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

,• The Courjer-Mail 24 May 198 3 Guardians pull crowd THE Chinese travelling with the Entombed Warri– ors Exhibition have been overwhelmed by the enthu– siasm with which the exhibition has been received in Queensland. On Sunday, 8310 people visited the exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery, a number confirmed by the International Cultural Corporation of Australia as an Australian record for any paid exhibition. The highest daily attendance figure for 1..e exhi– bition in Sydney was 7740 and in Melbourne 7189. On average, more than 4400 Quccnslanders are visiting the Entombed Warriors every day. The Chinese travelling with the 2000-ycar-old life-sized tomb guardians of China's first emperor arc Hong Da Zhou, the head of the archaclosical re– search. team working on the Entomcd Warriors, Lu ·Shao Chen, chief of the display department of the Overseas Archaelosical Exhibitions Corporation, and Miss Sheng We1wci,,a Chinese Ministry of Cul– tu re Ira nslator. Miss Sheng said that while the team expected a great deal of interested in the Entombed Warriors, they had been surpri~ at the extent of the interest, espcciall) mong school children. She said Australians had been fascinated by the quality of the sculpture and its age. Miss Sheng, 27, learned English at a languages institute in China after being nominated by mem– bers of a rural commune. "I left school in the middle of the Cultural Revo– lu tion when all students had to spend three years working with the farmers," she said. ,,· The S t:nrlay Mai 1 15 May 1983 SYLVIA on Sunday Goodies in song and silence They always say e~erytbing comes to those who wait. · Well, Brisbane waited and the goodies did even1ually turn up. The Chinese arrived with the En• tombed Warriors Exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery and the Lyric Opera of Queensland got into action for another year with some splendid opera. It made me feel part of the world again. After all, Melbourne had the opening of its new theatre, and so did Sydney and we have to wait an• other year for the opening of ours. But never mind, Her Majesty's Theatre is still there - well, it was yesterday, though one can never_be sure these days with demolj:"1011 gangs working in the dead of night. With its excellent acoustics, "Fidelio" sounded great wten the season opened a few days ago with the lucky ones being able to hear Donald Smith in the leading tenor role. . Hearing records of Don at the weekend we all decided that here was Brisbane's own Pavarotti, a world-class tenor singing in our own back yard, or front garden if you like; one of those tenors whose voice makes you want to cry He's here and he's all ours. Elizabeth Vaughan was splendid as Leonora and if that chorus doesn't send shivers down your spine you aren't human . After "Fidelio" comes "The Merry Widow" which promises to be marvellous. And as for the Chinese exhibi– tion, all I can say is sec it: more than 2000 years of history standing exquisitely right in front of you . It is beautifully mounted and lit and all Icould think when I saw the int ricate carvings on the warriors and horses was what the heck were we doing all those thousands of years ago when the Chinese were already so highly civilised? ~till rubbing two sticks together trying to make lire, I suppose. ·•·