TAASA Review Issues

Just over ten years ago, in June 1991, the idea of an Asian Arts Society for Australia was hatched in a yurt at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. In August 1991 a steering committee was formed, and on 9 October 1991 a meeting was held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales to celebrate the official launch of TAASA, The Asian Arts Society of Australia. The first president, Carl Andrews, was one of the ‘hatchers’.

The founding members of TAASA represented a variety of interests and disciplines, and they worked very hard to get the Society off the ground – writing, organising events, spending evenings stuffing copies of TAASA Review into envelopes (fortified by glasses of fine wine, just like today). Many of the founding members continue to be very active in the Society. One of them is Heleanor Feltham, who was the first editor of TAASA Review, whose Volume 1 No.1 was published in January 1992 and ran to 24 black-and-white pages. Heleanor continues to be an active and eclectic contributor to the Review – for our current issue she has analysed the Asian films at the Sydney Film Festival. Another contributor to Vol.1 No.1 who is also published in the current issue is Jim Masselos, providing more insights into the arts of India.

In the second issue of TAASA Review, the founding membership of TAASA was analysed according to its geographic spread and areas of artistic interest. Then, as now, members were mainly from Sydney (as indeed were all members of the original Committee of Management); but the hope was expressed that soon Victorian membership would increase enough for a Victorian Sub Committee to be formed. As far as interest in countries/regions went, China scored highest, with South-East Asia next, followed by Japan and Korea, then the Indian sub-continent. The principal artistic area of interest nominated by members in 1991 was ceramics, whicl1 at 75% just beat painting (70%) followed by sculpture, textiles and other decorative arts. Many members also expressed strong interest in the performing arts, including film.

What has changed over ten years? Not a great deal, perhaps. TAASA’s aims remain the same, and seem as fresh and relevant as when they were written in 1991. The Society’s membership has increased substantially, of course, and there are many more members from Victoria now (about 25% of total), and Victoria has had its own sub-Committee for a number of years. And while TAASA still does not have very many members who are based in the other states, plans are in train to send the new membership brochures to regional galleries and museums around the country to take the message further. TAASA Review went from black and white to colour in 1998, and now runs to 28 pages. It is still the major avenue of communication with members, and the service members appreciate most.

Perhaps, however, it is time we surveyed our members again, to ascertain their interests and involvements. So the editor hopes that in the December issue, along with your Membership Renewal Form, you will find a questionnaire which will assist the Committee to give you the information and entertainment you need for the next ten years. Also in the December issue, to celebrate TAASA’s tenth anniversary the Review will bring you a little more history about the founding of TAASA.

In the meantime, the September issue covers a wide range of topics and geographical areas, from ancient Thai ceramics to spectacular headgear from Borneo to contemporary Australian music inspired by a fifth century BCE Chinese tomb. The latter is a truly fascinating piece of writing from the composer herself, a real window into the creative process. Another artist’s viewpoint is provided by Bonita Ely writing on ‘Longevity in Hue’.

An innovation for this issue, which we hope will continue, is the heading ‘Traveller’s Choice’, this time a short piece from Dee Court about the little-known museums of Karakalpakstan. We want more pieces to put under this heading, so please let us know if you’d like to write about your experiences of a particular museum or artistic site, particularly a less-visited one. We are all travellers, or want to be, whether actually or in the mind.