2010-11 Report

Chair's overview

Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees Annual Report 2010–11

During its 14-week exclusive

season at the Gallery of

Modern Art (7 August –

14 November 2010),

‘Valentino, Retrospective:

Past/Present/Future’

attracted more than

200 000 visitors

The Queensland Art Gallery has continued its commitment

to enhancing the cultural life of Queenslanders by

providing access to, understanding and enjoyment of, the

visual arts, through an exceptional range of exhibitions,

programs and publications in 2010–11.

Guided by our philosophy of bringing people and art

together, the Gallery has firmly established its position

as a national leader in the presentation of modern and

contemporary art and ideas. In 2010–11, we have

continued to attract national and international visitors to

the Gallery, recording 1 681 399 visitors across the two

sites — an increase of over 280 000 on last financial year.

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more than 200 000 visitors to the Gallery of Modern Art

(GoMA). The overwhelming support and enthusiasm

for this exhibition confirmed that fashion and design

exhibitions are an integral component of contemporary

visual culture, and have a place in public art museums.

'Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams', a landmark exhibition

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in Brisbane for the official opening of 'Surrealism: The

Poetry of Dreams', Alain Seban, President of the Centre

Pompidou, declared the exhibition one of the best projects

the museum had undertaken outside Paris. He also spoke

generously about the strong international reputation the

Gallery has achieved since becoming a two-site institution

in 2006. It is through such international relationships that

we are able to continue to develop our programming and

scholarship ambitions.

Queensland-exclusive exhibitions play an important role

in profiling Brisbane as a contemporary cultural tourism

city and represent the Gallery's ongoing commitment to

developing the highest calibre and range of international

exhibitions for our audiences. These projects, along

with the continued development of the Collection,

have been assisted enormously by the generosity of

our many sponsors and supporters, by corporate and

private donors, and by art works gifted by collectors and

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The level of success the Gallery has achieved this year

would not have been possible without the continued

and considerable support provided by the Queensland

Government, especially Anna Bligh,

, Premier of

Queensland and Minister for Reconstruction, and the

new Minister for the Arts, Rachel Nolan,

, Minister for

Finance, Natural Resources and The Arts. Our thanks

go to Ken Smith and John Bradley, former and current

Directors-General, Department of the Premier and

Cabinet; Leigh Tabrett,

PSM

, Deputy Director-General,

Arts Queensland; and the Executive and staff of Arts

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also extend our thanks to the Australian Government, the

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Art Centre is built on a mutually beneficial relationship

that has been a benchmark for corporate investment for

almost two decades.

I also acknowledge the extraordinary support of the

Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, as Principal Benefactor

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has enabled the Gallery to expand the scale, scope,

innovation and reach of the programs for children and

families throughout Queensland.

The Queensland Art Gallery Foundation continued

to provide exceptional support towards Collection

development and programming, and I would like to

acknowledge their achievements. I also thank the group of

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SUPPORTåOFåTHEå'ALLERY SåEXHIBITIONåPROGRAM

A full schedule of the exhibition program, acknowledging

partners and sponsors, appears on pages 97–100. On

behalf of the Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees,

I sincerely thank all our partners and supporters for their

generous contributions.

The January 2011 Brisbane floods represented a major

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Management Plan was effectively implemented to mitigate

the consequences of the flood. In anticipation of the

flood, the Gallery closed both buildings on 11 January

2011. The lowest levels of GoMA were affected by flood

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and workshops. All the Cultural Centre carparks were

inundated with the flood water.

Chair’s overview