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

What to keep and what to throw away? It has always been a problem, The suit that cost the earth five years qo an<t II now too 1hort and the wronr 1hape - should It be put In the rag bag, 11r kept In the wardrobe In cue It comea back Into faahlon? Those hldeoua vuea that were ,randmother'a - 1hould they be 8iven to the local bargain shop or kept In cue they be· come valuable? · L Glrll are se&&lnr 11111r• rled Ill tllelr mo&ben' ~drwullllecaUM alter ,-n 1J1nr foqot– ten In a 1lll&eaN, &be 4- ar. ncldtlll1 -, "In". The art deco, mon• ltrolltlea of the 30'1 the -i you wouldn't even have liven under-the• ho11111 room to Juat ·a couple of :,ean qo, have 1uddent, become beau• tlful and ar. being mapped up by all the 1111&rt people to put In their anart hoURS. Treasure of past cen– turlel, u can be seen In the Colombian Said Ex• hlbltlon at the Queens• land Art Oallery, can be recovered Intact to prove to future pneratlona that the put did exlat. The ume doesn't seem t.o happen to buildings, Throw away a frock and you can bring It i>ack to life years later. Tluow a bulldq tnto the rubblah can and lt'I lmpoalble to bring It back to life•. llowhalahallNlulppea Co &be ornate Berent Tlla&n, llllllt Ill &be tut dllappearln1 art n011Yea11 a&,le of &lie earl7 part of &lle _,VJ, •~!ell b at pnaent tlle ,one or a httle be&- developen and ooaaenatloabta, and 1,alldfnp like ltf Lt Pull It down or change It any way and, It's said, the put will no lonrer accurately extend Into the future, or record the put. There'• nothing else like It In Brlabane, con- HOW MUCH PAST CAN BE PRESENT? herltap,• he aays. "la an old coal mine u much a part of our her1ta11e as I.he Resent or Waist.on Ho111e? '' And &be en«mous eoal mlnlnr devel• opmen h In Central Queensland. Wllat aort of memorial do we need for them? aervaUonl&t., say, and It should remain the way It la. In the old days, It would have been pulled down without a murmur from anybody. But now, people care, and It seems they are sudden IY caring more about the put for the future's sake. TboN almlnr at pre– ...tnr &be llalldlnr .., It bu to be uved for the benefit of future pner– aUOIII, IO &Ila& tile C!hll• dren or·tomorrow can aee t h • & arcbltec&ure WII once mon than "uare, unlonly blrll bosea. · After &II, and thank 1oodne11, nobody baa 11une1ted pulling down Westminster Abbey or Notre Dame Cathedral. was built In the first part of the centAlry? Brtabane has a ahort hi.story, If we kept ever:v– thtnr pertaining to y~.i– •terday, we'd have no room for the things per• talnlng to today and to– Jll.Orrow, and we'd have an awful, untidy mess. atranre. The Resent la 49 yeara old. In 100 years It will be 149 years Old. Such 11 the way htatory la made. Professor Raymond "We don't seem co be concerned with what we've 10t." the ProtelllOI' aald. And IL'a doubUul If anybody would suggest pulling down the Syd• ney Opera House when It reaches 49, the Recent Theatre's age. Must we keep every bulldlnr In town that a Contrarllr there are . tboee who think an,– Wnr 1111 than 100 ,– old laa't wertll aa..tnc. Their thlnklnr la Whit.more, Profesaor of Mining and Metallurgy at Queensland Unlver– alty, Is concerned about what should be kept and what ahould be thrown away. He', keen to Ill the l'l'Owth of the Importance of Jndustrl&I archaeolo11 1n Queenaland. "It'• all part of The Courier-Mail 7th August, 1978 lure of gold ~ - Christian re– Urton has had 1ome strange bed– fellows. In the 16th century Spaniard• •ailed with In• credible courage •cros• the unknown Atl•ntlc to ex– plore tlla wild• of central and South America. They were Impelled by a number or motl\•@.•. There 11·•• simple' courr.ge and curiosity, Then 11·a., the cor.cern for the spreadlnJ or I faith ne..-ly-re.•tt•llsed hy the confllcu or the rernrmation • n d cnunter•n-formAt.lon. And t,heNI 11·u the lure of goM. When one '"' 1.11' , xhl· bi11on Al the Qu8'n, land Art G&llor.1• ot pres"'t one I• not ,urprlstd hi· m•n·• fMrinolion ll'lth this •r– r.fln~ mrdlum. In subtle dRrknes• Rold Rrl /fart, or lht Colnmhl• cnll,ctlnn At Borot• Ifrnm •·h•t. ls r•lled tli,. Bank nr th• Reottbllr', Mmeum nr Gnld, u, dt, pl•Y•d In Rn AUrR nr m~·st•l')I snd the ffl)'t h nf lnnr aro. They corn, rrom •• !ar ll'tOIYUthe 12th century, rftWhristian Point of View · ~IYDEAN GEORGE Many or the treasures were In ract orlg'in11lly de• 1·1sed ror rP.Jllrious ceremo• nl••· One of t he most •trlk· ln11 exhibit., Is a replica of ,. tiny c&r1·ed ea.st ROid rRft ,..hlch is thou1ht to depict the El Dorado c@remony. No doubt the museum rt• fuses t.o lend the or!IJinal I El Dorado "'"" ,uppostd to he a golden man, a kln11 rol'ered Jr. !{Old, who IIved In • citr or gold f•r ••·• y In the mount o.ln• or t.he In• · terlor of South Amerlco. It " '"" thia Image and mi·th that rn•n~• or the rar– elgn ln\'11.ders pur,ued. • Th, 11reat citie. of trM– s11re had b,en plundered by Plssarro 11nd Cortes In the euly )'ears bringing about lhe collapse or the A1.lec and lnl!a clvllislation, . But U1e leRend nr the Gold,n Man •ttrv11•ed. It Is said that on ceremonl•I oc– casions a tribal chief high In the Andes 11·a.s covered In resin. Oold dust, -.·as blowr. all 01·,r h i , naked body through """II pipe• rorm• ing an oil)' skin or gnld. He was then roll'ed on a bill~• raft to the middle of the lake In the crater or an extinct 1•olcann. While the tribespcople •II mane s•cred orrerln11.~ of gold (lg11rlnes and emr.r– •lds 11·hlch I.hey lhrew lr.to the -.•ater from the IAke's ed~e. the cl1 ler made his o"·n orrerlnRs from the rAft. .".ftl'l"t\'Uri~ he tmmcr!-e-rl himself 111 the rnld depth, • nrt "'"· hen the colden sk111 rrom his bod)', The IA.I•• nr lhe cllttermg rltu&I spro,Rd fRr R nd ,s·ide. Rrllclo11, life for th.,,e 11,ople centred Around thP pr e.st , temple. and the Idol cult,;. Man" ~I\Cl'Pd ,,tRcts ,ststed. e ·pecl•IIY lakes, beliel'ed to be d•:ell!ng places or cert oir. ~ods and ror~lng links with (he mother goodness or lertlllt,i·. Bul It Ill behoves us •to d I • 111 I s s their rrliglqus form R.s prlmit1ve. One,nt the stn tements from lhelr lll)'lhOI0J?Y Is "111nrnl cowi– ness and the hea t or the sun will Inst. because we ha 1·e their rcrlcctmg In our heln~... 1 This bears medlta• tlon b,1· us All. , .It Is n cren t piece or cood fortune thnt the Austral(An Art Exhibit ions cor1>0ratlon ll'it.h Federal Ooverr.mcnt A~! lst.Rncc ha.c. hP.en Ahle to britlg this cxtr•o1·d1nary exhibition to Australia, sponsored b)' the Benson and Hedges Cnm pHn)', Slnc·c 1968 the Gold Mu– sr11m hns been i:Pt. up to hou~e R nd tn buy mAr.. y prier.lees artlfncls whJ h h1' \'e bPcn ~ea u e1·ed Around rhe ll'orld for crnturlr.s. \Ve h £n 1 e hi re !!:Js 2nld artlfact..s and l 4 <·~r•mlcs fro1n n. collect 10n of ~ome– thln• like 26.0IJ0 In Boedlll. F1·er)·one ls , 0 ,rtually prl- clP'-5-, We a re prl1·ile~ed to ha1·e them In Ans!ralla. We may not see their like here agatn.