Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 1997-98

Exhibitions and Cultural Development Program The Exhibitions and Cultural Development Program has three subprograms: Exhibitions & Major Projects Access, Education & Regional Services Research, Library & Publications The responsibilities are: t To initiate, negotiate and organise exhibitions of Australian and international art, including the Asia-Pacific Triennials; t To develop programs to maximise access to the Collection and to temporary exhibitions through display, research, information and intellectual support, publications, documentation, educational and interpretive services of the highest standard; and t To maximise the effectiveness of the Gallery's statewide Regional Services program. The Program includes cultural development initiatives in access, research and training, especially links with universities and educational organisations, and projects to enhance the Gallery's reputation as a major educational and research institution. There were a number of new initiatives during the year, especially in the area of major exhibitions, regional exhibitions for Queensland and new access programs, in particular for teachers, children and young people. The Gallery staged an extensive program of exhibitions of Queensland-based, national and international art, with emphasis given to those initiated by the Gallery. Two Gallery– initiated exhibitions of great significance were 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Alhalkere - Paintings from Utopia', and the exhibition of newly-acquired works from the Conz gift, 'Francesco Conz and the lntermedia Avant-Garde'. Other highlights of the exhibitions program included the international exhibition 'The Golden Age of Dutch Art: Seventeenth Century Paintings from the Rijksmuseum and Australian Collections'; and Australian-initiated exhibitions: 'Marks and Moments: Paintings by Gordon Shepherdson'; 'William Dobell 1899-1970: The Painter's Progress'; 'Russell Drysdale 1912-1981'; 'Durer and German Renaissance Printmaking'; 'Artists Think: The Late Works of Ian Burn'; 'The Drawings of Ian Fairvveather'; 'Dark Visions: The Etchings of Goya'; and 'Four Centuries of Ukiyo-e', from the collections of Verlie Just OAM and the QAG. As well as four exhibitions to regional Queensland, the Gallery toured two exhibitions interstate. 'The Spiritual and Social: Nine Artists from Thailand, Indonesia and The Philippines' presented at the WESTPAC Gallery in the Victorian Arts Centre as part of the Melbourne International Festival, and 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye' toured to the Art Gallery of New South Wales (5 May - 2 August 1998). The exhibition will continue its tour to the National Gallery of Victoria (8 September - 22 November 1998) and the National Gallery of Australia (13 February - 18 April 1999) The Deputy Director was invited to international conferences for which costs were paid by the inviting body. These included a conference funded by Arts International and the Rockefeller Foundation in Bellagio, Italy, and a French government-funded period of research in France. An invitation was extended by the Australian government for her to visit Indonesia, which allowed work to be undertaken on negotiating an exhibition of gold objects from the National Museum of Indonesia. The Japan Foundation invited the Deputy Director to present a paper at a maJor conference in Japan in October, and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum invited her to chair a session and present a paper at a conference associated with the Taipei Biennale in June. The visits allowed for significant interaction with key institutions and artists in the region, extending our Asia-Pacific network of contacts. The invitations were a result of the Gallery's internationally acclaimed Asia-Pacific Triennial which the Deputy Director continues to manage. During the year new training initiatives were introduced for young graduates. The Program also hosted a series of training sessions for an Australian workshop for ASEAN curators, and the Asia-Pacific Triennial Senior Project Officer was the organiser for the Australian tour. The Gallery continued its contacts and joint programs with universities and educational institutions including Queensland University, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology and the Australian National University. Exhibitions and Major Projects GaIlery-initiated exhibitions 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Alhalkere - Paintings from Utopia' Undoubtedly the Gallery's highlight this year was the landmark retrospective, 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye'. This tribute to a senior Anmatyerre woman, who is one of Australia's most eminent contemporary Australian artists, made Australian art exhibition history. It was the first retrospective exhibition of an Aboriginal woman artist held in this country by a public institution, and the first time an exhibition devoted to the work of an Indigenous artist has toured nationally. With the first major art book on Emily Kame Kngwarreye, published in collaboration with Macmillan Publishers Australia, and 'Placing Emily', the first forum on this artist, the Gallery advanced its national profile. Margo Neale, the Curator of Indigenous Australian Art, also coordinated a curatorium comprising Emily Kame Kngwarreye (before her death) and Debra Bennett McLean. Consultants, most notably Director of Utopia Art Sydney, Christopher Hodges, and Anne Marie Brody, formerly of the Holmes a Court Collection, provided specialist advice. 12 Top· Joan Collins from •he Queensland Art Gallery hosts Greeny Purvis Petyarre, senior custodian from Alhalkere, for the welcome (smoking) ceremony at the official opening of the 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Alhalkere Paintings from Utopia' exhibition, watched by His Excellency Ma1or-General Peter Amison, AO, Governor of Queensland and the Wakka Wakka Dancers. Centre Gloria Petyarre presenting an address at the official opening of the 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye Alhalkere Paintings from Utopia' exhibition, with: (from 1eft) Gallery Director Doug Hall, Sammy Petyarre, Jackie Huggins, Senator the Hon. John Herron, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, and Gallery Chairman of Trustees Lady Edwards. Bottom Neville Bonner, AO, and Lady Edwards, AM, Gallery Chairman of Trustees, at the official opening of the 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye Alhalkere Paintings from Utopia' exhibition.