For the duration of the ‘The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT8) our Research Library is sharing APT archival material, with displays changing regularly. The archives include artwork proposals, objects and project documentation relating to the work of artists from Australia, Asia and the Pacific, dating back to the early 1990s.
A few artists participating in APT8 have appeared in previous APT’s, such as Navin Rawanchaikul. He travelled to Australia in 1993 to assist the late Montien Boonma for the first APT and then returned for APT2 in 1996 as a participating artist.
Rawanchaikul, a Thai artist of Indian descent, often explores the theme of identity, using both real and fictitious elements in his art practice. He also places an importance on community, establishing the artist collective Navin Production, which emphasises the collaborative and socially engaged possibilities of art and has recently celebrated 20 years.
The Library has collected items released to coincide with Rawanchaikul’s exhibitions and installations, including a collection of comics and books created by Navin Production. These range from comics produced for Rawanchaikul’s ‘Taxi’ series (the taxi cab as an art gallery), to the Same same but another Millennium two-part comic produced for the international art journal Flash Art, taking its cue from the ‘end of the world’ conspiracies as the clocked ticked over to 1 January 2000.
More recently Rawanchaikul has incorporated ‘Navinism’ (the world of Navins) within his installations, for example his 2007 book Quotations from Comrade Navin, a passbook from the 2011 Venice Biennale and the 2007 comic Who is Navin?, a melded biography of Navin Rawanchaikul, covering his Bollywood adventure and the founding of the Navin Party.
QAGOMA Research Library
The QAGOMA Research Library is located on Level 3 of the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Open to the public Tuesday to Friday 10.00am to 5.00pm. visit us in person or explore the online catalogue. Access to special collections is available by appointment.
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