2004-05 Report

QUEENSLAND GALLERY

OF MODERN ART

‘TWO SITES, ONE VISION’

exhibitions of major film and video works, movements and

genres alongside other visual arts media, including digital

culture. Programming will also include educational programs

encouraging critical screen literacy.

Forthcoming exhibitions to feature film and video programs

include ‘Kiss of the Beast’ (2005), ‘APT 2006: Asia–Pacific

Triennial of Contemporary Art’ and the major Andy Warhol

exhibition in 2007.

The Children’s Art Centre will provide an ongoing calendar of

exhibitions, workshops and special cultural events for

children and their families. The Centre had its beginnings in

1998 when the Gallery initiated its children’s programming.

Aiming to promote meaningful interactions between children

and contemporary art, the program was an important

innovation within art museums nationally. The Gallery’s

expertise in the area of children’s and family programming

will inform the direction of the Children’s Art Centre.

The Centre will specialise in artist-run, activity-based

programs which foster the creative and learning potential of

children working directly with contemporary artists. Its

research focus will provide resources such as teacher

services and documentation relating to children’s learning in

art museums. Though based in the Queensland Gallery of

Modern Art, the Centre will operate across both sites of the

Gallery. Under its outreach strategy, the Centre will conduct

regional programs and develop interactive media for children

throughout Queensland.

The Australian Centre of Asia–Pacific Art (ACAPA) provides

the research focus for the Queensland Art Gallery’s Asian

and Pacific activities. Established in September 2002,

ACAPA seeks to develop scholarship, publishing and

collaborative links with other institutions to raise the Gallery’s

profile in the field of Asian and Pacific art.

The Gallery’s Research Library — with a collection of some

10 000 items on contemporary and modern Asian and

Pacific art — is currently the public face of ACAPA. The

Centre’s new offices will be located in the Queensland

Gallery of Modern Art, and will offer expanded facilities and

services for researchers, scholars and interns.

The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art will be the new venue for the Asia–Pacific

Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT). After four APTs held at the Queensland Art

Gallery, the fifth will be the opening exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art. APT

2006 will be shown across both sites and will feature 30 to 35 artists from Asia,

Australia and the Pacific. A curated program of film and video will be presented by

the Australian Cinémathèque, and Kids’ APT (under the auspices of the Children’s

Art Centre) will continue with a series of commissioned artist projects and a major

children’s festival.

Following the opening of APT 2006, major exhibitions planned for the Gallery of

Modern Art include Australia’s first comprehensive exhibition of work by Andy

Warhol (2007), an exhibition of contemporary fibre art that acknowledges the

importance of the medium within Australian Indigenous culture (2007), and a

significant survey exhibition of contemporary Californian art (2008).

The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art has been designed to increase the

capacity of the Queensland Art Gallery to present its collections of modern and

contemporary Australian, Indigenous Australian, Asian, Pacific and international

art. The Queensland Art Gallery will continue to display Australian and Indigenous

art (predominantly pre 1970), as well as works from the Queensland heritage,

historical Asian and international art collections.

During 2004–05, significant works purchased with the Queensland Government’s

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund included Ah Xian’s

China

China – bust no.63

2002, Lee Ufan’s

In Milano 1–5

1992, and a group of 24

untitled photographs by Nasreen Mohamedi, all for the Asian art collection.

Several moving-image works were also acquired, including

From here to there

2003 by Jana Sterbak, David Rosetzky’s

Untouchable

2003 and

Weekender

2001, and

The Truth Effect

2003 by Daniel von Sturmer.

The Australian Cinémathèque at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art will be the

first of its kind in an Australian art museum. The Queensland Art Gallery began

collecting video art in 1996, as a reflection of the importance of this medium in

contemporary art practice, and has since begun collecting film and new media art.

The Cinémathèque’s modern art context, its bridging role between old and new

moving-image media, and its focus on retrospective and thematic screening

programs will differentiate it from conventional cinema programs.

Facilities will include two cinemas, production facilities and a media gallery for

integrated exhibition programming. With its purpose-built facilities and specialist

staff, the Cinémathèque will reflect the important lines of influence between the

moving image and other areas of visual culture. It will do so by presenting

In October–November 2004, ACAPA hosted its first Scholar-

in-Residence — Sharmini Pereira, an independent curator

and writer, who undertook research for a forthcoming book

on the Chinese artist Cai Guo Qiang. In February 2005,

Simryn Gill was the first ACAPA Artist-in-Residence.

ACAPA is supporting the forthcoming ‘Sparse Shadows,

Flying Pearls: A Japanese Screen Revealed’ exhibition

catalogue (2005), the Asia–Pacific collection publication and

the APT 2006 exhibition catalogue (both due for publication

in 2006). The Centre is also collaborating with the Griffith

Asia Institute, Griffith University, to develop Perspectives:

Asia, a series of free public seminars to explore issues of

contemporary culture, politics and society in the Asia–Pacific

region.

Regional Services initiatives will reflect the strengths of the

Gallery’s collections and programs through the delivery of

high-quality Collection-based touring exhibitions. Heralding

the commitment of the Gallery to its regional programs, a

special exhibition focusing on the work of contemporary

Queensland artists will travel throughout the state to

coincide with the opening of the Queensland Gallery of

Modern Art. Partnerships and collaborations to benefit

Queensland will be developed; through strategic training and

learning opportunities, the skills and expertise of regional

arts workers will be enhanced according to best-practice

principles.

The Gallery’s work in conservation research and treatment of

contemporary art will be strengthened by the Queensland

Gallery of Modern Art’s new centre for contemporary art

conservation. The centre will conduct a program of scientific

research to increase understanding of the lifespan and

degradation patterns of contemporary art materials

(including audiovisual and multimedia art), making a

significant national and international contribution to the care

of contemporary collections.

With the opening of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art less than 18 months

away, the Gallery’s long-term planning for expansion to a two-site institution

continued to gain momentum during the reporting year. Of particular focus were the

new initiatives associated with the Gallery of Modern Art.

OPENING PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

AUSTRALIAN CINÉMATHÈQUE

CHILDREN’S ART CENTRE

AUSTRALIAN CENTRE OF ASIA–PACIFIC ART

REGIONAL SERVICES

OTHER INITIATIVES

QUEENSLAND GALLERY OF MODERN ART CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

18 May – 15 Sep. 2004

Decontamination of the Kurilpa Point site was carried out.

July 2004

Trade packages for piling, formwork, demolition and

in-ground services were tendered.

9 Sep. – 26 Nov. 2004

Wagstaff Piling commenced foundation piling.

16 Sep. 2004

Bovis Lend Lease Guaranteed Construction Sum Contract

was formally submitted to the Queensland Government.

23 Sep. 2004

Site offices were established on the construction site.

by end Sep. 2004

Earthworks were completed.

24 Dec. 2004 – 9 Jan. 2005

All work ceased on the site for Christmas.

Jan. 2005

A design brief for a new Queensland Art Gallery (QAG)

entrance was completed; the new entrance will be designed

by Robin Gibson and Partners.

25 Jan. 2005

QGMA crane was erected.

from 25 Jan. 2005

Major suspended concrete slab pours commenced and

were completed for the Park level and Level one.

2 Feb. 2005

Hon. Peter Beattie,

, Premier of Queensland and Minister

for Trade, and Hon. Anna Bligh,

, Minister for Education

and Minister for the Arts, conducted a media conference on

site.

Mar. 2005

The majority of QGMA’s requirements for furniture, fittings

and equipment were identified and documented for

submission to RGC Consulting.

Apr. 2005

Robin Gibson and Partners commenced design work on the

new QAG entry.

end June 2005

Restoration of the Wurlitzer organ’s metal pipes was

completed; in 2003, a Wurlitzer Opus 2040 — the Brisbane

Regent Theatre’s original 1929 cinema organ — was

acquired to ensure a period ambience for the presentation of

silent cinema in the QGMA Australian Cinémathèque’s

principal cinema.

mid Aug. 2006

QGMA’s overall target completion date.

To date, the QGMA Project has seen some 37 930m

of waste recycled; this

represents 77 per cent of total waste generated. Recycling has included: topsoil,

bitumen paving, mulch from removed trees, carpet, and existing concrete paving

and slabs. The recycling of suitable excavated material is used as back-fill against

retaining walls and for service trenches and landscaping.

The 2004–05 reporting year saw several key milestones achieved in the

construction of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (QGMA). Throughout the

period there were more than 44 media references to the QGMA Project. As of May

2005, no extension-of-time claims affecting QGMA’s overall target completion date

of mid August 2006 had been received by Bovis Lend Lease.