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

El C?.2~~~,.92~9 comE ancient treasures outside the Bogota Gold Museum A collec t1o n ot So uth America·s ancIe111 golden treasures. some datmg f1om 200 BC will be on sl1ow al the Arl Gallery of South Austr alia this month and later In oll1er Stnles II too, three years ot neyotIatIon between Colombia nnd Australia before the exl1Ib11lon was agreed upon, and Bro nwyn Thomas, executive director of the Australian Ans Exh1b1tIon signed the contract that made 11 poss1 lile Til e wo rks to be shown were all produced by the native Indians of the South American continent before th e Spanish conquistadors arrived In th e 16th cen tury , and have been selected from the 26,000 works In the Gold Museum of Bogota, Colombia's capital. T11e collection ot 238 gold treasures and 24 ceramic and stone pieces will be in Aust ralia for nine monll1 s, touring maior galleries. Th e exhIb1t1on Is entitled " El Dorado - Colombian Gold · after one of the area·s most romantic legends wl11ch tells ABOVE LEFT: Bronwyn Thomas looks at some replicas of ancient South American goldwork soon to be on display here. LEFT: A popora (lime container) in the form of a woman, with necklace. BELOW:Gold jaguar pendant. of a king covered in gold who lived 111 a golden city 111 the moun tain s Th legend original s , t Lak e Guatav1 ta, h1gl1 111 the And an ranges, ancI nl site of the sacred ceremonies of the Mu1sca, one of the Indian tribes On ceremonial occasions t11e Mu1sca chief v. 1s covered 111 resin , then gold dust was blown all over him to form a skin of gold He was th en rowed on a raft to t11e centre of th e lake wh ile the tribe th1 ew offerings of figurines and emer– alds mto Ille water Th e only replica thal will be shown with the exh1b1t1on Is of a small golden raft featuring intricately designed figures and thought to depict the El Dorado ceremony. The original never leaves the museum. Bronwyn Thomas says Australia Is likely to be the last country to host an exhibition from Colombia " Th ey are reluctant to let w rks out of the cou ntry because of their valu e," she explained. " El Dorado will give Australians a special opportunity to learn something of Latin America - about which we're abysmally ignorant. " - CAROL VEITCH The El Dorado collection will be shown at Adelaide's Art Gallery from February 25-March 27: Western Austra– lia Art Gallery, Perth, from April 8-May 7: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. from May 26-July 2; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, from July 13-August 13; New South Wales Art Gallery. Sydney, August 22-October 1.