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.
The QAGOMA Research Library is located on Level 3 of the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and is open to the public from Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. Visit the Library’s website to access our online catalogue and learn more about our collections and services.
The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT)
is the Gallery’s flagship exhibition focused on the work of Asia, the Pacific and Australia.
21 November 2015 – 10 April 2016
Exhibition Founding Sponsor: Queensland Government
Exhibition Principal Sponsor: Audi Australia