Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

both the Premier and the Minister for the Arts are present with us to announce the names of the Australian artists who have been selected for inclusion in it. This Triennial is the result of a conscious and deliberate policy on the part of the Gallery. In the first speech I made after becoming Chairman of Trustees five and a half years ago, I voiced my conviction that a gallery such as ours, on the periphery of Asia, should take full account of the art of what was still called the Far East, but which was for us very much the Near North. It has therefore been a great pleasure for me personally to observe the Gallery's expanding engagement with Asia, initially through exchange exhibitions, then through the continuing development of the Asian collection and now through the Asia-Pacific Triennial. This is an important event not only for Queensland but for the whole of Australia, and it has already attracted strong international interest. I should like to emphasise that, in preparing for the Triennial, the Gallery has established close professional and institutional ties with all the participating countries on a basis of intellectual equality. At no time has it sought to impose its own view. The result has been a genuine engagement with artists, writers, academics and members of the cultural sections in the Foreign Affairs Departments of those countries. It is the kind of collaborative venture which could well serve as a model, not only for future Triennials, but also for other cultural involvements with Asian countries. We have with·us today the Premier, the Hon. Wayne Goss, who during his previous term of office was also Minister for the Arts, and in that capacity, always showed a great interest in the Gallery; and the Hon. Dean Wells, Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, who has now taken over the Arts portfolio and who is already showing an equally strong interest in the Gallery. It is a pleasure and an honour to have them both with us today. Please welcome the Minister for the Arts. 10 Speech to thank Mr Steve Shapiro, President ofARCO Coal Australia, and to introduce the Premier, the Hon. Wayne Goss, at the opening of the ARCO Gallery of Asian Art, 30 July 1993 NOTE: THE ARCO GALLERY OF ASIAN ART WAS SPONSORED BY ARCO COAL AUSTRALIA INC. TO HOUSE THE GALLERY'S SMALL BUT GROWING COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL ASIAN ART. INCLUDING THE STORAGE JARS FROM THE SIX OLD KILNS OF JAPAN, AN INITIATIVE OF RICHARD AUSTIN TO BUILD A MASTERPIECE COLLECTION REPRESENTING THE SIX OLD KILNS OF THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD IN JAPAN. Before introducing the Premier, who has graciously agreed to open the ARCO Gallery of Asian Art, I have rather a lot of thanking to do. I also want to make a few remarks of my own about the collection that the Gallery now contains. First of all, I want to thank Mr Steve Shapiro, President of ARCO Coal Australia, for the kind and encouraging words he has just spoken, and I want to thank his company for its generosity in making the construction of this new gallery possible. 31