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

Coup with $55m. show FOR a man In chnrce of 100 Chinese paintings con– servatively valued at $55. million. Bob Edwards smiles a lot. · 'But t.e has good reason to be cheerful. A• executl l'e director o! Aus• tralla's ln!a111, lnlernatlonnl Cul– tµral Corporation. Mt· Edwards has pulled of! nn artistic coup which should have other nations quh•erlng with envy. Where the US and Japan failed, Australh\ has succeeded in negotiating with the Chinese Government for the flrst•el'er In– ternational loa n o! painLlngs. The collection or palnllnss - many of them on scrolls or PRJ>er and silk - date from Lhe 14Lh to the 20th centuries. In Chin•. the palnllngs ore shown for only a few weeks every yeRr, but have been lent. to Aus– tralia for 10 months. The collection, called "Trensur– es or Lhe Forbidden Cltl'," will he exhibited In 'Brisbone at the Queensland Art Gallery from next Tuesday 10 Jui)' 16. It will be the Inst major exhl • bltlon before tlie gallery clo.;es to move lo IL~ new South Dank lo· cnllon. openin!' next year. Accordln~ t ~lr Edwards, Ille Chinese pnlnllngs present n dlf– rerrnt, sci of prohlcm~ wit t, 1·r– ~• rd to transnortlng and exhlb· Jt,lng. "If looked after. a paJ>er xrrnll rAn lasL forC\'cr." Mr t-:dwnrds said. "Take the Dead Sen Scrnlls, for example. "Obviously this Is because they can be rolled up and stol'ed be· tween showings.'' Bu~ paJ>er and silk were more rr1tglle thnn <:nrwns, and were Jrnrmed by h111nldlty and light - particularly ultra-violet. Mr Ectwurds snld: "\Ve cnn contrnl conditions In Austrnllnn c,dlerles where we hn,·e art,lficlnl fichtlng and air-conditioning. That's proba.bly the ml\ln reason l he Chinese are allowing us to run the exhibition ro1· so Jong." Th re e Chinese conser\'nt.ors trrt \'CJ with the exhlblllon nnd aL each ~nller)· the works are 1111- packed. checked and hung by t hem alone. No A11s1rnllan Is e!Jowrd to louch the paintings. ~1r Edwards said that for 1rn,·· elltng the scrolls were· rolled 1111. nnd slipped Into silk bn ss. whirl, wrrc stored in drnwcrs In two t.n1nks. Thr I nmks were more portnhlc And inconsprn11011s compared lo n Europen 11 collection. BuL If thr unmcntionnbl~ did r,ccur nnd :-.omc hln~ hupJlCllCd I<" t llc collccLlon. !t Imel brrn ln~ clr111nlrled by 1he Aus1r111lnn Oovcrnment. M r Edwnrcl, cllcl nnt 11Ink n 1111shn p woulrl nccc.li urlly mcnn war with Cl1inn. - S\'RII, NOi.AS WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, "" • ' •• t