Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 9 : Construction of the cultural centre, 1977-1981

cultural hange is n the way c country and western show, with 12 percent in Sydney, n up the scale to 23 percent in c, 26 percent in Perth,and 38 in Queensland provincial ther forms of music, 'including pop, brass bands, live religious ht opera, live Aboriginal music, classical music, and chamber ,e poll showed that Brisbane ore than those in any other capital stayed at home. •as happenina in Brisbane'! Jn after art form, popular and uitional and modern, it was the 'ty. Most Brisbane people did hin't of 1oin1 to a wide runic rformances and events which atively attractive in other cities. - ight aay,"Wcll, 'that's Queens• ou,''but that was not true. The Council's survey showed that Queensland - and certainly provincial cities of Cairns, and Toowoomba - were ith arts performances. In population, they seemed to markable attendances. tain Queensland provincial cmed that the average citizen more likely to attend art s and musical performances cultural events than was a Sydney, Adelaide or Mel– wnsville and Toowoomba and Cairns - some statistics suggested - were the Athens of Australia, In many ways they were amateur Athens, it was true, but nonetheless these cities had ,cultural vitality and wide cultural interests. Professor Blainey said Brisbane people seemed to be more Interested in books· by Australian authors th~n people in any other capital city; Melbourne and Adelaide came next, "Given the importance of reading in our cultural life, this is a revealing statistic.'' Professor Blaincy said, "Do you know what has probably happened to cultural life in Brisbane? It has suffered from lack of exciting facilities for the pt rforming and the visual arts - for those arts which depend heavily on expensive modern theatres and halls and galleries. Given the fact that of the mainland states, Queensland has far and away the most decentralised population, it has not been able to provide - as quickly as most other states - adequate modern cultural amenities in its capital city. "Queensland has its string of coa.tal cities, its inland cities to cater for. Queensland, in population, is more than Brisbane. In contrast Victoria is not much more than Melbourne: South Australia is not much more than Adelaide." The new cultural centre would be vital and would probably transform facets of the cultural life of Brisbane. h would attract thousands of people who previously had no interest in theatre, musicals, paintings and so on. Above all, it would give opportunities to people who had the interest but somehow were not attracted to leave their homes. An interesting puinter in the Australia Council's recent nation– wide survey was that in some· cultural areas Brisbane had the highest level of interest, but the least inclination to allend a performance or exhibition. All that would change. In the performing arts and visual arts, Brisbane would probably cease to be the stay-at-home city of this continent. ••• "The new cultural centre will have ·greater impact here than a >imilar centre could possibly have in Sydney or Melbourne. 1t is much easier for an ambitious cultural centre to revitalise a city 0 of this size than a city twice as big. . In 1990, a new poll of Australian cultural altitudes and interests would show Brisbane ahead of Sydney and Melbourne, he predicted. The Queensland Art Gallery was essential to the ,ucccss of the cultural centre. The Australia Council's poll showed that six of every 10 people in Brisbane were interested in traditional painting. That was a vcrl high proportion, Professor Blaincy said. Similarly, more than five of every 10 people were interested in the crafts and 1n photo– graphy. More than four of every 10 people had an interest in prints •· d .drawjngs, and iq the Aboriginal - • ts. Four in 10 had an interest in fine European paintings, the Old Masters. · "llcrc is an appetite for the visual arts which, the poll also shows, is not being satisfied. Here is an appetite which is satisfied less in Brisbane than in any ,other capital ci9•. Here then is the most challenging environment for a new art gallery. A fine collection in an arresting new gallery will draw large crowds. "But let's be more ambitious. A great and growing·collection of works of art in this new gallery - .. collection added to, imaginati\lely - will make the art gallery a source of pride and stimulus to Queenslanders and a source of wonder ·to visitors from abroad. " In the last live years the Queensland Government lrns - of all the state governments - been one of the strongest financiers o[ the arts. But the task of 'making the arts accessible to people throughout Queensland is a formidable task. ll cannot be pc, formed quickly or cheaply." Thal' was why the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation was so important. With the people's support, it could create a great gallery. And a great a rt gallery in Brisbane then would rqake the new cultural centre all the more magnetic for people of every background and tast~.. Those who had prospered in Qucelfl• land should give to the-Queenaland, Aort Gallery Foundation. Their aifts would provide stimulus and deep satisf1ctio11 liO tens of th usands of Quccnslanders., ,. Gifts to the Gallery found11ion, tl\e chairman Sir George Fisher hopcil. would come from all those who .had prospered in manufacturina, tranapoit. an_d tourism, and fro'!1 all those who ~aid mined Queensland minerals and hill.le •)· ed the products of Queensland soil, "The sensible farmer tries to put b_ilfil' into the soil some of the goodness .his crops have extracted. This applies . 1 (o society as well as to soil," ProfCi'sor lllaincy said. - And sensible, successful businessnien should give back to the nation 10.m~;~r the benefits which the nation - witli-all its people, skills, and great resource~.:r- had conferred on them. • "It is wrillcn," said the profc~1ar, "that man shall not live by bread aliiiic.• Whether you arc religious or sei:ull!r, you cannot discard this truth. nd a ~real ;1rt gall£f.l'.. in Bri~anc w· . • }, other public ..gu_lfcacs aloqs the Pec1fi4 coast and far inland, will sntisfx.,'..a Tiun¥/' r which bread alone will n,!v,:r. !:us y ulJE: ~ - · ,'If:•