The APT6 documentary follows O-shen (Papua New Guinea /Hawaii, United States) in the lead up to his opening celebration performance at 7.30pm, Saturday 5 December 2009.
The opening celebration of APT6 featured reggae acts from across the Pacific, coinciding with the exhibition component of Pacific Reggae: Roots Beyond the Reef. Pacific Reggae is a vibrant form of contemporary expression that taps into the international circuit while celebrating unique local flavours. The associated exhibition Pacific Reggae: Roots Beyond the Reef presents a series of reggae performances and video clips, live and recorded, demonstrating this rich musical form.
Leading reggae musician O-shen headlined the opening event, which celebrated the vital connections reggae makes from Port Vila to Auckland and from Honolulu to Honiara.
O-Shen made an impact in Papua New Guinea with his 1997 debut and subsequently broke into the Hawaiian market with his 2000 album Iron Youth. His popularity throughout the Pacific rose with subsequent albums Rascal in Paradise and Rising Son, and his 2007 release 1 Rebel cemented his ranking as one of the regions premier reggae artists.
Pacific Reggae responds to the vital connections that musicians from Port Vila to Auckland and Honolulu to Honiara make with reggae culture. Much Pacific reggae maintains key structural similarities to Jamaican roots music, including one drop drumbeats, steady bass lines and chopping guitar, while the introduction of log drums, bone flutes, ukulele and electronic beats contribute to reggaes unique sound across the Pacific. The parallel developments of home-recording studios and a proliferating music-video industry in the region have enabled a reggae scene to flourish and assert its own distinctive style.
The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) is QAGOMA's flagship international contemporary art event, and the only major exhibition series in the world to focus exclusively on the contemporary art of Asia, the Pacific and Australia.
APT6 included the work of more than 100 artists from 25 countries, including collaborations and collectives, which reflect the diversity of practices across Asia, the Pacific and Australia. APT6 has a number of specific focuses and thematic links while considering recent shifts in contemporary art in communities that have not been represented in the APT before, including works by artists from Tibet, North Korea (DPRK), Turkey and Iran, and from countries of the Mekong region such as Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma). APT6 acknowledged the innovation that exists in performance and music in Asia and the Pacific with the Pacific Reggae Project looking at the development of the musical genre in Hawai'i, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Zealand.
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The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT6) / Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Brisbane Australia / 5 Dec 2009 - 5 Apr 2010
Source: QAGOMA APT Archive
Camera & editing: Daniel Marsden
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