Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 1991-92

FRAMEWORKS FOR T H E FUTURE the critical role of the contemporary artist and to articulate more fully the basis and meaning of their work. The rapid development of an historical and contemporary Asian art collection is further confirmation of a wider endeavour to understand more fully and 'locate' ourselves in the Asia-Pacific region. Through a major exhibition initiative, the 'Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art', beginning in 1993, the Gallery has made a formative contribution to this search for meaning among our geographic neighbours, positioning itself to construct an even wider dialogue in the future. The substantial commitment of major Japanese companies to the Gallery's Exhibitions Development Fund is another indicator of the Gallery's close partnership with both Asia and Asian interests in Australia. The Gallery must continue to make its public program relevant and responsive to its Collection development and exhibition activity. At present it conducts a range of interpretive programs that includes workshops for children and adults; integrates dance, music and performance into our experience of the visual arts; addresses the special experiential needs of disabled visitors; and provides floor talks, lectures, seminars and academic symposia. Beyond the existing applications of the Gallery's Collection Management System, in-gallery computer terminals will shortly make it an even more visible instrument of enquiry and interpretation. As part of its outreach role, the Gallery plans to extend the system to enable remote access to its Collection catalogue and, later, image-based resources. The Gallery foresees the need for a Resource Centre, where interested members of the public can investigate the Collection and obtain access to information on the visual arts. Other aspects of this informational role are to be found in the Gallery's volunteer, internship and placement programs, which provide a crucial extension of its public and professional services. The Gallery is a major resource and research facility of national significance - analysing, treating, investigating, documenting and publishing, while maintaining the highest museological standards in the conservation, handling, movement and exhibition of works of art. As part of its on-going planning for the future, the Gallery must make a clear statement of institutional purpose. Its future needs are, in effect, defined by the scope and ambition of its present site and activity, and it aims both to clarify and to speculate further upon that purpose. During the planning process which guided the siting, development, design and construction of the Gallery's present building, close consideration was given to its projected expansion. A potential to expand, both physically and conceptually, was integrated into the present building. That same potential must involve every facet of its planning today. The Gallery is now actively engaged in determining its future building needs and, in so doing, is being guided by its original brief. As part of that brief, the Steering Committee of the day noted: 'In determining the space requirements and the resulting size of the proposed building, the Committee was guided by medium range projections of the anticipated growth of the Gallery function to ensure the future horizontal expansion of the building, thus ensuring that the long term needs of the Gallery are safeguarded'. The Gallery intends to maintain a liaison with the State Government concerning the nature and extent of proposed building extensions, with a view to reaching a commitment in its Centennial year of 1995. The Gallery recognises that the State Government has progressively acquired the land which lies adjacent to its present site. The Gallery's planning for future extension has therefore focused upon its northerly aspect - the only orientation that could conceivably absorb such growth. This position is anticipated in the architect's report proposing the initial design for the Gallery: 'The structural system allows for the expansion of the complex in a northern direction and the major areas which would be liable to expansion, such as the Collection and the Galleries, have been located so that this may be achieved with the minimum of disruption'. The Gallery's architectural framework, however, remains just one vital issue in the decade ahead. With a recent record of almost unmatched acquisition activity, and a public program whose scope and complexity continue to make demands upon the existing building, the Gallery has already become a more effective, responsive and meaningful provider to its numerous communities of support. To retain the vitality of the decade past, into and beyond the decade ahead, the Gallery must continue to reinvent and redefine its place in the cultural life of Queensland. II