2005-06 Report

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collection / QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY ANNUAL REPORT 05/06 21
high — and Roman Signer’s Ladder with barrel2001 —
literally, a ladder, barrel and balloon — both employ
everyday materials and objects manipulated into unexpected
forms and associations. Both works will be displayed at the
Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA).
CINEMA
The role of the Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque is to
collect, conserve, present and interpret film and screen
culture. To this end, several significant acquisitions by key
filmmakers were made during the year.
In 2004 the Gallery acquired the film O Tamaiti 1996 by
Samoan/New Zealand filmmaker Sima Urale. Still life2001 is
an important acquisition for the Pacific collection and is
another strong example of Urale’s work. It examines Western
attitudes to ageing, and provides a strong contrast to O
Tamaiti’s exploration of Samoan family life.
The Gallery also acquired four films by internationally
recognised Indian filmmaker Kumar Shahani — The Bamboo
Flute2000, Immanence1991, Kasba1990 and The Khayal
Saga 1988. Shahani’s films draw on the historical literature
of Indian civilisation, and explore the cultural memory of
classical Indian art works, texts and objects. Kasba 1990
adapts the Chekhov short story, In the Hollow1900, to an
Indian context and employs the visual language of the
tradition of miniature painting to explore themes of the
industrialisation of India and the emancipation of women.
DISPLAYING THE COLLECTION
A variety of Collection displays during the year allowed
audiences to appreciate the scope and depth of the Gallery’s
collecting areas.
Providing an insight into Australia’s colonial history was
‘Luminous: Watercolour Landscapes of the Federation Era’.
This display focused on the era following Australia’s
Federation in 1901, when the pastoral landscape became a
symbol of strong national sentiment. It showcased the
Gallery’s collection of Federation landscapes by artists
including W Lister Lister and JJ Hilder.
‘Exposure: Australian Photography from the 1930s to the
1950s’ featured the work of photographers Max Dupain,
Olive Cotton and Rose Simmonds. The exhibition explored
the photographers’ responses to modern life, produced as
Australia emerged from the devastation wrought by World
War One and the Great Depression.
‘New Painting from the Contemporary Australian Collection’
showcased the strength of current painting by Australian
artists employing contemporary approaches and media.
Included were works by Hilarie Mais, Eugene Carchesio,
Marion Borgelt, Louise Forthun and Jon Cattapan.
Encompassing a variety of media, ‘New Acquisitions:
Indigenous Australian Art’ presented works relating to dance
and performance, as well as fibre works, Arnhem Land art, and
paintings from the Central and Western Deserts. Highlights
included works by the award-winning artist Gulumbu
Yunupingu and celebrated fibre artist Lena Yarinkura.
‘Black Ink: Indigenous Prints from the Queensland Art Gallery
Collection’ presented highlights from the Gallery’s important
collection of prints by Indigenous artists. Aboriginal artists
began experimenting with printmaking in the late 1960s,
many finding it a productive extension of existing practices
such as engraving, carving, and incising designs onto
ceremonial and utilitarian items.
Korean–Japanese artist Lee Ufan is considered one of East
Asia’s most significant artists, and the Gallery’s important
holdings of his work were displayed in a Collection focus
during the year. The display showcased a series of drawings
and prints recently acquired by the Gallery, and included
Relatum2002, previously featured in APT 2002. As an artist,
writer and philosopher, Lee explores the relationship
between objects, ideas, consciousness and existence.
In 2005, to celebrate the 100th birthday of Pablo Picasso’s
La Belle Hollandaise1905, the Gallery curated a Collection
focus around this much-loved masterwork. La Belle
Hollandaisewas painted in the summer of 1905 when
Picasso visited The Netherlands. The display also included
four other works by the artist including an etching, drypoint,
pencil and watercolour wash, and gouache wash.
DOCUMENTING AND MANAGING THE COLLECTION
The Registration section continued to provide support in the
physical and legal management of the Gallery’s Collection
and of the objects in the Gallery’s custody as loans,
exhibitions and acquisition submissions. Work continued on
the planning and preparation for the opening of the Gallery
of Modern Art, including the Collection relocation project
which began in earnest in January 2006.
Some 52 objects were lent from the Collection to regional,
national and international galleries for exhibition purposes.
These included the loan of Camille Pissarro’s La lessive a
Éràgny (Washing day at Éràgny)1901 to the ‘Camille Pissarro
Retrospective’ at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and
National Gallery of Victoria (November 2005 – May 2006);
and Rosemary Laing’s flight research #5 to the Museum of
Contemporary Art exhibition ‘The Unquiet Landscapes of
Rosemary Laing’, which travelled to the Kunsthallen Brandts
Timothy Cook
Australia b.1958, (Tiwi people)
Jilamara, Milikapiti, Melville Island 2003
Natural pigments on canvas, 90 x 80cm
The Xstrata Coal Indigenous Art
Collection. Purchased 2005 with funds
from Xstrata Coal through the
Queensland Art Gallery Foundation