Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

SIXTEENTH CENTURY BC TO THE TANG DYNASTY OF AD 907, WAS ORGANISED BY THE QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY UNDER THE SISTER STATE AGREEMENT SIGNED BY THE STATE OF QUEENSLAND AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF SHANGHAI IN 1989. IN OCTOBER 1989 A DELEGATION FROM THE QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY, LED BY RICHARD AUSTIN AND CONSISTING OF DIRECTOR DOUG HALL, DEPUTY DIRECTOR CAROLINE TURNER (FORMERLY A MEMBER OF THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT'S AUSTRALIA-CHINA COUNCIL) AND PROFESSOR HUGH DUNN (FORMER AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR TO CHINA), VISITED SHANGHAI TO NEGOTIATE AN EXHIBITION FROM THE EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTIONS OF THE SHANGHAI MUSEUM-MUCH SOUGHT AFTER BY CURATORS IN OTHER COUNTRIES. THEY WORKED WITH MR MA CHENGYUAN AND HIS CURATORS TO SELECT THE WORKS. THE RESULT WAS 'TREASURES FROM THE SHANGHAI MUSEUM' WHICH WAS ALSO SHOWN IN SYDNEY AT THE ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. It is my pleasant duty this evening to introduce the Premier, the Hon. Wayne Goss, who has been kind enough to agree to open this exhibition, 'Treasures from the Shanghai Museum\' Before doing so, however, I should like to say a few words about the exhibition itself and how it came to Brisbane. In view of the number of speeches and the fact that they are being translated, I shall be as brief as possible. I note, too, that you are all anxious to traverse the zigzag bridge across the moat and to enter through the door to see the treasures themselves. You can cross that bridge with impunity, safe in the knowledge that the evil spirits will not be able to follow you, because they can only move in a straight line. There is a character in the Chinese language--a rather special character written with eight strokes of the brush and pronounced 'chia\ represented by 'man standing beside earth\ In combination with other characters, it can mean good, beautiful, excellent, auspicious, valuable, elegant and del_icate. That character, if I may put it that way, is the signature character for tonight, because this exhibition is all those things and much more. It is also, and I say this with some pride, an entirely Queensland initiative. It had its genesis in the Sister-State relationship between Queensland and the province of Shanghai, established by the previous Government and carefully nurtured by the present one. The memorandum of agreement stipulated that a delegation from the Queensland Art Gallery would visit Shanghai for discussions, which it was hoped would lead to the exhibition here of bronzes from the Museum. Ceramics were added later. I had the honour to lead that delegation, the other members of which were the Director, the Deputy Director and Professor Hugh Dunn; I cannot over-emphasise the kindness and cooperation we received from Mr Ma, the Director of the Museum, and his staff. We were told that we could choose whatever we wanted, and I shall never forget the pleasure and excitement we all felt, going round the Museum and making our choice from the priceless treasures housed there. To remove such things from their permanent home for six months is a grave responsibility and would not have been possible without the indemnity provided by the Queensland Government. This is the first international exhibition to receive assistance of this kind, and we are very grateful to the Government for providing it. 28