Book shows link between Asian art and human rights
From the cover of Art and Human Rights: Contemporary Asian Contexts.
A new book to be launched at the ANU Humanities Research Centre shows the links between Asian artists, their works and human rights issues such as Indonesia’s problems during the Suharto regime.
The book looks at a group of artists who came to prominence in the 1990’s at a time when Asian contemporary art rose to popularity.
“One of the key themes that emerged for us from the very first Asia Pacific Triennial exhibition in Queensland in 1993 was the very strong connection between art and human rights in the Asian area,” said Dr Caroline Turner, who is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the ANU Humanities Research Centre.
“Our main objective in writing the book was to document the enormous courage and investment in local communities of so many artists in that region, and I think for people to understand that while art can’t change the world, artists can help us see the world in different ways.”
The book Art and Human Rights: Contemporary Asian Contexts is divided into themes that look at activism, war, divided societies and the effects of colonialism. Concepts such as globalisation are also covered.
One of the artists featured, Dadang Christanto, is an Indonesian artist who has two major works in the National Gallery of Australia’s art collection.
Christanto’s father was taken away and killed in 1965 during the time that President Suharto came to power in Indonesia.
“Dadang Christanto’s work is interpreted by people in many countries, even when they don’t know what it’s specifically about, as being about very distinct issues of human rights that trouble them in their own societies,” said Dr Turner, who is also associated with the ANU Centre for Art History and Art Theory.
“His work is really an example of something we discuss in the book about the fact that art can produce empathy between people and plays an important role in education and understanding about human rights issues.”
Art and Human Rights: Contemporary Asian Contexts is by Dr Caroline Turner and Professor Jen Webb from the University of Canberra.