In the development of contemporary art scenes in Asian countries over recent years, a strong tendency has been for artists to buck the yoke of tradition and steer well clear of anything that might remotely resemble their nation's folk art -- unless of course their intention was to mock it.

In many of these circles, avant-garde conceptual art has been naively regarded as the spark of awareness that could start a revolution in the social consciousness.

A very different but parallel tendency has seen some Asian artists exploit their cultural identities to open doors, especially in tandem with politically correct international curators keen on introducing "exotic" talent from developing countries.