Queensland Art Gallery - Queensland Government

displayed the children’s drawings in the Gallery’s newly opened Children’s Art Centre, offering
young visitors insights into the very different lives of Afghan children. During the Summer
Spectacular festival in January 2007, local children had the opportunity to make drawings with
Khadim Ali, and send images of their home environment to the Bamiyan children.
For APT6, 17 artist projects (the largest number to date) are featured both in the dedicated
spaces of the Children’s Art Centre, and throughout the exhibition across both sites of the
Gallery. The Summer Spectacular festival, held in conjunction with APT, further engages
audiences with the work of Asia Pacific artists, through artist-run workshops, performances and
specially developed projects.
With Kids’ APT, children and their families will continue to take part in the making and
transformation of the work of contemporary Asian and Pacific artists. In doing so, they will
build their knowledge of the art of the region as being some of the most exciting and relevant
work being made in contemporary art practice today. In APT6, a wonderful example of this
occurs with Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s project Patterns of infinity 2009, a touchscreen
that engages with the intricacies of the geometric patterns and processes inherent in the
artist’s work, which uses mirror mosaic and reverse-glass painting techniques. In this activity —
conceived in Iran, realised in Australia, born of an immensely complex history and given new
life through twenty-first century technology — multiple worlds will coalesce.
Endnote
1 Summer Spectacular festivals are held over the course of two weeks during the Queensland summer school
holidays in association with Kids’ APT. Kids’ APT Summer Spectacular was first presented as part of APT2002.
Summer Spectacular activities were staged for the first time in regional Queensland centres on 13 January 2007,
coinciding with the Kids’ APT5 Summer Spectacular festival in Brisbane.
Khadim Ali and the making of The Bamiyan drawing
project 2006 for Kids’ APT in APT5 / Photograph:
Barat Ali Batoor
The young performers who featured in the APT5
performance of Kin, by Stephen Page. Clockwise from
left: Curtis Walsh-Jarden, Sean Page, Ryan Jarden,
Hunter Page-Lochard, Samson Page, Isileli Jarden and
Josiah Page / Photograph: Natasha Harth
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