In anticipation of the 1999 Asia and Pacific regional focus ‘A Digital Region’, ANAT undertook research during late 1998 to investigate possible collaborations between Australian technology artists and communities and art groups based in the region. The research took the form of a focus group, aiming to demonstrate that given the opportunity, practitioners based in developing countries can use technology to portray their experience of life, beliefs etc to their local communities and the rest of world. The focus group interrogated possibilities for exchange and exploration between Australian technology based artists and the Asia Pacific region.
The meeting was project managed by Jane Grigg.
Whilst the core area of ANAT’s focus geographically was on South East Asia and the Pacific (including New Zealand), we also considered the periphery of north Asia (China, Korea and Japan), and the Pacific Rim (including Papua New Guinea). How ANAT could work within this complex geography to best facilitate a regional dialogue was the priority of the research phase of this project. This informed the development of creative collaborations: pacific realities, a residency program to be initiated in 1999.
Artists and curators who participated in the focus group included:
Amanda McDonald Crowley: Director, ANAT; Sam da Silva: An artist who has worked with Merlin Integrated Media, Sydney; Linda Wallace: Curator and project manager based in Canberra; Jun-ann Lam: An artist from Melbourne; Penelope Aitkin: AsiaLink, Melbourne; Kim Machan: Director of the Multimedia Arts Asia Pacific (MAAP) Festival; Rhana
Devonport: Visual arts coordinator of the Asia Pacific Triennial.; Paul Brown: ANAT Chair, and an artist, writer and educator based in Brisbane.; Lisa Reihana: an Indigenous New Zealand video artist; Deborah Lawler Dormer: Director of the Moving Image Centre, New Zealand
Tags: creative collaborations, international residencies, Research
