Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 8 : Pressclippings, 1977-1981

. Pltld p Jo1tn .ua• ( f ,) P Durrn tour, t. tu11e~ f .., J' • },mt r– tcan oc upatlon they shl1>ped hOme more than 180 tons of gold and made Spain the wea!lhiest kingdom in Eu– rope. n ~·as not u11111 1939 that. c o10111bla's nauonal bank, the Banco de la Repuh– Jica, recognised gold ornamenLS as art and began preserving them. By t06ij about 10,000 pieces had been brought In and the hank established a gold museum, the Museo del Oro, In the country's cap'tal, Begot.a. Today the collection has grown to In– clude more than 26,000 gold ohjecu from the period 600 BC t.o I500 AO. It is the world's biggest collection of &old arte!acL,. The Ausmilan Art Exhibitions Cor– poration has borrowed 238 gold pieces and 24 ceramics for display around Australia. About 200,000 people alttady hn\'e seen the exhlhttlon In Perth, Ade– laide ond Melbourne. The exhibition \\•Ill end In Melbourne on J 1ly 2, and will be shown In Bris– bane at the Queensland Art Gallery from Juh• I3 to Auirust 13, belore mo1•– lng 10 si•dne)'. This may he the last ol'erseas show• Ing the Colombians allow. "They are getting lncrensln~IY reluc– tant," AAEO executive director (Mrs. Bronwyn Thomasl •old. "They want to boost their tourist trnde and attract tourists to Dogota." The Australian exhibition Is so small It packs lnt-0 a couple ot sultca,cs, but Its l'atue Is priceless. lL Is Indemnified by the Federal Gor– ernment and ls being guarded by elabo– rate security. Colombia WRS never part or the great American Indian empires - the Ar.tees to the north and the Incas to the south. The small, Independent tribes ol Co– lombia reserved gold mainly for cere– monial and burial purposes. Talos grew or legendary Oorados, elu– ' atl'e places of fabulous treasure. One or these was ldenlllled with a ceremony cnmed out by the Mulscn In– dians a t Lake Ouatav11n, In Colomb1a·s central lugh plateau. The legend is thnt a king cove.red h is naked body with resin coated with gold dust, and glittering "like a ray or lu– nunous sunshine" !loated on a raft 10 the middle or the lake, where he cast gold offerin~s 10 the gods. A big audience or delighted wanlors then named him El Dorado - "the gll• dcd one." This gold folklore goaded many con– quest expeditions. When the Conquistadors started a.r– rivlng a vast number of gold-bearing graves and tombs were scatt.ered all o ver Colombia. Only the locals knew where the rich• es were hidden. The tradition of secrecy continued long nIler the Spanish lnvaslona and 1nt•"rn;lfic0 when Gold obj ects became vn.Juable ns nrl. MosL at t..he museum pieces were unennhcd by (flla.qucros, freelance trcn– sure hunters or "grave robbers'' who still guard within their families the se• crets of where the gold can be found. Their crude methods have eliminated nearly all archaeological evidence that might have enabled experts lo dat.e the gold accurately and picture how It was made and used, However, It Is clear tnere were towns Inhabited almost exclusively by gold– working artisans who made producLs for their own group and also lo trade with neighbouring tribes. These craftsmen shared •lmllar cul– tural traits, but they also experimented and developed regional d!Herences. The objects made In the different re– gions were astonishingly 1•arled, These ancient goldsmiths achieved remarkable technical results, consld• erlnir the primitive means. El Dorado: Colombian Gold Is presented by the Australian Art Exht• bltlons Col'J)Oratlon with the assistance of the Commonwealth Government and sponsored by The Benson and Hed11es Company, • ORNAMENTAL breastplate of cost gold in the form of o bird. DIADEM of hammered gold. It is 27 cm. high ond 26 cm. wide . The exhibition features some of the finest work by South American Indians dot ing from befo re the Spanish Conquest. STUNNING funeral mask of hammered gol 238 gold treasures from the El Dorado Col hibition coming ta the Queensland Ar HELMET of hammered gold from Quimbay Colombia It Is 9.2 cm. h1 \