Asian Art, on the verge

Movements and ideas of nationalism, post-colonialism, gen and race are contributing to the dynamism of modern day Asian art and facilitating artists to transform the whole notion of contemporary art in the Indo-Pacific region Democracy, commercialization, urbanization, the mass media and the shift towards a global culture is further helping Asian artists to overcome the constraints of indigenous traditions and to express themselves more freely within the international language of conceptual art, body art, performance art, earthworks and in the case of Malaysia even in painting.

All this has led to a new confidence that might not have been possible as recently as a decade ago when Asian artists felt marginalized as provincial outsiders in the international art world. For so long western art has been revered as the only effective expression in contemporary art. Today Asian history and tradition offers the artists their own set of influences to extend or battle against – making it no longer necessary to be determined by western guidelines. Asian art is no longer behind in terms of the language of innovation that is central to the idea of modern art. It is neither solely influenced by western art history nor is it based on the purity of traditions. Many artists are creating works that are universal in spirit and yet contain uniquely local modes of representation holding their own as second to none.

Can Tokyo, Mumbai, Bangkok, Seoul become the unchallenged centres for the practice and presentation of contemporary art? By virtue of the density of activity in these and other cities in that part of the hemisphere with many artists, collectors and galleries contributing to the debate with originality and daring, why not? Successful exhibitions like “Traditions/Tensions contemporary Art in Asia” in New York, “Inside Out: New Chinese Art” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and “Private Mythology: Contemporary Art From India” at the Japan Foundation have made Asian art more visible to foreign audiences. The response has been overwhelming and a sign that millenial notions about art and aesthetics will cut across geographical boundaries and will be shaped by artists from many diverse regions Art history as practised in the western world will no longer be able to be dismissive of Asian art as an overwhelming mass of material.

It will be a mistake to study modernism and post modernism in solely western terms and not recognize Asia’s contribution, it’s accomplishments and the importance. As more exhibitions open up passageways world, no doubt one will be seeing some heavy two way traffic in the years ahead.