11
What Happened in the Library?
Kim Machan
First conceived in 2009,
Light from Light
involved commissioning eleven artists to create site-
specific artworks to be installed in public libraries in China and Australia. The
Light from Ligh
t
project was created as an extended exhibition that crossed into five major public institutions in a
cross-cultural exploration of artistic opportunities, new partnerships, and audiences.
The first installation at the State Library of Queensland commenced 3October 2010 – but before that
first public presentation, artist residencies and project development had been initiated over a year
earlier, offering artists some interesting and unusual situations. While the exhibition continued at
the State Library of Queensland, the same works (as an edition of two) were subsequently mounted
in the Shanghai Library, the National Library of China and the National Art Museum of China
(NAMOC) in Beijing and finally in the Hangzhou Public Library. The exhibition was de-installed
from the library circuit in February 2012 and work commenced on a gallery exhibition that would
summarise the project with a presentation of some of the artworks and abundant documentation.
This publication, a culmination of the three-year project, coincides with the
Light from Light
:
Reprise
exhibition at MAAP SPACE in Brisbane, 6 December 2012 to 22 February 2013.
The decision to create
Light from Light
as a library-based project was due in part to past positive
collaborations betweenMAAP –Media Art Asia Pacific (MAAP) and the State Library of Queensland
1
,
and in part to a curiosity in the changing shape of public institutions in Australia and China, wherein
libraries and art museums alike are adapting to changing demands and remits from the public,
often centred around the increased desire for new technologies and new experiences. The idea of a
library exhibition that directly linked Australian and Chinese institutions was a feasible proposition
as the State Library of Queensland had a working relationship with Shanghai Library. The two
progressive Directors, Lea Giles-Peters
2
and Dr Wu Jianzhong, were open to the idea of working
on a mutual project and not only that, but an experimental media art project with ambitious and
unpredictable outcomes. It is MAAP’s long-held belief that strong partnerships are forged when the
relationship is oriented around finding solutions to shared problems or challenges.
Light from Light
was the perfect opportunity to test whether the spirit of willing cooperation would prevail over the
many logistical challenges inherent to the bilateral and cross-institutional nature of the project. To
better understand the motivations and ambitions of this project, it is useful to be aware of MAAP’s
exhibition history and relationships in the region.
In 1998 the MAAP organisation was formed to create new networks in Australia and the Asia
Pacific regions linking artists using media technologies in a period when the internet and new
technologies were seen as a common, crucial, emerging and experimental platform to be explored
and critically connected. After making annual media art festivals in Brisbane from 1998 to 2001
the condition arose through relationships with artists in China to broker partnerships to achieve
the
MAAP in Beijing 2002: moist
festival. The central exhibition was one of the first new media
art exhibitions in China with official cooperation and notably, with financial contributions from
Chinese government agencies. The core exhibition was held in the Art Museum of China Millennium
Monument with additional organising partners being the China International Exhibitions Agency,
the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing Gehua Cultural Development Group and the Australian
Embassy. The central exhibition comprised nineteen major media art installations and five video
