“MAKING Connections” is an innovative exhibition that comprises modern and contemporary works by well-known South-East Asian artists.
The exhibition draws upon the cultural collections of the university, as well as private works including those of former diplomat Neil Manton. The show aims to demonstrate the productive and ongoing artistic dialogue between Australia and the region, focusing on the particular efforts of the ANU School of Art and Faculty of Asian Studies.
Archival material supplements a free and informative exhibition catalogue containing contributions by leading academics. Included here is a fascinating account by Prof Virginia Hooker, who also speaks of some of the familiar works around the campus, including the life-size bronze statue “Saraswati”, a gift from Indonesia in 1969, when the two countries were in the process of rebuilding relations.
The value of cultural engagement — a notion often defined in terms of soft-diplomacy — should never be underestimated, but the merits of the art itself are, of course, also worth discussing.
The exhibition showcases a range of artists working in a variety of mediums, including textiles, mixed media, photography, oil and watercolour painting and sculpture. One piece that visually excites is the oil on canvas “Renungan Air 3” (“Reflections on water”) by Malaysian artist and poet, Latiff Mohidin. “Untitled (Flowers)” by the influential Indonesian artist, Affandi, also demonstrates an expressionistic flair.
Some work on display draws on religious themes. Other pieces are decidedly political.
While ‘Making Connections’ might have benefitted from a more theme-based approach, paradoxically, part of its charm is that of eclecticism.