No.1 Neighbour: Art in Papua New Guinea 1956-2016

12 №1 NEIGHBOUR IN MEMORY OF GORDON DARLING IN MEMORY OF GORDON DARLING  accmg 1921-2015 CHRIS SAINES, cnzm DIRECTOR, QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY | GALLERY OF MODERN ART ‘No.1 Neighbour: Art in Papua New Guinea 1966–2016’, the exhibition and this accompanying publication, has received outstanding support from the Gordon Darling Foundation. Granted in the year prior to Mr Darling’s death, that backing bolstered the Gallery’s determination to take a considered and long‑lens approach to 50 years of contemporary art in Papua New Guinea. ‘No.1 Neighbour’ has come about as timely and apt recognition of the great passion that Mr Darling had for Papua New Guinea. A towering philanthropist, Gordon Darling, ac , cmg (1921–2015) served in Papua New Guinea as a major during World War Two. In common with many Australians who experience that country, he retained a keen professional and personal connection, making more than 100 visits over 25 years. Gordon Darling was a determined and pioneering chair of national arts organisations — notably as inaugural chair of Canberra’s National Portrait Gallery — and an astute advocate for the arts. He was also an assiduous collector and generous donor. His thoughtful involvement and personal investment marked him as a philanthropist who deeply understood the working life of the art museum. The breadth and vision of that passion and generosity touched this Gallery deeply, as it did cultural institutions large and small right across Australia. The Gordon Darling Foundation, established in 1991, is equally renowned for its broad-reaching support of the visual arts sector, across exhibitions, publications and scholarships. Like so many in Australia’s art museum sector, a number of this Gallery’s staff have enriched their careers through professional development and research travel funded by the Foundation. We are grateful for those 25 years of vision and leadership and for its continuation into the future. Mr Darling was a man of remarkable energy and drive, who, with his wife Marilyn and the board of the Gordon Darling Foundation, worked tirelessly in support of the visual arts sector. In acknowledgment of the Foundation’s particular support of this exhibition and publication — and its profound influence on the Australian arts landscape — the Gallery respectfully presents ‘No.1 Neighbour’, in part, as a tribute to Gordon Darling. SIMON GENDE No 1 Kiap blong Australia Mr Jim Taylor I brukim bush long Highlands Papua Niugini (The first Australian Officer, Mr Jim Taylor, in an exploratory mission in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea) 1999