The 2006 Australia-Japan Year of Exchange has featured more than 800 events in the two countries.
One of the highest profile exhibitions was "Rapt! 20 Contemporary Artists from Japan," a program of events that took seven Japanese artists to Australia for residencies in cities across the country and concluded with a series of exhibitions in Melbourne. On a more personal scale, Destiny Deacon's solo exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in May expressed her feelings about black minority culture in predominantly white Australia.
This fall, the Bridgestone Museum of Art held "Prism," the largest exhibition of contemporary Australian art ever organized in Japan. Presented as a straightforward showcase of work in all media by 35 artists, it deliberately avoided categories or themes. Though the lack of contrived guidance was refreshing, some jarring juxtapositions -- and the warrenlike layout of the museum's gallery spaces -- was disorienting. Despite some outstanding work on display, the show was not as effective an introduction to Australian contemporary art as it could have been.
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