One of Queensland’s flagship art exhibitions for the year has welcomed its 500,000th visitor today, Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch has announced.
The milestone was reached at the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT9) exhibition at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) and Minister Enoch said this demonstrated the pull that this exhibition had on Queenslanders and visitors.
“Since opening on 24 November the free APT9 exhibition has attracted thousands of visitors a day to experience more than 400 compelling contemporary artworks by over 80 individual artists, collectives and groups,” Minister Enoch said.
“A whopping 25,000 people visited the all-ages APT9 Summer Festival over just three days in January, which included the record-breaking ‘Up Late’ event.
“Hundreds of people in regional and remote Queensland, and the Torres Strait, have enjoyed APT9 Kids on Tour, a program of hands-on art making activities presented by more than 100 venues from January 2019.”
The Minister said the Asia Pacific Triennial, now in its 25th year, connected with local, intrastate, interstate and international audiences to bolster Queensland as a must-see cultural destination.
“I encourage local audiences to make time to visit, or revisit APT9, before it closes on 28 April.
“For those planning to travel to Queensland in the coming weeks please ensure this signature exhibition is on your must-do list,” she said.
“APT has been instrumental for QAGOMA in building strong relationships throughout the region, and developing an unrivalled collection of contemporary art from Australia and the Asia Pacific.”
Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said the Palaszczuk Government supports events like the ATP9 because it means jobs in tourism. Events supported by Tourism and Events Queensland are worth over $800 million to the economy in 2019.
“Half a million visitors to this exhibition is an outstanding achievement. It confirms Brisbane’s reputation as a world-class event host and it shows exactly why we are investing to get events to come to Queensland,” Ms Jones said.
QAGOMA Director, Chris Saines, said APT9 was developed by QAGOMA’s team of specialist curatorial staff and was an enlightening and thought-provoking exhibition experience.
“APT9 explores ideas through contemporary practice from across the Asia Pacific region,” he said.
“Highlights include Iman Raad’s huge mural which is a landscape of riotous colour, Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones’ installation created in collaboration with his long-time mentor Wiradjuri Elder Dr Uncle Stan Grant Snr AM, and New Zealand artist Anne Noble’s fully functioning bee hive, which focuses on the importance of the honey bee for life on our planet.
“Visitors to the exhibition can also enjoy APT9 Kids, eight interactive projects developed by artists for children and families, and daily screenings in the APT9 cinema program which includes the film programs ‘New Bollywood: Currents in Indian Cinema’, ‘Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands’ and ‘Contemporary Mellow Dramas’, featuring films from Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The APT9 public program of talks, tours and discussions continues until 28 April.
