Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

pon was one for bringing litralia. nisers of the resemble the Great Hall becomes a THE Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria has been turned into a large Chinese tomb. It houses part of a small army of 2000-year-old terracotla figure s which majestically guard their dead emperor. The nine life-size figures form the first exhibition in the Great Hall. The setting is one of the gallery's most am• bitious undertakings. A Brisbane-based design company reconstructed the burial chambers where the figures and their 7000 com– panions were found in 1974. The original chambers were com– missioned by the Emperor Qin Shihuang who ruled China from 210 BC to 200 BC. More than 2000 years later, villag– ers near the city of Xian, in Shaanxi Province, found the tomb and the pot– tery army the emperor hac' ordered to guard him in death. It is the first time so many of the tomb trea sures have been allowed out of China and marks the 10th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Aus– tralia and China. New South Wales Gallery director of art, Mr Edmund Capon, was one of those who went to China in June tone– gotiate for the exhibition. As he watched the Great Hall being transformed, he said it gave the right impression of the excavation site, which he had visited several times. "It is the most difficult, complex and nerve-wracking exhibition I have been involved with but the compensat– ing fact is that everyone will appreci– ate it," he said. The exhibition, "The Entombed Warriors", was opened last week and will run until February 6. .,, .