Australians studying Asia:
the ASAA 1976-1997

http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/King/King01.html

Rebecca King

Chapter Seven: Visual and Performing Arts

The Arts Committee was formed in 1980 to answer resolutions R60-75 of the FitzGerald Report which addressed the urgent need to promote Australian interest in Asian arts[1]. The initial idea was that the Committee would devise a detailed policy submission, and then report to Council[2]; but in practice the group operated quite informally. The Committee was initially constituted as a lobbying and promotional body[3]. While much of the FitzGerald Report was strongly empirically based[4], the Arts section can be seen as naive and impractical; little more than a collection of parenthood statements. It was written hurriedly over a weekend by Dr Jim Masselos (and revised by Elizabeth Drysdale, the research assistant to the inquiry) at the behest of Jamie Mackie[5] and is not based on empirical data[6]. The resolutions did not reflect an understanding of how major public and private galleries operated[7] and some resolutions were entirely impractical: for instance the requirement to have performing arts at ASAA conferences turned out to be too expensive[8]. The Arts Committee appears to have recognised this in its plan to have the resolutions of the Report accepted 'in theory and as far as possible in practice'[9]. The relevant resolutions of the FitzGerald Report mostly related to increasing the public exposure to Asian art through public galleries, and the appropriate bodies were lobbied[10]. At the Arts Committee Meeting at the 1988 ASAA Conference, the National Library's updating of its lists of Asian film holdings and their preparation of a list of Asian features was welcomed. The library was thanked formally for its continued enlightened acquisitions policy[11]. However lobbying was limited by a lack of funding since the Committee relied on university resources at a time of university cutbacks[12].

The major emphasis of the Committee was as a promotional rather than lobbying body. It held a three day conference in September 1983, 'The Asian Interface'[13] as well as two-one day conferences around the same period in conjunction with the Centre for Asian Studies at Sydney University[14]. The Committee organised discussion panels and exhibitions within mainstream ASAA conferences. For instance at the 1982 ASAA Conference there were three exhibitions: 'Palm Leaf and Paper, illustrated manuscripts of India and Southeast Asia' at the National Gallery of Victoria; 'Glimpses of Ukiyo-e: Japanese art of the late Tokugawa period' at the Monash University Visual Arts Gallery; and 'The art of Tibet: Land of Snow' at the Melbourne State College Gallery. There were also three sessions on 'Art and Ritual' within the general program[15]. At the 1986 ASAA Conference there was an exhibition of members' photographs[16], a workshop on the study of the arts in Indonesia[17] and an exhibition on 'the Book in Asia' jointly organised with the Information Resources Working Group[18]. In 1988 in addition to an exhibition and performance the papers presented in the 'Arts of Asia' panels were published in the Review[19]. As well as organising such activities at the biennial conferences, between 1983 and 1987 and once again in 1993, a report appeared in the Review on activities and acquisitions in Australian public galleries and museums[20]. These 'Arts Roundups' fulfilled R60(ii) of the FitzGerald Report that the ASAA annually list major new acquisitions of Asian art[21].

If the purpose of the Arts Committee was to interest ASAA members in Asian arts then the Committee can be judged as not spectacularly successful. In the early days of the Committee's existence, few academics had any interest in Asian arts[22], although there was a strong Indonesian Arts Society[23]. More recently an independent organisation, The Asian Arts Society of Australia (TAASA), provided a focus for some of the broader concerns of the Committee[24]. The Committee had difficulty in interesting ASAA members in an area not related directly to teaching Asian studies. This difficulty in expanding the interest of members beyond their academic priorities is comparable to the lack of interest of the general membership in ASAA business lobbying issues. Only six ASAA members came to 'The Asian Interface' Conference[25] despite heavy advertising to a membership of over 700[26]. A report of the 1988 ASAA Conference is damning of a membership that enthusiastically endorses the inclusion of cultural events in the program (at that conference a music performance and fashion exhibition) but in practice spends that time catching up with old acquaintances[27].

The arts panels can be interpreted as part of the attempt to implement the rhetoric of the ASAA as a forum of interdisciplinary and interregional exchange[28]. The idea of the Association being a generalist body promoting communication between all Asianists had been articulated by Jamie Mackie as early as March 1976, with references to 'ensuring that there is as much communication as we can achieve between people working on different Asian countries and in different disciplines, so as to break down the fences that tend to become established between us all'[29]. However Asian arts are now included within the regional panels in the general program since interregional arts panels were generally attended by members who only stayed for components relating to their region of interest: thus the initial purpose was thwarted. The ideal of cross communication between Asianists has been hard to achieve in practice, not only with the arts, due to the very nature of members' focussed interests[30].

While the success of the Arts Committee within the ASAA can be questioned, its goal of bringing Asian art to the wider public (a goal expressed in an early Review article[31]) had considerable success. Two conferences were held in conjunction with Sydney University, 'Popular art in Asia: people and patrons' at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), and another on performing arts at the Seymour Centre[32]. 'The Asian Interface' Conference, organised by Jim Masselos and Jackie Menzies at the AGNSW, September 16-18 1983, was a completely innovative conference focussing on an area previously little discussed, the relationship between Australian artists and Asian influences[33]. Two exhibitions, one at the AGNSW, and another at the Crafts Council Gallery, formed part of the event, and explored the influence of Asia on Australian arts. The 'Interface' Conference received some 'public and media attention', as planned, but was by no means the academic forum that had been envisioned[34]. Critics, scholars and artists spoke at the conference which covered decorative arts, dance, pottery, crafts, architecture, music, paintings, potters, printmaking, puppetry, fashion and drama and the ways in which these arts had included elements of Asian cultures. For instance Kai Tai Chan, dancer and choreographer, presented a lecture demonstration that included a ballet. The conference received support from the NSW Government (Division of Cultural Affairs), the AGNSW, the Crafts Council Centre Gallery and ASAA[35]. Peter Sculthorpe organised a performance of music by Australian composers influenced by Asian musical forms: he believed that the conference had crystallised a point in the development of Asian culture and influence on Australian art[36]. Despite the low attendance the conference was a significant event that introduced an intellectual current which has since become popular. Alison Broinowski, author of the definitive book, The Yellow Lady: Australian Impressions of Asia, attributed, in part, her decision to write about such a topic to the ideas presented at the 'Interface' conference[37].

The Arts Committee operated through the biennial conferences, and very early on through occasional city based meetings between conferences[38]. There was no defining moment when the Arts Committee was disbanded and because it was not a constitutionally protected part of the ASAA there was simply a time, apparently in the late 1980s, when the Committee was not reappointed[39]. The last 'Arts Roundup' in the Review was in 1993[40] and whether this reflected lack of interest among the readership or by its compilers is not clear. The Arts Committee had few members, and operated on an entirely volunteer and mostly unfunded basis: at the same time it apparently received little feedback for activities which were time consuming and arduous. This is seen in the failure to proceed with a planned conference in 1989[41] when only one or two committed members were available. The Committee may have disbanded primarily because lack of interest by the ASAA, but Committee members did not campaign for its reinstatement possibly because they recognised its lack of effectiveness in affecting general ASAA membership[42] or perhaps because TAASA was a viable alternative.

Footnotes

[1] Asia in Australia Education: Report of the Committee on Asian studies of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Volume 1 Discussion and Recommendations, Canberra, 1980, pp85-99. Asia in Australia Education: Report of the Committee on Asian studies of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Volume 3 Resolutions of the Association, Canberra, 1980, pp15-20.

[2] Ingleson, J, 'Implementing the FitzGerald Report', ASAA Review, vol4, no3, April 1981, pp21-23, p22.

[3] The Committee initially included: Dr Jim Masselos - Convenor (History Department, Sydney University), Ms Jackie Menzies (Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales), Mr John Guy (Assistant Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria), Mr Reis Flora (Music Department, Monash University), but others were later involved including Mr Alan Day, Ms Robyn Maxwell, Dr Adrian Vickers. Masselos, J, 'The Arts Committee', ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp19-20, p19. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[4] Asia in Australia Education: Report of the Committee on Asian studies of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Volume 1 Discussion and Recommendations, Canberra, 1980, piii.

[5] Jamie Mackie was instrumental in making arts a significant part of the FitzGerald Report resolutions and in the creation of an Arts Committee. Legge, JD and Feith, H, pp1-13, in May, RJ and O'Malley, WJ (eds), Observing Change in Asia: essays in honour of JAC Mackie, Bathurst, 1989, p12. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. As Review editor (April 1980 to November 1984), Jamie Mackie used his 'Commentary' sections to discuss visual and performing arts, see for instance: ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp41-44, vol5, no3, April, 1982, pp44-47, vol6, no2, November, 1982, pp29-33, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp41-42, vol7, no3, April, 1984, pp64-67.

[6] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[7] For instance R68(ii) requires the ASAA to urge for at least one major Asian exhibition every annual touring exhibition of the schedule of the Australian Gallery Directors Council. This does not take into account how exhibitions are organised. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[8] R74 (i) suggests that the ASAA should actively promote Asian performing arts especially at the biennial conferences, however one of the difficulties with this is the need to pay appropriate rates to performers. Asia in Australia Education: Report of the Committee on Asian studies of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Volume 3 Resolutions of the Association, Canberra, 1980, p18. 'Minutes of the Meeting of the Council of the Asian Studies Association of Australia 1 August 1987 at the University of Sydney'. Private papers of John Ingleson.

[9] Masselos, J, 'The Arts Committee', ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp19-20, p19.

[10] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. See for instance a letter from Dr Stephen FitzGerald to Dr Pamela Gutman asking her to draft a letter to the Trustees of the Australian National Gallery about the lack of prominence of the Asian collection. Letter from Stephen FitzGerald to Pam Gutman, 3 March 1983. Private papers of John Ingleson.

[10] 'Report of the ASAA Arts Committee Meeting', ASAA Review, vol11, no3, April, 1988, pp26-27, p27.

[12] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[13] Mackie, J, 'Commentary', ASAA Review, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp41-42, p41.

[14] The conference booklet for the 'Popular art in Asia' Conference records the conference as being held in April 1983 although Jim Masselos remembered it as occurring after the September 1983 'Asian Interface' Conference. The performing arts conference was held several months after the popular art conference. Masselos, J (ed), Popular art in Asia, the people as patrons: the visual arts, Working Papers, University of Sydney Centre for Asian Studies, no1, [1984?]. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[15] Mackie, J, '1984 in Adelaide', ASAA Review, vol6, no1, July, 1982, p15. 'Asian Art Exhibitions in Melbourne', ASAA Review, vol5, no3, April, 1982, p3.

[16] Inglis, C, 'ASAA Conference 1986', ASAA Review, vol8, no3, April, 1985, pp32-33, p33. 'Sixth ASAA National Conference', ASAA Review, vol9, no2, November, 1985, pp75-78, p77.

[17] Vickers, A, 'The State Of the Arts', ASAA Review, vol10, no1, July, 1986, pp80-81, p80.

[18] Jarvis, H (Convenor, WGIR), 'Asian Studies Association of Australia Working Group on Information Resources: 1985 Report', nd. Private Papers of Helen Jarvis. Conversation with Helen Jarvis, Sydney, 11th September 1997.

[19] Maxwell, R, 'Arts of Asia: Divergent Views An Introduction', ASAA Review, vol12, no2, November, 1988, pp1-3.

[20] 'Asian Art', ASAA Review, vol6, no3, April, 1983, pp29-44. 'Exhibitions, Events and Acquisition', ASAA Review, vol7, no3, April, 1984, pp61-63. 'Asian Arts', ASAA Review, vol9, no3, April, 1986, pp43-57. Maxwell, R, 'Asian Arts: Major Asian Art Acquisitions by Public Galleries and Museums in Australia for 1986', ASAA Review, vol10, no3, April, 1987, pp47-55. 'Notes and News: Asian Arts', ASAA Review, vol11, no2, November, 1987, pp87-90. Maxwell, R, 'Major Asian Art Acquisitions by Public Galleries and Museums in Australia for 1987', ASAA Review, vol12, no2, November, 1988, pp75-80. Maxwell, R, 'Art Roundup: Notes on Activities and Acquisitions at Australian Public Galleries and Museums for 1989', ASAA Review, vol13, no2, November, 1989, pp77-80. Maxwell, R 'Asian Art: Gallery and Museum Activities 1989-92', Asian Studies Review, vol17, no1, July, 1993, pp178-183.

[21] Asia in Australia Education: Report of the Committee on Asian studies of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Volume 3 Resolutions of the Association, Canberra, 1980, p16.

[22] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[23] The Indonesian Arts Society based in Melbourne. Legge, JD and Feith, H, pp1-13, in May, RJ and O'Malley, WJ (eds), Observing Change in Asia: essays in honour of JAC Mackie, Bathurst, 1989, p12. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[24] The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc., has a membership of four or five hundred. Two members of the ASAA Arts Committee, Ms Jackie Menzies and Ms Robyn Maxwell, have played key roles in the Society's organisational structure. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. 'The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc.', pamphlet, nd.

[25] Ferrell, D, 'The Asian Interface: Australian Artists and Asia', ASAA Review, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp50-51, p51.

[26] The conference was advertised in Review and there were also mailouts to the membership. Masselos, J, 'The Arts Committee', ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp19-20. Ingleson, J, 'August Council Meeting', ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp45-47, p47. 'Preliminary notice The Asian Interface: Asia and the Australian Arts', ASAA Review, vol5, no3, April, 1982, p43. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. Letter from John Ingleson to J Ronayne (Dean, Faculty of Arts, UNSW), 29 April 1983. Private papers of John Ingleson. Letter from Stephen FitzGerald (ASAA President) to Dr Stranks (Vice Chancellor, University of Adelaide), 11 January 1983. Private papers of John Ingleson.

[27] Marr, DG, '1988 ASAA Conference: Convenor's Report', pp1-11, p1. Private papers of John Ingleson.

[28] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[29] Mackie, JAC, 'Issues for Asianists', Asian Studies Association of Australia Newsletter, vol1, no3, March 1976, pp26-30, p26.

[30] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[31] Masselos, J, 'The Arts Committee', ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp19-20, p19.

[32] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. Council agreed to allocate up to $200 for the 'Popular art' having seen a written proposal from Jim Masselos. 'Minutes of the meeting of the Council of the Asian Studies Association of Australia held on Sunday 5 December 1982 at the University of New South Wales'. Private papers of John Ingleson. Ingleson, J, 'Report on ASAA Council Meeting, 5 December 1982', ASAA Review, vol6, no3, April, 1983, pp63-65, p63.

[33] Ferrell, D, 'The Asian Interface: Australian Artists and Asia', ASAA Review, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp50-51, p51. Mackie, J, 'Commentary', ASAA Review, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp41-42, p41.

[34] About 45 or so people attended the conference (six were ASAA members). Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. Ferrell, D, 'The Asian Interface: Australian Artists and Asia', ASAA Review, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp50-51, p51. Masselos, J, 'The Arts Committee', ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp19-20, p19.

[35] Frizell, H, 'The Asian Interface', Hemisphere, vol28, no2, Sept/Oct, 1983, pp108-115. Ferrell, D, 'The Asian Interface: Australian Artists and Asia', ASAA Review, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp50-51, p50. Mackie, J, 'Commentary', ASAA Review, vol7, no2, November, 1983, pp41-42, p41.

[36] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

[37] Broinowski, A, 'Images and Muses of Asia', The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1992. Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. Broinowski, A, The Yellow Lady: Australian Impressions of Asia, (2nd ed), South Melbourne, 1996.

[38] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997. Masselos, J, 'The Arts Committee', ASAA Review, vol5, no2, November, 1981, pp19-20, p19. 'Report of the ASAA Arts Committee Meeting', ASAA Review, vol11, no3, April, 1988, pp26-27, p27. 'Minutes of the Meeting of the Council of the Asian Studies Association of Australia 1 August 1987 at the University of Sydney'. Private papers of John Ingleson.

[39] There was an Arts Committee meeting at the 1988 ASAA Conference. 'ASAA Bicentennial Conference Provisional Programme'. Private papers of John Ingleson.

[40] Maxwell, R 'Asian Art: Gallery and Museum Activities 1989-92', Asian Studies Review, vol17, no1, July, 1993, pp178-183, p178.

[41] 'Minutes of the Meeting of the Council of the Asian Studies Association of Australia 1 August 1987 at the University of Sydney'. Private papers of John Ingleson. 'Item 17', (attachment for Meeting of the Council of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, 1 August 1987, at the University of Sydney). Private papers of John Ingleson.

[42] Conversation with Jim Masselos, Sydney, 1st September 1997.

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