6x6: A Selection of Contemporary Australian Prints

The first Asialink touring exhibition was curated by experienced prints curator Anne Kirker, as a tight but lively exposition of a variety of leading Australian artists working within this particular medium.

Opening event: Silpakorn University (Australian Ambassador John McCarthy, Somporn Rodboon, Anne Kirker)

Artists: Ray Arnold, Diane Mantzaris, Milan Milojevic, Ann Newmarch, Graeme Pebbles, Judy Watson

Curator: Anne Kirker

Exhibition dates and venue: Bangkok, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Brisbane (1992-1993)

Touring partner: Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

It was known that there was interest in Bangkok in particular in exploring the capacity of printmaking to communicate issues of the day. And indeed reports reflected the success of this initial venture: the ‘exhibition was an important contribution to the life of the university’ (President of Khon Kaen University, Vanchai Vatanasapt), ‘received enthusiastically’ with ‘several hundred students and staff viewing the exhibition during the first few hours. Students who attended made comment about the exhibition’s originality and value to them as a learning experience’ (Robert Pounds, Australian Embassy). In an associated public program, Roger Butler, curator of Australian Prints from the National Gallery of Australia, led a week-long workshop on art museum curatorial issues for twenty art curators, directors and artists in Bangkok, a very early initiative in arts management engagement in Asia.