Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2002-03

INITIATIVES & SERVICES Research and publ ication s The Gallery's Research Library continued to foster research by expanding specialist resources and supporting both Collection and program development for the Gallery. The Australian Centre of Asia-Pacific Art (ACAPA), an initiative of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, supported the research and production of the APT 2002 exhibition catalogue and committed to two further publications, a monograph on the Chinese-Australian artist Ah Xian and an anthology based on APT 2002, both due for publication in 2003-04. ACAPA will focus on research, scholarship and publishing; creative partnerships and alliances; residencies, internships and innovative professional practice; public programs; sponsorship and grants; promotion of the contemporary Asian and Pacific collections; and support for the Gallery's exhibitions and Collection development. Extensive video documentation of artists' interviews, performances and practice supported APT 2002, while award-winning resources - the education resource kit and children's activity book - enhanced the exhibition experience for youth and children. In addition, the Gallery continued its ongoing research into programming and designing exhibitions for children. In association with the School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, the Gallery investigated the learning-centred educational and exhibition strategies offered by 'Colour'. The draft research report - to be completed in late 2003 - will inform the development of the Children's Art Centre, an integral component of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. Senior Conservator (Paintings), John Hook, and Conservation Intern, Alyssa Aleksanian, began work on the 'Old Masters Project', a collaborative project that will conserve a number of historical works of art from diverse Queensland collections. The first treatment carried out under the auspices of the project was on W.F. Calderon's Crest of the hi// 1898, a large Victorian painting in the collection of the University of Queensland. 24 Research and professional development opportunities saw a number of Gallery staff undertake international travel during the reporting period. The Head of Design and Installation, Don Heron, travelled to Washington DC for a three-month Smithsonian Fellowship at the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery to investigate exhibition design and display. Senior Curator (Special Projects). QGMA, Anne Kirker (previously Head of International Art). travelled to the United States to research a forthcoming exhibition for the opening program of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. Head of Asian Art, Suhanya Raffel, and Senior Project Officer, Asia-Pacific Triennial, Rhana Devenport, represented the Gallery at three high-profile international cultural events in China. Head of Conservation, Anne Carter, attended Sharing Conservation Decisions, a four-week workshop in Rome organised by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). Conservator (Sculpture). Amanda Pagliarino, undertook research on the Giambologna wax reliefs in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and consulted conservators at the Tate Modern in London regarding the long-term preservation of electronic and video art works in the Gallery's Collection. Conservator (Paintings). Gillian Osmond, visited the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF) in Amsterdam, where paint samples from works in the Gallery's Collection have been contributed to a research program investigating metal soap formation and corresponding deterioration in oil paintings. Members of the curatorial project team for 'Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest' travelled extensively to numerous communities throughout Cape York Peninsula and far north Queensland to meet with community representatives, work with artists, and research and document the communities and their cultural traditions. Tourism Queensland staff - including a small team of journalists and a travel photographer - accompanied Gallery staff to conduct artist interviews, and to gather contextual landscape imagery and footage of art production materials and practices. The Gallery's publication design was awarded recognition on several occasions. In the Museums Australia Publication Design Awards, the exhibition catalogue Darkness and Light: The Art of William Robinson, the 'Kids' APT Summer Spectacular' poster, the APT 2002 education resource kit, and the 'Kids' APT' children's activity book all received commendations. The Gallery continued to produce a range of high-quality promotional publications including exhibition posters, flyers and media kits in support of exhibitions, events and programs presented throughout the year. These included the quarterly brochure Preview, which continued to serve as the primary information tool for the general public on Gallery programming. Also published quarterly, Artlines was strategically re-positioned from a magazine exclusively for Friends members to one that communicates to a broader audience, including Foundation members, sponsors and journalists. Artmail, the Gallery's e-bulletin service, continued to provide information electronically to a growing subscriber group. Access through technology As part of APT 2002, an interactive computer activity designed by artist Suh Do-Ho and closely linked to Who am we? 1996-2001 encouraged visitors - particularly children - to generate postcard-sized sections of wallpaper. Each section comprised several hundred portraits of children and other visitors to 'Kids' APT. Children entered a computer booth, pressed a button to have their picture captured by a digital camera, then collected a printout of their wallpaper. Each portrait taken was saved for the artist's possible future use, and the images became a permanent record of visitors to 'Kids' APT. Advanced multimedia features, developed to augment the presentation of three key APT 2002 art works on the exhibition website - works by Michael Ming Hong Lin, Yayoi Kusama and the Pasifika Divas - ensured an enhanced experience for virtua l visitors to APT 2002. Attracting over 3.5 million hits during its four-month presence online, the website proved a hugely successful component of APT 2002.