Leading Chinese artist Qiu Zhijie will be onsite at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) this month to create Map of Utopia 2018, an enormous ink painting that will be a major highlight of ‘The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT9), from 24 November, 2018 to 28 April, 2019.

Announcing the full list of artists for APT9, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Director Chris Saines said Qiu Zhijie was among more than 80 individuals, collectives and group projects from more than 30 countries to feature in the ninth chapter of the Gallery’s flagship exhibition series,.

‘Born in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province in 1969, and now living and working in Beijing, Qiu Zhijie is one of the most important Chinese artists of his generation and a leading figure in conceptual and new media art globally,’ Mr Saines said.

‘We are thrilled to have Qiu Zhijie here in Brisbane in late August to create his major, site-specific work for the forthcoming Triennial.’

Mr Saines said another highlight of the forthcoming Triennial would be a display of large, circular sculptural forms created from nassa shells, known as ‘Tutana’ or ‘Loloi’ by members of the Gunantuna community of Nangananga village from East New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

‘Premiering at GOMA, these objects were specially created for APT9, and will tower above visitors as they enter the building. Conveying ideas of wealth and value, the Tutana are constructed from thousands of shells – the very material Gunantuna people use as legal tender to acquire goods and exchange items as well as to enact relationships during major rites of passage such as marriages, initiation and funerals.

‘Among the many other key works in the exhibition will be Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri’s four-sided video installation, DIVER 2018, which conjures the presence of a large scale aquarium in the Gallery.

‘On screen, Al Qadiri’s synchronised swimmers perform in a pearlescent body of water as they mimic the repetitive movements of divers. The work is an ode to the pearling industry of the Persian Gulf that was supplanted by the oil boom, and it serves as a reminder that mining for oil – like the diving for pearls before it – as an industry will, in time, be replaced by another economic force,’ Mr Saines said.

A video installation by Chinese-born artist Cao Fei is concerned with the pervasiveness of robotics today and the future of human labour in an era of expanding artificial intelligence and automatic supply chains, while Vuth Lyno’s towering installation of Cambodian spirit houses retrieved from the iconic, now demolished White Building in Phnom Penh memorialises the vibrant community of more than 2000 residents who once occupied the building.

My forest is not your garden 2016-18, a major new work by Singapore-based artists Donna Ong and Robert Zhao Renhui,will dramatically transform QAG’s Watermall into a landscape investigating the artifice of nature. The collaboration integrates Ong’s evocative arrangements of artificial flora and tropical exotica with Zhao’s meticulously organised archive of Singapore’s natural history.

With one of the largest representations of First Nation artists in a Triennial to date, APT9 features work by Jonathan Jones, Vincent Namatjira, Alair Pambegan, Margaret Rarru and Helen Ganalmirriwuy, James Tylor (Australia), Simon Gende (PNG), Lisa Reihana and Areta Wilkinson (Aotearoa New Zealand); Kapulani Landgraf (Hawai’i;), Idas Losin of Truku and Atayal heritage (Taiwan); Mao Ishikawa (Okinawa) and Tcheu Siong (Laos).

Mr Saines said the Gallery’s Asia Pacific Triennial, now in its twenty-fifth year, continued to be an important showcase of the most exciting new work being produced in Asia, the Pacific and Australia, and a significant highlight on the international arts calendar.

Free, and curated for audiences of all ages, APT9 will be presented across the entire Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and key spaces in the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) until 28 April 2019.

In addition to the exhibition, APT9 will include an extensive cinema program of contemporary ‘New Bollywood’ films from India, films from the Marshall Islands (presented in conjunction with the Pacific Arts Association Conference) and ‘Mellow Dramas’, a showcase of intimate dramas by filmmakers from Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

A retrospective of single channel videos by Indigenous filmmakers Karrabing Film Collective will also screen at GOMA’s Australian Cinémathèque.

Known for its children’s programming, APT9 Kids will feature eight interactive projects by artists especially for children and families. Offering a rich participatory experience and curated to reflect key themes of the exhibition, APT9 Kids provides meaningful insights into the contemporary art of Australia, Asia and the Pacific.

APT9 will also feature a dynamic opening weekend program and symposium; a curated offering of public programs and an all-ages Summer Festival from 18-20 January. The festival will include artist talks, tours, creative workshops, storytelling, and an Up Late experience.

The artists participating in APT9 are as follows (for full biographical information click here):

Jananne AL-ANI, Zico ALBAIQUNI, Sadik Kwaish ALFRAJI, Monira AL QADIRI, Rasheed ARAEEN, Martha ATIENZA, Kushana BUSH, CAO Fei, Gary CARSLEY, Roberto CHABET, CHEN Zhe, Kawayan DE GUIA, Enkhbold Togmidshiirev, ERUB/LIFOU PROJECT, Nona GARCIA, Simon GENDE, Lola GREENO, GUNANTUNA (Tolai people) led by Gideon KAKABIN, Shilpa GUPTA, Tada HENGSAPKUL, Gavin HIPKINS, Joyce HO, HOU I-Ting, HTEIN LIN, IMAGES OF THE CRISIS, Zahra IMANI, Mao ISHIKAWA, JAKI-ED PROJECT, JEONG Geumhyung, Kathy JETÑIL-KIJINER, Jonathan JONES, KARRABING FILM COLLECTIVE, Ali KAZIM, Aisha KHALID, Naiza KHAN, Waqas KHAN, KIM Beom, Meiro KOIZUMI, Kapulani LANDGRAF, Idas LOSIN, LY Hoàng Ly, Gregory Dausi MOAH, MOCHU, Yuko MOHRI, Vincent NAMATJIRA, NGUYỄN Trinh Thi, Anne NOBLE, Aditya NOVALI, Elia NURVISTA, Shinro OHTAKE, Donna ONG and Robert ZHAO Renhui, Alair PAMBEGAN, PANGROK SULAP, Bona PARK, Bounpaul PHOTHYZAN, Souliya PHOUMIVONG, QIU Zhijie, Iman RAAD, Margaret RARRU and Helen GANALMIRRIWUY, Lisa REIHANA, Peter ROBINSON, Handiwirman SAPUTRA, Mithu SEN, Hassan SHARIF, Tcheu SIONG, Jakkai SIRIBUTR, SOE YU NWE, Herman SOMUK, Harit SRIKHAO, Ayesha SULTANA, Latai TAUMOEPEAU, TUNGARU: THE KIRIBATI PROJECT led by Chris CHARTERIS, James TYLOR, VUTH Lyno, Munem WASIF, Boedi WIDJAJA, Areta WILKINSON, WOMEN'S WEALTH, Sawangwongse YAWNGHWE, Pannaphan YODMANEE, YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES and ZHENG Guogu.

APT9 is made possible with the support of Founding Supporter the Queensland Government, Strategic Partner Tourism and Events Queensland, Principal Partner Australia Council for the Arts and a range of business, cultural, tourism and media partners.

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