TAASA Review Issues

Jackie Menzies 

This issue of TAASA Review reflects the extraordinary talent and knowledge in the worlds of performance, dance and music within Australia. The issue has been timed to preview some of the exciting events occurring in the next few months such as Green Mill Dance in Melbourne and the Festival of Asian Theatre and Music in Sydney. A whole new dynamic is being created in these worlds, similar to what is happening within the visual arts. The words being bandied around in reference to the heady excitement of these vibrant scenes are ‘fusion’, ‘synthesis’, and ‘hybridity’, although Padma Menon of Kailash Dance Company argues in her article for ‘collaboration’ as a better word. Her article, as well as Pam Gutman’s ‘Comment’, raise the issue of critical discourse on Asian arts within Australia, and the importance of education to enhance understanding and critical assessment of the many different aesthetic traditions of our region.

Our cultural ‘enmeshment’ with the Asian region is not a recent, trade and politically driven initiative. The experience of several writers establishes the reasons that creative exchanges are so stimulating and accelerating: the interaction of individuals as opposed to official cultural ‘exports’ and ‘imports’, policies that encourage extended residencies in preference to short trips, and a community ‘receptivity’ that has evolved over the past decades through the work of pioneer artists and educationalists. A rich arena for the new exchanges and infusions from Asian traditions and cultures is the tertiary education system as evidenced by Michael Atherton’s and NIDA’s John Clark’s articles. Michael’s documentation of the impact of Asian music on Australia over the past thirty years, notes influential individuals and the infusions from migrants and specific communities.

As always, the Review presents articles on the traditional as well as the contemporary, reflecting the continuing relevance for our own society of artistic practices and objects produced in different cultural and historical situations. Of special significance for our cultural heritage are the gifts of Asian textiles that Michael and Mary Abbott have been making to public institutions in Australia. Their collecting and their latest gift to the Art Gallery of South Australia are the subject of our regular columns ‘In the Public Domain’ and ‘Collector’s Choice’, while Michael will be one of the speakers at TAASA’s Adelaide seminar mounted to coincide with the exhibition Woven Magic that will be on show soon at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

This is the first issue with the new 1996 Committee of Management which is listed on this page. Regrettably Heleanor Feltham has retired from TAASA due to the pressure of personal and work commitments. While TAASA members will recall the excellent job Heleanor did as Editor of the first eleven issues of TAASA, few will realize the work she did in maintaining our membership lists. To Heleanor a big thank-you! To those who retired at this AGM our thanks as well: Alison Broinowski, Ross Langlands, Claire Roberts, Adrian and Judith Snodgrass, and Yiyan Wang. Ann MacArthur who became the Review Editor five issues ago, has now joined the main Committee while continuing the excellent job she has been doing as Editor; Wendy Parker is Convenor of the Jewellery Group, Iain Clark the Ceramics Group, and Marjorie Ho is our first Melbourne-based Committee member (we do aspire to fill our national charter!). While the Committee works hard, driven by personal passions and commitment, we ·welcome the input and ideas of TAASA members whose knowledge, contacts and suggestions have contributed to the unique interfacing that we like to think TAASA offers.