2005-06 Report

chair’s overview

/ QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY ANNUAL REPORT 05/06

CHAIR’S OVERVIEW

At the end of the 2005–06 reporting year, the launch of the

Gallery as a two-site institution is only five months away —

the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) will open to the public on 2

December 2006. Combined with the inaugural exhibition,

‘The 5th Asia–Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT5),

the opening promises to be a significant event in recent

Australian museum history. During the year, management

and staff across all areas of the Gallery continued to work

towards the realisation of this important project. Not simply

a physical expansion but a major new contemporary art

museum, GoMA represents many exciting possibilities for

our audiences.

The opening celebrations for the two-site launch, which will

take place over four days, will incorporate a range of official

and public events, performances, and educational programs

for all ages. As well as the much-anticipated APT5, displays in

both buildings will showcase the strengths of the Gallery’s

contemporary and historical art collections. The Queensland

Art Gallery’s new entry, designed by the building’s original

architects, Robin Gibson and Partners, will also be complete

for the opening. The new entry will link the Gallery’s northern

aspect to GoMA via a public plaza.

During 2005–06, the Gallery embarked on a series of pilot

programs associated with GoMA initiatives. In November, the

Australian Cinémathèque was officially launched by the Minister

for Education and Minister for the Arts, the Honourable Rod

Welford,

, in association with the opening of the

Cinémathèque’s premiere exhibition and film program, ‘Kiss of

the Beast’. In the new year, the Minister also made a major

announcement regarding the Children’s Art Centre facilities and

programming at GoMA. This announcement coincided with the

staging of Box City, the Gallery’s most ambitious commission of

an interactive work for children to date.

With a strategic, three-year ‘Triennial-to-Triennial’ forward

plan in place to ensure a sustained level of high quality

exhibitions and programs following the launch of GoMA,

work also continued on the development of other major

projects for both buildings post December 2006.

The Gallery also continued its commitment to Indigenous

Australian art with the announcement of a new initiative for

emerging Indigenous artists, made possible through a

partnership with Xstrata Coal. Over the next three years,

Xstrata Coal will contribute $330 000 to stage the ‘Xstrata

Coal Emerging Indigenous Art Award’ and to strengthen the

Gallery’s already substantial holdings of Indigenous

Australian art through an acquisitions program. Jonathan

Jones’s

lumination fall wall weave

2004/2006 was the

winner of the inaugural acquisitive award.

On behalf of Trustees, Gallery management and staff, I

gratefully acknowledge and thank the Queensland

Government, specifically Arts Queensland and the Department

of Public Works, for its ongoing support of the Gallery,

particularly the funding of pilot programming for new GoMA

initiatives throughout the year. Particular mention must go to

the Honourable Peter Beattie,

, Premier of Queensland; and

the Honourable Rod Welford,

, who was appointed Minister

for Education and Minister for the Arts in July 2005.

Wayne Goss, Chair, Board of Trustees

Members of the Queensland Art Gallery

Board of Trustees and the Gallery Director

on-site at the Gallery of Modern Art (under

construction), May 2006.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:

Ms Ann Gamble Myer (Deputy Chair),

Mr Tim Fairfax,

, Mr Wayne Goss (Chair),

Mr Mark Gray, Gallery Director Doug Hall,

Mr Craig Koomeeta,

Ms Maureen Hansen

Not pictured: Ms Katrina McGill,

Ms Sue Purdon, Mr Brian Robinson,

Professor Michael Wesley

OPPOSITE:

Yang Zhenzhong

China b.1968

Light and easy no. 16

2002

Type C photograph, ed. 8/10,

119.9 x 79.3cm (comp.)

Purchased 2005. Queensland Art

Gallery Foundation