‘The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ was more than a first for the Gallery; the major exhibition, focused exclusively on the contemporary art of Asia and the Pacific, was also a world first. Presented at the Queensland Art Gallery from 17 September to 5 December 1993, APT1 arrived at a time when contemporary cultural practices of the region were largely unknown to Australian audiences. The Gallery’s then executive management and curatorial leads were inspired to pursue the project, and the generous support of the state government helped to realise it. The general premise of the APT was that perspectives centring the art of Europe or North America were no longer sufficient to evaluate the art of our region — nor its confidence, relevance and vitality. Given the long-held primacy of Western art, this was a bold position. Instead, the APT would provide new ways of looking at contemporary art based on equality, as well as offer an approach to cultural interchange that actively recognised the region’s commonalities and respected its differences.

Originally intended as the first of three exhibitions in the series, APT1 brought together nearly 200 works by 76 artists from 13 countries and territories, informed by concepts of tradition and change in the region. The overwhelmingly positive international reaction to APT1 paved the way for future major exhibitions of contemporary Asian and Pacific art. At the media preview, businessman and philanthropist Michael Sidney Myer announced his substantial support for acquisitions from the Triennial — a contribution that enabled the Gallery to launch The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art — and so we began building on our now internationally significant holdings of works from the region.

APT1 hosted a major international conference — ‘Identity, tradition and change: Contemporary art in the Asia Pacific region’ — which drew a capacity attendance of 450 and has been acknowledged as one of the most dynamic and significant art conferences held in Australia, opening new dialogues in contemporary art. Six major performances also took place over the opening weekend, by artists S. Chandrasekaran, Dadang Christanto, Heri Dono, Roberto Villanueva, Prawat Laucharoen and Lee Bul. An additional major collaborative performance project, ‘Povi tau vaga (The challenge)’ — created by Michel Tuffery, Patrice Kaikilekofe (Futuna/New Caledonia), a group of Futuna dancers who travelled to Brisbane for the event, a group of dancers from Brisbane's Samoan community, a group of locally based Indigenous artists, and the Queensland Art Gallery — took APT1 to the streets. The high number of visiting artists, who were on site to install works and/or take part in public programs, generated buzz and set a benchmark for future iterations of the Triennial.

APT1 included artists Dadang Christanto, Ishmail Hashim, Santiago Bose, Montien Boonma, Vasan Sitthiket, Yu Youhan, Irene Chou, Shinro Ohtake, Lee Bul, Anne Noble, Michel Tuffery, Mathias Kauage, Jon Cattapan, Gloria Petyarre, Judy Watson, Gareth Sansom and more.