7 Iconic Artworks To Discover At The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial Of Contemporary Arts

Australia’s most sought-after city, Brisbane currently is the hotspot for all things contemporary arts hailing around the region of Australia, Asia and the Pacific. “The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art is a much-anticipated exhibition on the international and national arts calendar. Every three years it presents a snapshot of the most exciting and innovative developments in contemporary art from around our culturally diverse region,” shares Director Chris Saines. This marks the ongoing 11th edition of the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA’s flagship exhibition series. 

Since its first edition in 1993, the Triennial has opted not to curate under a defined theme, instead preferring to diversify in all directions, mediums and regions. Its savvy inclusion debuts with creators from Saudi Arabia, Timor-Leste, and Uzbekistan, while First Nations, minority and diaspora cultures hold a central place, as do the collective, performative, and community-driven modes of artmaking that thrive in the region. APT’s showcase across the expansive halls of the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) surveys through the lens of 70 artistic practices across 30 different countries. 

The curation reflects on a multiplicity of diverse experiences as artists present narratives true to their region, ethnicity, and history. This compelling lineup includes Bangladeshi Joydeb Roaja’s reflection on the indigenous Tripura community’s forced migration, New Guinean Haus Yuriyal Collective’s exploration of their local cultural practices through a presentation of a Sculpture Courtyard; Saudi Arabia and New York-based Dana Awartini’s sculptural rendition that draws back to her Arab origin and Islamic aesthetics, to name a few. This year’s edition also pushes the envelope of intangible sensorial experiences with Australian artist Laresa Kosloff’s audio intervention installation titled ‘Public Announcements 3’ which broadcasts on the gallery announcement system at regular intervals – reflects on what influences our engagement with art in a distracted digital age dominated by capitalism. While a curated list of about 500 artworks is a herculean task, we have identified 7 cutting-edge artworks that are unmissable at the triennial. 

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1. Rithika Merchant’s World Featuring Starry Nights And Disembodied Eyes 

Artist Rithika Merchant has been shining through her latest collaboration with Dior, her myth-inspired fantastical landscapes take centre stage at the APT. Nature shapes her work, using organic forms, muted colours, and a mix of watercolour, cut paper, and 17th-century botanical and folk art references Merchant presents a collection of five paintings titled ‘Terraformations’. Based in Mumbai, India, she envisions a journey away from our original planet and our efforts to terraform new worlds to make them more suitable for living. “My inspirations stem from nature’s self-sustaining systems, like ant colonies that self-organize and communicate to build ecosystems. I also draw from mythological references, such as Vimana (flying chariots) in the Vedas and Jain Agamas, and non-traditional silos used to store food. Additionally, I’m inspired by the Humpback whale migration, where these creatures travel vast distances and use their bodies as living storage,” Merchant shares. Her surreal disembodied eyes, starry skies, abstract eclipse, anthropomorphic beings and blooming flower pods come to life at the Asia Pacific Triennial Kids. Merchant presents ‘If the Seeds Chose Where to Grow’, a multimedia interactive experience that invites children to shape a new world projected on a screen. 

2. Varunika Saraf Decodes The Art Of Politics On Wasli Paper

Varunika Saraf presents a contemporary take on the 10th-century Mughal miniature painting style on a special handmade paper called ‘wasli’. Based in Hyderabad, India, her paintings examine contemporary realities of marginalisation, socio-political injustice and proliferating violence. For this year’s edition, she presents a major new work titled ‘Thieves in the Forest.’ Painted over 6 months, in her signature hand-ground pigment, Saraf presents a neocolonial model of exploitation symbolised by a forest where human greed plays out. The painting reflects on a world where progress entails the appropriation of lands, erasure of histories and indigenous knowledge and the destruction of entire ways of life. “Through this painting, I draw my attention to the threat of environmental extraction, alluding to broader ideas of politicised violence and social complacency,” shares the artist. 

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3. CAMP Measures The Pulse Of Bombay From The 35th Floor

The ever-expanding ever-expanding skyline of Mumbai along with its tales of resilience and struggle come alive in Brisbane. Founded in 2007, Mumbai-based studio CAMP unfolds the many facets of the city that never sleeps through a video installation titled ‘Bombay Tilts Down.’ Filmed by remotely controlled a single-point CCTV camera from the 35th floor of a building in South-Central Mumbai, the installation examines the social and structural hierarchies of Mumbai. Each tilt downwards is composed of dozens of repeated shots that show and hide themselves. They become a fluid movement across categories, structures and lines made on land, an interest of CAMP for many years. “It was entirely filmed over 2.5 months’, shares Shaina Anand, co-founder at CAMP. The shapeshifting group just opened their first solo exhibition at MoMA presenting 3 breakthrough installations, including ‘Bombay Tilts Down’, that trace CAMP’s artistic trajectory over two decades. 

4. Hema Shironi’s Textiles Navigate The Socio-Political Landscapes Of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka-based Hema Shironi weaves intricate textile installations as she presents a strong visual commentary on the socio-political landscape of her hometown. Shironi particularly reflects on stories of her own family, the politics around language and ethnicity and cases of inequality, protest and ideas of nationhood in Sri Lanka. “My grandmother had twelve children, and sadly, six of them lost their lives due to the conflict in Sri Lanka. The lingering grief of her missing son deeply influences the emotions that permeate my work, making it deeply connected to the society I reside in,” shares Shironi. She sensitively works with processes of stitching, embroidery and appliqué and incorporates old family photographs, printed paper and vintage fabrics to reveal a palimpsest of people and stories. 

At APT she presents a fragile but impactful piece titled ‘SALE SALE Story SALE’. The textile installation reflects on the lives of local Sri Lankans who patiently waited for necessities in the post-war era. “In post-war Sri Lanka, substantial funds are allocated for rehabilitation efforts. However, it is disheartening to note that these funds are often misused. The fundamental 

questions of who caused this crisis and why they did it remain unanswered, leaving us all as victims of these acts,” adds Shironi. 

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5. Insight Into The Lahori Culture By Wardha Shabbir

Wardha Shabbir brings the Lahori culture and its local environment to Brisbane. “Lahore has played a vital role in inspiring my art. I have seen the city evolve. The light, the cityscapes, the passages of the roads or maps, everything inspires me,” says the artist. Her latest miniature painting titled ‘Paths to Portal’ closely studies the local environment of Lahore alongside abstract visual fields exploring facets of identity. Based in Lahore, Pakistan, Shabbir’s painting practice is distinctive in its rearrangement of the conventional picture plane in line with her unique explorations of space. This approach is closely tied to conceptual thinking about spiritual and cognitive space, and results in the artist forming new symbols of femininity and identity. 

Featured on the cover page of the Triennial’s published Art Catalogue, this painting references an Islamic concept called Sirat meaning a path, passage or bridge. In retrospect, Shabbir reflects on the path as a woman living in Pakistan. “Personally, currently, as I experience the emotion of giving birth, I realise these supernatural powers that women have. ‘Path to Portals’ refers to these new inquiries that come into my process and work,” shares Wardha 

6. Kawita Vatanajyankur’s Explores The Intervention Of AI In Human Lives

Thailand-based performance artist, Kawita Vatanajyankur’s latest commission for APT responds to the question of whether AI will define the future of the human race. Titled ‘The Machine Ghost in the Human Shell,’ Vatanjyankur collaborates with American AI researcher Pat Pataranutaporn as they present a choreographed dialogue between humans and machines to propose alternative scenarios regarding the future of the human race. The artist is electrocuted using AI as she meticulously tries to chalk a spiral on the red floor. Commissioned and acquired by QAGOMA, the video installation is expected to travel to the V&A museum in 2026 as per a joint announcement. Apart from this pathbreaking performance, Vatanajyankur also presents her ‘Performing Textiles’ and ‘Field Work’ series. The artist is known for using her body as a tool addressing critical themes such as femininity, oppression and labour. Her acts stand as symbolic of the resilience of women. Her installations challenge norms and engage the viewer’s introspective discourses.

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7. Mai Nguyễn-Long Reflects On The Absence Of A Linguistic Identity

Born in Tasmania to a Vietnamese father and Australian mother, Mai Nguyễn-Long presents an army of glazed and unglazed clay sculptures. Conflicted with her Vietnamese heritage, these monolithic figures with exaggerated talismanic features reconcile the artist’s personal experiences of diasporic trauma. The ‘Vomit Girl Project’ includes works from small objects that can be held in the palm to multi-part figures more than one metre tall. The character of ‘Vomit Girl’ first emerged as a way to address the artist’s sense of voicelessness, and personal and cultural erasure. She represents a totemic goddess form, whose tongue-like fluid gesture stands for the loss of mother tongue and linguistic identity. The artist describes the recurring vomit motif with the intent of the feeling of being erased, an individual with a sense of identity, language or mother tongue. There is overwhelming sadness and confusion about how to bridge the dense chasm of exclusionary narratives, misunderstandings, discrimination, rejection, and shame.

The Asian Pacific Triennale will be on view till May 5, 2025, at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art.