Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

other equally big ones-a Braque work, a Picasso work and a Greek sculptu~were allowed to get away, either by Ministerial interference or bureaucratic inflexibility. The Melbourne Age, in a nice play on words, headlined its editorial, 'Punch k.o:s Picasso', Mr Punch being the Arts Minister at the time. It must have been a sad day for James Mollison. It was also a sad day for Australia. We are the poorer for losing this Picasso and the other two masterpieces. Their loss should be seen as a vindication of the old saying, 'Let the cobbler stick to his last'. Unlike the Minister, James Mollison has always stuck to his-with conspicuous success. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to ask James Mollison, an Officer in the Order of Australia, to address us and to open this exhibition. 17 Speech at the opening of 'Imperial China: The Living Past', 2 March 1993 NOTE: THIS EXHIBITION, MADE POSSIBLE BY THE SPONSORSHIP OF THE AUSTRALIAN WHEAT BOARD, CELEBRATED THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA THE EXHIBITION WAS ORGANISED BY THE CHINA CULTURAL RELICS PROMOTION CENTRE IN ASSOCIATION WITH ART EXHIBITIONS AUSTRALIA LIMITED AND THE ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. THIS EXHIBITION INCLUDED MORE THAN 170 OBJECTS FROM TWENTY OF CHINA'S LEADING MUSEUMS AND SPANNED MORE THAN 5 000 YEARS. OBJECTS INCLUDED ANCIENT RITUAL BRONZES, PORCELAIN, SCULPTURES AND PAINTINGS. Thank you, Michael Darling, for your kind words about the Gallery and for your commentary on the operations and future plans of Art Exhibitions Australia.' This Gallery is delighted to have taken part in the tour of this exhibition and looks forward to working closely with your organisation in future, especially on the Renoir and Matisse exhibitions. I should also like to thank Mr Yang Yang, the Curator of this exhibition, who is visiting Australia for the first time as a guest of Art Exhibitions Australia. He and our Senior Exhibitions Officer together have made the past come alive. Before I introduce the Minister and ask him to open the exhibition, I should like to make a few observations about the Gallery's involvement with Asia and, in particular, with China. You will be astonished when you pass through that imperial yellow door. It is fair to say that, in a diplomatic and trade sense, Australia is now showing an unprecedented level of interest in the Asia-Pacific region. It should not be forgotten, however, that, in a cultural sense, Australian galleries and art museums have had considerable contact with many of the countries of Asia for some twenty years, and the closest cultural links have been with the People's Republic of China. Queensland has had a Sister State relationship with the Municipality of Shanghai since 1989, and this Gallery presented a spectacular exhibition, 'Treasures from the Shanghai Museum', in 1990. At an earlier date (in 1983), it also showed 'The Entombed Warriors: Terracotta Figures from Xian'. 83