Curator: Chao-yi TSAI

The 2009 Asian Art Biennial will focus on the dialogue between “viewpoints” and “viewing” points, as well as related discussion and interaction. It will probe into how certain conditions present in Asia today came about and evolved, and which ones impacted how we look at things and impart meaning to us. Such questions as what lies under the surface? How does meaning emerge from objects, and why does it emerge? Who is watching and observing? How are they observing? What are the connections between what we “see” and what we believe, and why do those connections exist? Further, how have the interconnections, symbiosis, complementary nature, mutual clarification and elucidation between “viewpoints” and “viewing” points, and the divisions, conflicts, and fictions therein shaped today’s world?

The dialogue between viewpoints and “viewing” points is an open forum, encouraging re-reading, reflection, observation of and learning from others, and understanding of the underpinnings and reality of contemporary Asian life and culture through the language of artistic expression. Through these various avenues, perspectives, phenomena and ways of thinking, we hope to inspire possibility beyond the realm of extant experience and perception.