Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2004-05

10 11 QUEENSLAND GALLERY OF MODERN ART ‘TWO SITES, ONE VISION’ exhibitions of major film and video works, movements and genres alongside other visual arts media, including digital culture. Programming will also include educational programs encouraging critical screen literacy. Forthcoming exhibitions to feature film and video programs include ‘Kiss of the Beast’ (2005), ‘APT 2006: Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ and the major Andy Warhol exhibition in 2007. The Children’s Art Centre will provide an ongoing calendar of exhibitions, workshops and special cultural events for children and their families. The Centre had its beginnings in 1998 when the Gallery initiated its children’s programming. Aiming to promote meaningful interactions between children and contemporary art, the program was an important innovation within art museums nationally. The Gallery’s expertise in the area of children’s and family programming will inform the direction of the Children’s Art Centre. The Centre will specialise in artist-run, activity-based programs which foster the creative and learning potential of children working directly with contemporary artists. Its research focus will provide resources such as teacher services and documentation relating to children’s learning in art museums. Though based in the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, the Centre will operate across both sites of the Gallery. Under its outreach strategy, the Centre will conduct regional programs and develop interactive media for children throughout Queensland. The Australian Centre of Asia–Pacific Art (ACAPA) provides the research focus for the Queensland Art Gallery’s Asian and Pacific activities. Established in September 2002, ACAPA seeks to develop scholarship, publishing and collaborative links with other institutions to raise the Gallery’s profile in the field of Asian and Pacific art. The Gallery’s Research Library — with a collection of some 10 000 items on contemporary and modern Asian and Pacific art — is currently the public face of ACAPA. The Centre’s new offices will be located in the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, and will offer expanded facilities and services for researchers, scholars and interns. The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art will be the new venue for the Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT). After four APTs held at the Queensland Art Gallery, the fifth will be the opening exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art. APT 2006 will be shown across both sites and will feature 30 to 35 artists from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. A curated program of film and video will be presented by the Australian Cinémathèque, and Kids’ APT (under the auspices of the Children’s Art Centre) will continue with a series of commissioned artist projects and a major children’s festival. Following the opening of APT 2006, major exhibitions planned for the Gallery of Modern Art include Australia’s first comprehensive exhibition of work by Andy Warhol (2007), an exhibition of contemporary fibre art that acknowledges the importance of the medium within Australian Indigenous culture (2007), and a significant survey exhibition of contemporary Californian art (2008). The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art has been designed to increase the capacity of the Queensland Art Gallery to present its collections of modern and contemporary Australian, Indigenous Australian, Asian, Pacific and international art. The Queensland Art Gallery will continue to display Australian and Indigenous art (predominantly pre 1970), as well as works from the Queensland heritage, historical Asian and international art collections. During 2004–05, significant works purchased with the Queensland Government’s Queensland Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund included Ah Xian’s China China – bust no.63 2002, Lee Ufan’s In Milano 1–5 1992, and a group of 24 untitled photographs by Nasreen Mohamedi, all for the Asian art collection. Several moving-image works were also acquired, including From here to there 2003 by Jana Sterbak, David Rosetzky’s Untouchable 2003 and Weekender 2001, and The Truth Effect 2003 by Daniel von Sturmer. The Australian Cinémathèque at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art will be the first of its kind in an Australian art museum. The Queensland Art Gallery began collecting video art in 1996, as a reflection of the importance of this medium in contemporary art practice, and has since begun collecting film and new media art. The Cinémathèque’s modern art context, its bridging role between old and new moving-image media, and its focus on retrospective and thematic screening programs will differentiate it from conventional cinema programs. Facilities will include two cinemas, production facilities and a media gallery for integrated exhibition programming. With its purpose-built facilities and specialist staff, the Cinémathèque will reflect the important lines of influence between the moving image and other areas of visual culture. It will do so by presenting In October–November 2004, ACAPA hosted its first Scholar- in-Residence — Sharmini Pereira, an independent curator and writer, who undertook research for a forthcoming book on the Chinese artist Cai Guo Qiang. In February 2005, Simryn Gill was the first ACAPA Artist-in-Residence. ACAPA is supporting the forthcoming ‘Sparse Shadows, Flying Pearls: A Japanese Screen Revealed’ exhibition catalogue (2005), the Asia–Pacific collection publication and the APT 2006 exhibition catalogue (both due for publication in 2006). The Centre is also collaborating with the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University, to develop Perspectives: Asia, a series of free public seminars to explore issues of contemporary culture, politics and society in the Asia–Pacific region. Regional Services initiatives will reflect the strengths of the Gallery’s collections and programs through the delivery of high-quality Collection-based touring exhibitions. Heralding the commitment of the Gallery to its regional programs, a special exhibition focusing on the work of contemporary Queensland artists will travel throughout the state to coincide with the opening of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. Partnerships and collaborations to benefit Queensland will be developed; through strategic training and learning opportunities, the skills and expertise of regional arts workers will be enhanced according to best-practice principles. The Gallery’s work in conservation research and treatment of contemporary art will be strengthened by the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art’s new centre for contemporary art conservation. The centre will conduct a program of scientific research to increase understanding of the lifespan and degradation patterns of contemporary art materials (including audiovisual and multimedia art), making a significant national and international contribution to the care of contemporary collections. With the opening of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art less than 18 months away, the Gallery’s long-term planning for expansion to a two-site institution continued to gain momentum during the reporting year. Of particular focus were the new initiatives associated with the Gallery of Modern Art. OPENING PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AUSTRALIAN CINÉMATHÈQUE CHILDREN’S ART CENTRE AUSTRALIAN CENTRE OF ASIA–PACIFIC ART REGIONAL SERVICES OTHER INITIATIVES QUEENSLAND GALLERY OF MODERN ART CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS 18 May – 15 Sep. 2004 Decontamination of the Kurilpa Point site was carried out. July 2004 Trade packages for piling, formwork, demolition and in-ground services were tendered. 9 Sep. – 26 Nov. 2004 Wagstaff Piling commenced foundation piling. 16 Sep. 2004 Bovis Lend Lease Guaranteed Construction Sum Contract was formally submitted to the Queensland Government. 23 Sep. 2004 Site offices were established on the construction site. by end Sep. 2004 Earthworks were completed. 24 Dec. 2004 – 9 Jan. 2005 All work ceased on the site for Christmas. Jan. 2005 A design brief for a new Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) entrance was completed; the new entrance will be designed by Robin Gibson and Partners. 25 Jan. 2005 QGMA crane was erected. from 25 Jan. 2005 Major suspended concrete slab pours commenced and were completed for the Park level and Level one. 2 Feb. 2005 Hon. Peter Beattie, MP , Premier of Queensland and Minister for Trade, and Hon. Anna Bligh, MP , Minister for Education and Minister for the Arts, conducted a media conference on site. Mar. 2005 The majority of QGMA’s requirements for furniture, fittings and equipment were identified and documented for submission to RGC Consulting. Apr. 2005 Robin Gibson and Partners commenced design work on the new QAG entry. end June 2005 Restoration of the Wurlitzer organ’s metal pipes was completed; in 2003, a Wurlitzer Opus 2040 — the Brisbane Regent Theatre’s original 1929 cinema organ — was acquired to ensure a period ambience for the presentation of silent cinema in the QGMA Australian Cinémathèque’s principal cinema. mid Aug. 2006 QGMA’s overall target completion date. To date, the QGMA Project has seen some 37 930m 3 of waste recycled; this represents 77 per cent of total waste generated. Recycling has included: topsoil, bitumen paving, mulch from removed trees, carpet, and existing concrete paving and slabs. The recycling of suitable excavated material is used as back-fill against retaining walls and for service trenches and landscaping. The 2004–05 reporting year saw several key milestones achieved in the construction of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (QGMA). Throughout the period there were more than 44 media references to the QGMA Project. As of May 2005, no extension-of-time claims affecting QGMA’s overall target completion date of mid August 2006 had been received by Bovis Lend Lease.