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

a nice IIU!e eh there will be upstream or the re[~!~~ l~,~~e~; 11nned that > the will be sub-tro- t~~•f~:~~• r~~1~ t lighting and, possible, bulld– ·open" aides. and ~aff~ss rather_ •,n Walk will go. mlnr arts centre 1lt over It. As a. deofr, an equlva– Lor 11.nd will be . etback on Mel– et, the western centre. treet probably ~o aome kind or Sir DavM Muir 1'.s chair• man. So he has t\1/0 hats. co~i~cPi;,vlrnsrs~~b~~~~eq~, 1 : no specific plans i·ct. Ar– chitect Robin Olbson next week will I><' nskcd to pre.sent the mas·.er com– mittee - the Muir Com– mittee if you like - R finnl "Conce1>1ual plan", Th!A \\ill be lhP 11lan put to the Government. II ',he Government likes this plan. the Architect,; will be instructed to produce de– ta.lls and bring out t.ender documents. Robin Oibson and Part– ners I• not the architect - yet. The !Inn wn.s commis– sioned by the Art Oallory president <Mr. D. J . Mun– rol snys: "Since nothing has been heard or the proJ• eel, lntely, we must l1ope that It, will still proceed. What must glre concern Is nn np11nren1 lack or con– sull.ntlon with prospective users.·• Mr. Munro Is surprised tlmt MusicR Viva. one of Queensland's important c\1ltur·a1 links. 15 being lelt out of the planning. Mr. Munro makes lhe point that t11ere ls much technique In planning con– cert hall•. Festival .Hall, he says, was meent to be a comb In e d stadium and Departmc,11, dirl M the ne..– Con•erv11,lorlum nea. the Q.I.T, They failed tn n1ake tne rooms soundproof,.. io;1i;~·s1;:rs~~~e 0 o'?tYie d~;-,~: 11.!rra- po11&-0red Fest1, 1 al of the Arts Society, cc,111p, • sli.~ hn• not been con•ull~d by the Muir organlsa, lu,.. Her society spends about $100,000 a )'car loslerh,.: culture In Quee11sland, complaints over pl3:µning What I• certain art gallery wtll tanley Street. early nine yearo .me to plan and tural centre, but. Muir and his hlnk It Is reason- 1ci:~"1ffce'~~t .~~ •~ dlaaram. on ,oon Is likely ·t the Planning bllshment Com– o a. trusL. Thlft exercise over-all the complex. the rour bodies 1wn "user com- 1 reeds Idea.,. and requirements to · r;•c~~~~uf:;~~~t u~h ln Lbe Jargon ei'eloped already, ~rnment-shadow– •old "Works De– . The)' prefer the 1c-sectorlsh "con– authority", I the four will be le for the enth·e or Its own p•r– mponent in the he lll't gallery, l<nd llbrnry trus[., ·ne organisation •ere. c per'1ormIng e.rl• t ta new. It .. ,a., · the mftster body ,. Sir David Muir. happens it made Trust to ''do" ',he new Art Oalleri• building. Sir D a v Id ex11lalns: "Then Mr. Olbson had do1ie so much work on the Art Gallery building thM It was agreed the construct– Ing authority would be well-advised to hnve him ·also draw up ,.he con– ceptual plan. "Mr. Oibson Ls not the pro{ect architect. It_ will be ~orftf).~ ~~~i:~~~tfr:~1: tect:· Yet, lt wlJI be surprising 1r Robin Olb8on does not get the Job. lc~~~s ~~m it? cultural Some are, other~ aren'",. Many claim thlLt t,ney ore not being consulted. That the whole "secret" plan Is comln~ from an cstab– )lshment clique. That ii "111 be Rn accomp!Lshect rac·, before t hey can do ~gt1;i'.!~f se\? 1!t 0 t~~t' J~:t ' mistakes could be bulll into LhP culturnl r.rnt.re . Some tear •,J1t Go\'ern– ment is falling to seek Rd· vice from aril< bodle.,. One man In the arts !Ml week unklnctl,V aceused Si Da1·td Muir's committee as ~!r 8 bu~t oiri"'r~re1n:u1i1~ ~~1_;'.P. out the renl ex- The Mustca Viva Society concert hall but Called in both. "Thev should be plan– nln(I this project in tlie opeu," he 5llys. "This Is taxpayers' money and tnx- ~ot~de 1~~1~ c~~t\~·eih~e~~'i:;~ trouble as the Sydney Op– era. House." The State·• oultunl af– fairs dlrec1,0r <Mr. A. J, Creedy I Is not a member of the Muir committee. This has shocked many culture.I leaders. The Queensland Youth Orchestra conductor (Mr. John Curro) describes the Creedy omission as "abso– lutely prcoosternus.· One ex-per,t as<ed : "Do Sir Da\'ld and his com– mittees know how to 1111\.ke things \'l&.ble? An opera thea tre will rost. A.bout $7000 " week to hire - r~~fni.S: l~/i1 ri,•~~a ~itr~~t that kind or box office?" Twelflh Night Then tre·• director ,Mis.~ Joan Whal– lc)' I Is conlldent Sh· Da1·ld !~1e°' 1 e:1~ 1 ~h~¥!~, tr~c\ 1i: 1 i theatr.~wlse, l~ must, be en- 1re11reneurial. IL must take 113 t~fJt1:~~~i~2,';iindny, Mnll's nrt and music critic, hM worrJes ·about the ~~~~ed~:?t~e,g~~h ie.1~f Job : "We saw what the Worka The Australian Brond– castlng Commission. be• liere IL or not, wlll contln ·e ~~n~~• 1\~ri. c~r,. Hf 1 s 1 6~ pleads "loyalty lo long– s l • n d In if arrangements with lhe Brisbane City Council." · Yet the A.B.C. ·has a mnn on the South ,Bank per• forming nrt.s bodr. o~i;: ~i~r:,s~~ nd dlr~~f~~~ (and founder), Mr. Dal'lct McFarlane. say.1 he has be en consulted. What's more, he thinks the com• plex will "ealer ..,.ell." Mr. McFarlnne is passing on to the South BRllk many lcteas hr picked up In a re– cent \\'orld t.our. The c II I t u r a I esta b– l!!;h mcnt's Rnswer is ~ome– Lhlng llke lhls: "We hnrl two way., to tackle it. Method A was to call everybody ln nnd let lhcm nil Join ln the plnn– nlng. And rou know what lhRI would hal'e been like. "Method B WRY WR$ lo get. down anrt do IL, with a selected committee of the best people and advised by the besL experts we could find ." MeLhod B it wns. Sir DR• ,. I cl with complete in– nocence ln•is~s: "II any– bocty has Any ldens, we are nlwnys nl'RIIRble," AL 59, with a 12-year background as Queens– ! a n d · s agent-general In London. Sir David Muir Is the s1111e's Industrial De– ,, e Io p m c n t director. He t.Rlks with t,ycoons, He rules ~1~l~ti:' rr~~ir \~~ t~.~~-: MTM Building. You CAil bet II the South Bank escalMes to n $100 or S200 million bill, Sir David will be readv with a fool– scap-sized list of reasons why It wns unRvoldablc.