Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2004-05

4 5 HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS JULY > To celebrate NAIDOC Week 2004, ‘Blak Insights’, which showcases the scope and strength of the Gallery’s collection of contemporary Indigenous art, opens at the Gallery. > The Gallery’s partnership with Comalco for the ‘Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest’ project wins the 2004 Toyota Community Award from the Australian Business Arts Foundation, the first time a Queensland arts organisation has won a national arts sponsorship award. > Story Place is awarded an honorable mention in the exhibition catalogue category of the American Association of Museums 2004 Museum Publications Design Competition. > ‘Story Place’ opens at Cairns Regional Gallery accompanied by a program of performances, music, artist talks and workshops. The state-wide tour of the exhibition continues the Gallery’s commitment to providing access to the Collection for regional Queensland audiences. AUGUST > ‘Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’, an exhibition organised by the Art Gallery of South Australia, officially opens and provides Queensland audiences with an insight into the groundbreaking work of this Indigenous artist. > Carapace 1954 by Richard Hamilton — one of the most important figures in postwar British art — is gifted to the Gallery’s international art collection. SEPTEMBER > A construction milestone is achieved for the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art — on 9 September the first foundation pile is driven into the ground at the Kurilpa Point site. Construction is scheduled for completion by late 2006. > The Queensland Art Gallery annual Foundation Art Appeal is launched to raise funds for the acquisition of Café tables 1957 by the renowned artist Ian Fairweather, to strengthen the Gallery’s holdings of works by this significant Queensland artist. 2004 OCTOBER > ‘White/Light’, an exhibition of minimalist works exploring the visual qualities and cultural connotations of white and light in contemporary art, opens with Yayoi Kusama’s magnificent Narcissus garden 1966/2000 taking centre stage in the Gallery’s Watermall. > An important addition to the international art collection, Jesus healing the blind c.1600–20, attributed to the Circle of Joos de Momper, is acquired to complement the collection of mid sixteenth- to mid seventeenth- century art works held by the Gallery. NOVEMBER > ‘Ten Thoughts about Frames’, an exhibition delving into the art, history and techniques of framing, opens in Gallery 14. > ‘Pop: The Continuing Influence of Popular Culture on Contemporary Art’ concludes its eight-venue tour at Ipswich Art Gallery; ‘Pop’ has been seen by over 40 000 people on its 2003–04 tour of regional Queensland. DECEMBER > Jana Sterbak’s From here to there 2003, a major addition to the Gallery’s international and moving-image collection, is acquired and forms the centrepiece of the latest Children’s Art Centre exhibition, ‘The Nature Machine: Contemporary Art, Nature and Technology’, which opens in Gallery 4. > The Gallery’s redeveloped website, which features over 600 pages, goes live and provides increased access to the Gallery’s collections and programs for local and international audiences. > The Queensland Art Gallery Foundation celebrates 25 years of supporting the Gallery’s acquisitions, exhibitions and public programs. JANUARY > ‘The Nature Machine’ Summer Festival for kids builds on the Gallery’s achievements in children’s programming and attracts close to 30 000 visitors to the Gallery over 9 days. FEBRUARY > A set of four striking photographs by New Zealand artist Greg Semu, depicting the artist’s full-body tattoo ( pe’a ), is acquired for the Gallery’s Pacific art collection. > The Gallery welcomes Simryn Gill as the first Artist-in- Residence for the Australian Centre of Asia–Pacific Art; the Centre is committed to fostering alliances, scholarship and publishing in the region. MARCH > ‘The Art of Fiona Hall’, a major mid-career survey exhibition of the work of one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, shows at the Gallery for 11 weeks before travelling to the Art Gallery of South Australia in July. > The annual ‘Education Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art’ opens at the Gallery and profiles the outstanding work of Queensland secondary school students. APRIL > The Gallery secures a sponsorship with Xstrata Coal to establish an emerging Indigenous Australian art award and acquisitions program for the Gallery; the partnership is worth over $300 000 over three years. > Queensland audiences get the opportunity to view ‘No Ordinary Place: The Art of David Malangi’, when the Gallery hosts the touring exhibition organised by the National Gallery of Australia. > The Gallery’s annual Prime event, ‘Prime 2005: New Art from Queensland’, opens to coincide with National Youth Week and showcases the strength of current art practice by eight Queensland artists aged 35 and under. > ‘Streeton: Works from the Queensland Art Gallery Collection’, an intimate exhibition of works by pre-eminent Australian artist Sir Arthur Streeton, commences an eight-venue Queensland tour at the Outback Regional Gallery in Winton. MAY > The Gallery’s Video Hits: Art & Music Video publication wins best exhibition catalogue at the 2005 Museums Australia Publication Design Awards, and Ah Xian is highly commended in the same category. > Suhanya Raffel (Head of Asian, Pacific and International Art) is awarded a Smithsonian Fellowship to work with colleagues at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. JUNE > The Honourable Anna Bligh, MP , Minister for Education and Minister for the Arts, announces that APT 2006, the fifth in the Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art series of exhibitions, is scheduled to open in late 2006 as the opening exhibition at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. > 48 825 people visit Queensland Art Gallery travelling exhibitions in regional Queensland in 2004–05. From left to right: Installation view of ‘The Art of Fiona Hall’, organised by the Queensland Art Gallery. Circle of Joos de Momper (artist) The Netherlands 1564–1635 Monogrammist IC (currently unidentified) (painter of staffage) Jesus healing the blind c.1600–20 Oil on timber panel 40 x 69.5cm Purchased 2004 with funds from anonymous donors through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Installation view of Jana Sterbak’s From here to there 2003 in ‘The Nature Machine: Contemporary Art, Nature and Technology’. Wayne Goss, Chair of the Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees, and the Microchips team battle it out at ‘The Nature Machine’ Quiz Show, 19 January 2005. On 9 September 2004 foundation piling commenced for the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. 2005 HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS