cultures and their relationship to nature and of course the ever present ever threatening spectre of climate change and the effects on the planet. To say it is a celebration of all that art has to offer is almost underselling it. I had to draw breath, sit down, take breaks and I still don't think I had enough time to take it all in even over a weekend. 

I am sharing my favourites which are undoubtedly from nearby and steeped in their cultures. The Uramat Mugas Story Songs of East New Britain from PNG. Two galleries dedicated to their amazing woven masks and costumes and backdrops of huge screens displaying the day and night ceremonies that you can sit and watch. The first gallery displays five types of masks, while the screens show the village, the forest, the Mugas and the sound of the bamboo orchestra.Adjoining is the gallery with the night ceremonies. 

Nguyen Thi Chau 's delicate silk prints on both sides to "grandmothers, mothers, sisters and girlfriends who live around me and have unstable lives". Three generations of women in Vietnam and the changing fortunes of each. 

The expressive ceramic pots with a woman's face on it of Joyce Mary Arasepa Cole and the little figures that go along side. Young girls, breastfeeding mums and babes. 

The poignant mural of Archie Oclos with migrant and indigenous populations depicted against the backdrop of sacks of rice and the uncertain futures they face. 

The giant unadorned water containers of Alia Farid - her representation of their importance in her culture and the way they are central to the lives of so many in times of rising scarcity of water. 

And the work of I Made Djina entitled Kita 2021 which was striking. Kita means togetherness and in creating this work with pumice stones and coconut shells he blends the indoor and outdoor with what is private and what is shared while emphasising the importance of family life in Bali. 

The exhibition is on until the 25th of April 2022 - give yourselves lots of time.