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

, SATURDAY, M·Av·:Jo, 1981 TheCourier,Mail ~ ill u [nm rn ill w [u] ill rn ill~ FIVE ·. PAGES OF PERSONALITIES, POLITICS Report: John Hay Pictures: Stuart RIiey f 011 e culture! centre, the ....,,....., .. • pt. Arcbitec:t Robin Gibson is prowling around the new Art Gallery like a cat on a hot tin roof. The 1bapc of the art gallery is complete and now they are working on the lrimminp, the finishing of a floor here, the painting of 1 ·wall there, a acncral tarting-up as a whole 'to •aive the place that finished look. Robin Gibson, architect of the entire Cultural Complex, is showing u~. proadly - the new Art Gallery - It will be llnlihed mid-year and open , to.the public next March - and he is hardly able, let's face it, he's unable to contain his excitement. We 1t • ad in the middle of a gallery of majestic dimensions, he waves an arm around and says: "It's exciting, isn't it?" You have to give it to the man. Exciting it is, more than that, it's maanillcent. The lut time Robin Piblon took me over the Art Gallery wa1 18 months 110 and we walked over and around concrete llabl, cables, wire reinforcing, pipes, panels, workmen - all the detritus of a major job under construction. 'J)len much depended on the vivid word-pictures of Mr Giblon and a meagre ability to visualise what was aoina to happen. The Gallery then was taking shape. Now the shape Is there and if you want. the imprC111on in the lan1ua1e of• culture, French, well "c'est ma1nifique." The place I, full of maanillccnt plleria, walkway,, lounaes where the public can 1lt and browse, tcrraCC!I where you can see Brisbane city as it's never been acen before, gardens, which· will be filled wilh sculpture, a watcrmall, a weir• . . t tt"k And,to.come, arcencry, everywhere arccnoty, : Olataide, 1 inaide, upitairli, dowllltain, ,and, I llhouldn't be 1ur– prisc!d, In my lady'• chamber. Hanglna plants will sprout from· plantboua at enry level illlide and , oullidt, 10l'tcninl the hard Jina of tbo– llaildhia. We al4lld on the broad expanse of paving that leads into the Art Gallery and look across to the city. "Look at that," 11y1 Robin Gibson. "You have never seen Brisbane like this berore. The aallcry provide• a number of platform• from which to view the cily of Brisbane from great .vantage points.'And when that fence in front of the construction sile goes, the whole project will now right down to the river." Robin Gibson is also aware or the historic imporlance of 1hc area. "This is where Brisbane began," he says. "lr it wasn'I for the ri'ler, thero wouldn'I be a Brisbane. . "Yet do you know that the Cultural Centre is only the third public building to be buill with a proper relationship to the river'/ The two others arc the Customs House and the old Common• danl's House (on the north bank, in William S1reet). "The Rlue Moon skating rink and the Cremornc Theatre used to be on the site, but they turned their backs 10 the river." Mr Oib5on points to the stretch or parkland on the south bank. "There· used to be a 101 of bunya pines there. In the early days, ships somc1im!s tied up 10 u tree there, bu1 one ni1h1 lhc owner of the property, a Scol, cul Lhc rope and the ship 'drifted. "Then there was the s<1uallcr on 1hc norlh bank who used to dress in women's clothes and row across wilh a friend to ~isitina' ships and be. entertained by·th• captain as man and ,wife. · ••you can check the details in the book 'Tom Petrie'a Reminiscences of Eatly Queensland'." [I did, The boQk claims that the acl of the irascible Scotaaan chanaed the deatiny of Saudi Brisbane. It aays that after he cut the·rope. "another place had to be fo11nd, and the steamers went down the river.to the north side of the stream, 10 spoiling the chance South Brisbane had of first place." No-one seemed to know if the Scotsman clit the' rope because the captain was not paying him enough, or at all, or whether he was just a: dour, cantankerous Scot. You know how Scotsmen cun be. The squaucr who dressed up as a woman wus ~r Henry SLuurl Russell. He would borrow a dress and bonncl from Tom Petric's mother and go off arm-in-arm with another squallcr as man and wire to 1he steamer. The book says: "When Lhcre, they would hoist all sort of things to the masthead in place of the nag, nnd the skipper would laugh, too, and enjoy the fun . Gcncrnlly the boat would be cleared of all 'grog' before she lcrt for Sydney again." Squallcrs don't change their hnbils, as Brisbane hotel managers would say at Exhibition time.) While he's lalking away incessunLly about the gallery, 1hc main 1hing on Robin Gibson's mind is - PEOPLE. And you realis~ he just can't wait for the piece to open so thul 1hc complex can hnvc ils most imporlilnl ingredient - people or all shapes and sizes. We go on a 10ur of lhe cxlernal walkways on various levels. "We've created a whole new series or public spaces. II looks simple but it is tremendously complex. Catch that view of the Captain Coolc Bridac from here. You've never seen that before. "You'll be walking along when you . look dqwn through a window and sec people lookina at paintings, or you'll sec sculptura in the ilardcn and you'll· wonder how the blazes can I act down to sec thCfll, Or a view of the inside of the museum and you'll be enticed in there. . "And think of walking along here 111 night, the . views you'll get. The walkways will be open' to the public 24 hours a day." It's evident that Robin Gibson didn't sec his commission to design the Cultural Centre as an excuse 10 construct an edifice, a monument. He's seen it as an opportunity to bring the people of Queensland and works of urt together in the best possible way. "I didn't want to be pr'c1enlious with the Art Gallery," he says. "As an archi1ecL, I felt I had to provide 1hc best conditions for what the gallery direclor and his stuff want to do in bringing art to the public. "l;hc relationship is like an orches• Im. If you don't play in tune, it doesn't maller how good an individual you arc. You arc not making p,usic, you arc making noise." )Queensland Arl Gallery Director Mr Raoul Mellish later agreed. lle told me: "This will undoublcdly be one of lhc finest galleries in Lhc world, wi1h great ncxibilily in i1s display facilities. "The architecture i1sclf will be of grcut interest to the visitur and it has been especially designed to induce the visitor to explore the various display orcui-. "The architecture will not take over from display. It will allow the artwork, great and small, lo give off nil it has 10 do wilb no competition from the building." Raoul Mellish said he and Robin Gibson had a great workina relation– ship. and he wasn't surprised because they grew up together in the same street ip Ycronga.)· Now inside the gallery, the pcrspcc• tivc and views keep changins. Huse galleries, smaller, more intimate, areas for viewing smaller objects, a print gallery, a lecture theatre. Robin Gibson points downstairs. "There's the watermall. It will have fountains and full-size trees." We walk through the complex and Robin Gibson gestures towards a huge wall above an archway. "Isn't it a marvellous space 10 hang a painting'/" he says. "If someone would just give us a Turner. 'The Fighling Tcmcrairc' would do." There arc 14 galleries inside the building. The largest is the temporary exhibitions gallery, which is the size of lwo olhcr galleries. There arc huge sliding doors at each or the four corners. "This is where the great exhibitions will be shown. whether they come from France, China, Russia or Australia," says Robin Gibson. "I call this gallery lhc jewel box. It is for the jewels of the arl world. "A woman docs not wear all her jewels at one time. If the jewel box is closed. we know Iha! somclimc or 111hcr ii will open up and 1hc jewels wi ll be exhibi1cd for us. It i, in,porl:0111 1ha1we should know 1ha1 1hc 1c111 pur,11 ) exhibitions aallcry will sent quality." We walk into the tcm tiona gallery. The floor i. inlaid wood, except for a feet wide which will be. travertine imported aton ih material is not me Robin Gibson 1tand1 fac tucs on the edge· of I stretches his arm toward palm is an Inch or 1 wall. "You can't really look nearer than that. This wood to stone is a barrier. tr you step v encroaching." While he's at it, he of his favoritc subjects. thumb down the cornc Look at that plastcrwor · a knife-edge. The work levels on this job is mar everyone has a pride 11 There is a big gallcr Australian collection. Everywhere walls, wal of hanging space, Ca That's the job for the Gallery Foundation. Now·we arc on the and we look up at 1h "Look at it," he says. .. alive artwork. · You imagina1ion go wild, ,c kites, you name it." As we stalk through 1 says wouldn't that be a a 1:1pcs1ry, no1ice h,,, feeling is in the water how Ihose workmen ,, high walkway add I • imagine what iL will of peopl!-. and if you 1 , 8·•11cry 1hcrc nnd over I Ii !111.:. g,tnlcn \'rn t~1dc y,11· \'icw llf the rivi.:r 1111d l lfrldgc.