2004-05 Report

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High-quality promotional publications continued to be produced, including
Preview, the quarterly guide to events and exhibitions at the Gallery, as well as
posters, flyers and media kits, while Artmail, the Gallery’s e-bulletin service,
continued to attract new subscribers. A 28-page full-colour promotional brochure
was produced to profile the first announcement of artists for the forthcoming ‘APT
2006: Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’. Over 6000 copies were
distributed to artists, curators, writers, government representatives, sponsors,
public and private museums and galleries and arts organisations, both in Australia
and overseas.
The Gallery was awarded recognition for its publications on several occasions
during the reporting year. Story Place: Indigenous Art from Cape York and the
Rainforest was awarded an honourable mention for exhibition catalogues at the
American Association of Museums 2004 Museum Publications Design
Competition — the only exhibition catalogue from Australia to be acknowledged at
these awards, and Ah Xian was commended in the category of best small
catalogue at the 2004 Art Association of Australia and New Zealand Publication
Awards. The Gallery was highly successful in the 2005 Museums Australia
Publication Design Awards in the following categories: exhibition catalogues (Video
Hits: Art & Music Video — winner; Ah Xian — highly commended); corporate
(Annual Report 2003–04 — highly commended); information brochures (Prime 04:
Art & Music Video — highly commended); and education material (The Nature
Machine children’s activity book — highly commended; Kuril’s Deadly Insights
children’s activity book — highly commended).
During 2004–05, the Gallery redeveloped its website, which now features over 600
pages and reflects the Gallery’s depth of programming and collection development
(see QAG online opposite). The publications unit also commenced planning for the
forthcoming contemporary Australian art collection book, 1966–2005 (a
companion volume to Brought to Light: Australian Art 1850–1965), as well as a
publication focusing on the Gallery’s Asian art collection, and the exhibition
catalogue to accompany ‘APT 2006: Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’,
both of which will be supported by the Australian Centre of Asia–Pacific Art
(ACAPA). ACAPA also supported the research for the forthcoming Sparse
Shadows, Flying Pearls: A Japanese Screen Revealed, due for publication in
August 2005.
An innovative website was developed for the Gallery’s
annual Prime National Youth Week initiative by the Design,
Web and Multimedia unit. The ‘Prime 2005: New Art from
Queensland’ website featured a unique home page
animation, a slide show of artists’ works and videos of artist
interviews.
The Gallery continued its year-long project to redevelop its
website, which was then launched in December. Built on a
content management system (MySource Matrix), the site
was completely redesigned and reconfigured to reflect the
Gallery’s key programming areas, to reinforce the Gallery’s
reputation for quality web design, and to take advantage of
online technologies. The redeveloped website affords a
significantly improved online presence to the Gallery’s
Collection, education and research programs, and
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art initiatives, while the home
page now features animations profiling current and
forthcoming exhibitions.
An ‘A to Z’ listing of artists, together with some 83
Collection highlights profiling the Gallery’s 9 key collecting
areas, and an area showcasing recent acquisitions, ensures
the Gallery’s Collection enjoys a prominent online presence
for the benefit of visitors and researchers alike. Similarly, the
exhibitions, education and kids’ (Children’s Art Centre) areas
of the website ensure visitors have improved access to
forthcoming exhibition and event information, as well as to
archives of past programs. Visitors accessing the site’s
research section can browse the Gallery’s publishing history
and explore art work conservation projects.
With the simultaneous opening of the Queensland Gallery of
Modern Art and the fifth ‘Asia–Pacific Triennial of
Contemporary Art’ in late 2006, it is anticipated that virtual
traffic to the Gallery’s website will increase substantially over
the next 18 months. With this in mind, valuable additions to
the site — a searchable calendar of exhibitions and public programs, and
interactive art games for children — are currently under development.
Gallery staff provided professional advice and support to regional gallery and arts
workers, and were involved in workshops, lectures, talks, consultancy services,
and in the judging of art awards and prizes during the year.
Three exhibitions toured to nine venues in regional Queensland during the
reporting period, including ‘Pop: The Continuing Influence of Popular Culture on
Contemporary Art’. The touring component of ‘Story Place: Indigenous Art of
Cape York and the Rainforest’ concluded its tour at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery,
in Townsville, in June 2005, while a new travelling exhibition — ‘Streeton: Works
from the Queensland Art Gallery Collection’ — was launched at the Outback
Regional Gallery in Winton in April 2005. Extensive support material and services
accompanied all tours, and Gallery staff travelled to regional centres to assist
venue staff set-up and dismantle exhibitions. All three exhibitions were supported
by education resource kits and online resources.
The Gallery’s commitment to reconciliation recognises the need to enhance the
economic, social and cultural wellbeing of Indigenous people, and the ‘Blak
Insights: Contemporary Indigenous Art from the Queensland Art Gallery Collection’
exhibition assisted the Gallery in meeting its commitment in a number of ways.
Blak Insights: Indigenous Voices, New Directions, a national invitation-only
conference for artists, curators and cultural activists, was presented over the
weekend of 3 and 4 July 2004. Blak Insights, supported by the Australia Council,
canvassed Indigenous perspectives on important Indigenous cultural issues. In
addition, ‘Blak Insights’ for kids, a two-week program during the school spring
vacation, saw children participate in workshops with local Indigenous artists to
learn about Indigenous culture from all around Australia.
‘Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the Rainforest’ continued to receive
recognition for the Gallery. The Gallery’s partnership with principal exhibition
sponsor Comalco won the 2004 Toyota Community Award at the Australian
Business Arts Foundation Sponsorship Awards in Melbourne in July 2004. This
was the first time a Queensland arts organisation had won a national arts
During the reporting year, Gallery Store staff were involved in
planning new retail operations and merchandise for the
Gallery of Modern Art.
In conjunction with the Gallery’s website redevelopment
project, the Gallery Store launched a new online shopping
service specialising in Australian art books —
. With more than 400
titles available for purchase, Australian Art Books Online
offers a comprehensive online catalogue of current and
hard-to-locate Australian art books. Recommendations by
Gallery curators guide buyers to the best Australian and
Indigenous Australian art books currently available, while a
unique book search facility assists the novice or specialist
collector.
The Gallery Store’s external sales program continued to
expand with 220 visits undertaken during 2004–05 to
schools, libraries, TAFEs and universities throughout regional
Queensland and northern New South Wales. A feature of the
program was a display of GOAT [‘Greatest of All Time’]: A
Tribute to Muhammad Ali, one of the largest books ever
published. This book display attracted extensive publicity in
regional centres including Maroochydore, Noosa, Cairns and
Townsville, as well as Armidale, Coffs Harbour and
Tamworth. In partnership with Access, Education and
Regional Services, a Gallery Store external sales
representative also attended teachers’ previews and
travelling exhibition openings in regional centres to display
and sell art books.
Themed merchandise displays were presented by the
Gallery Store for several exhibitions including ‘Clifford
Possum Tjapaltjarri’, ‘The Nature Machine’ and ‘The Art of
Fiona Hall’, while a range of Collection-based postcards was
also produced during 2004–05.
GALLERY STORE QAG ONLINE
SERVICES TO REGIONAL QUEENSLAND
RECONCILIATION
From left to right:
The Gallery’s redeveloped website
>.
Sharmini Pereira, the first Scholar-in-Residence,
Australian Centre of Asia–Pacific Art.
Artist Thancoupie delivers her ‘Story Place’
opening speech at Cairns Regional Gallery.
Up close and personal with Jubilee Wolmby’s
Freshwater shark 2002, at Cairns Regional
Gallery’s ‘Story Place’ opening.
Publications for young audiences were a
focus of the Gallery’s publishing activities
during the year.
Simryn Gill, the first Artist-in-Residence,
Australian Centre of Asia–Pacific Art.