Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

her memory as well as to Ken's. Australia owes much to Mr and Mrs Hiraoka for having produced such a daughter. I notice with pleasure that Ken's daughter, Joanna, and Bails's daughter, Samantha, are both here this evening and I extend to them a special welcome. It is appropriate that this important exhibition, which epitomises the success of the First Asia-Pacific Triennial, should be officially opened by the Premier of Queensland, and I now have great pleasure in asking him to do so. Ladies and gentlemen, the Premier. 16 Speech to thank the Idemitsu Kosan Co., Limited for their sponsorship of the Six Old Kilns of Japan Collection, ARCO Gallery, Queensland Art Gallery, 21 November 1994 Welcome to the ARCO Gallery of Asian Art and to our collection of storage jars from the Six Old Kilns of Japan. We are here this evening to celebrate the close and rewarding relationship that has existed for a long time between the Queensland Art Gallery and Idemitsu Kosan, the Idemitsu Bijitsukan, and Mr Shosuke Idemitsu himself, and to express our thanks for this latest gesture of generosity-the presentation of a Bizen jar to the collection. I am glad to see so many representatives from the Idemitsu Group present this evening, especially Mr Okada, the Chief Representative, who has come up from. Sydney, and I extend a special welcome to them. I only wish that Mr Idemitsu could have been here as well. The Gallery's relationship with Idemitsu began in 1983 with the exhibition 'Japan: Masterpieces from the Idemitsu Collection'-the first major exhibition from Japan to be shown in Australia. This continued with two more exhibitions-'Sengai, the Zen Master', and 'The Ceramic Traditions of Japan: Master Works from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo'; then with membership at the highest level of the Exhibitions Development Fund; and now with a major sponsorship of the Six Old Kilns Collection. As you may have noted on your invitation card, the Bizen jar, which is there before you, has been variously described in Japan as 'an outstanding masterpiece' and as 'one of the most beautiful examples of the Momoyama Period'. Looking at it, it is not hard to see why. It shows Japanese ceramic art at its best and most powerful. On this occasion, therefore, it is not enough for me simply to say 'arigato'; instead, I shall say 'kokoro kara kansha itashimasu: to indicate that my thanks do, indeed, come from the bottom of my heart. Indeed, this whole collection is very dear to my heart and I can say that, indirectly, Mr Idemitsu was responsible for its existence. I first visited the Idemitsu Bijitsukan with my wife in 1967, only a year after it had been opened, and during the 1970s, when I made frequent visits to Tokyo, it was always my first cultural port of call, so to speak. My vivid recollection of the six jars that I saw there certainly played a vital part in dictating what this Gallery should collect when we decided to enter the field of Japanese ceramics. And now the Collection from the Six Old Kilns is complete, and 40