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7
CHAIR’S OVERVIEW
The ‘Story Place: Indigenous Art of Cape York and the
Rainforest’ exhibition continued to draw accolades, and the
Gallery’s partnership with Comalco won the prestigious 2004
Toyota Community Award from the Australian Business Arts
Foundation. A touring component of the exhibition was seen
in seven regional venues during a 14-month tour of
Queensland. Indigenous programming was also at the
forefront during 2004–05 with the presentation of exhibitions
including ‘Blak Insights: Contemporary Indigenous Art from
the Queensland Art Gallery Collection’, ‘Clifford Possum
Tjapaltjarri’ and ‘No Ordinary Place: The Art of David
Malangi’.
Over the past decade, the Queensland Art Gallery has
produced a series of key survey exhibitions of individual
Australian artists such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Lin Onus
and William Robinson. Leading contemporary artist Fiona
Hall was added to this list with the opening of ‘The Art of
Fiona Hall’ in March 2005. Exhibitions of the depth and scale
of these projects are the culmination of many years of
research, collecting and planning, and this work will be
continued at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
Realising a project of the scale of the Gallery of Modern Art
requires significant commitment across many levels of
Government, and I thank the Honourable Peter Beattie,
MP
,
Premier of Queensland and Minister for Trade, for the
Queensland Government’s continued support during the
year. I also acknowledge the Honourable Anna Bligh,
MP
,
Minister for Education and Minister for the Arts, who made a
very valuable contribution at the helm of the Arts portfolio.
I also welcome Craig Koomeeta and Professor Michael
Wesley, both appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2005,
and thank outgoing Trustee Dr Morris Low for his
contribution to the Gallery over five years of dedicated
service.
Wayne Goss
Chair
Board of Trustees
Since the first foundation pile was driven into the ground on
9 September 2004, the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
has been steadily taking shape at its Kurilpa Point site on
the Brisbane River.
As construction of the building progresses, so does the
development of exhibitions and programming for the new
building. A priority for 2004–05 was continued planning for
APT 2006, the fifth Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary
Art, which will be the opening exhibition for the Gallery in late
2006. It seems fitting that the Gallery’s flagship project
should introduce Queenslanders, as well as national and
international visitors, to the new Queensland Gallery of
Modern Art.
During 2004–05, the Gallery also built on its achievements of
recent years. The vitality of the Gallery’s children’s
programming was again evident in the exhibition ‘The Nature
Machine: Contemporary Art, Nature and Technology’, and its
accompanying Summer Festival. The exhibition proved a
compelling experience for children and families, and the
associated Summer Festival attracted nearly 30 000 people
in just 9 days of workshops, artist talks, performances and a
unique quiz show. The calibre of works in the exhibition drew
audiences of all ages, with new acquisitions by
Czech–Canadian artist Jana Sterbak and Australian artist
Susan Norrie on display for the first time.
Another major project undertaken during the year was the
redevelopment of the Gallery’s website. With a fresh, new
design, expanded content and easy-to-navigate ‘look and
feel’, the site offers increased access to information and
services to the Gallery’s many audiences.
6
Members of the Queensland Art Gallery Board of
Trustees and the Gallery Director in front of
Aernout Mik’s
Pulverous
2003.
From left to right:
Mr Mark Gray, Mr Wayne Goss (Chair),
Ms Maureen Hansen, Gallery Director Mr Doug
Hall,
AM
, Mr Tim Fairfax,
AM
, Mr Brian Robinson
Absent:
Ms Ann Gamble Myer (Deputy Chair), Mr Craig
Koomeeta, Ms Katrina McGill, Ms Sue Purdon,
Professor Michael Wesley
Aernout Mik
The Netherlands b.1962
Pulverous
2003
3-channel video installation on video server:
23:27 minutes (looped), colour, silent ed. 1/4
200 x 790cm (installed, approx.)
Purchased 2005. The Queensland Government’s
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions
Fund