2012-13 Report

06 Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees Annual Report 2012–13

OVERVIEW

Professor Susan Street

Chair, Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees

It is with great pleasure that I present the

Queensland Art

Gallery Board of Trustees Annual Report

for 2012–13. As

the state’s premier visual art institution, the Queensland Art

Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) has contributed

to the Government’s objective of enhancing cultural and

economic outcomes for Queensland by enabling access to

art and culture for people of all ages, building an innovative

and resilient arts and cultural sector, growing Queensland’s

cultural reputation, and maximising cultural tourism through

the presentation of major exhibitions.

QAGOMA prides itself on being a dynamic and accessible art

museum of international standing. Throughout 2012–13, the

Gallery continued to deliver leading cultural and education

initiatives providing Queenslanders with better access to, and

understanding and enjoyment of, the visual arts, as well as

enhancing quality of life by fostering a social and cultural hub

in the community. These endeavours also made significant

contributions to the Queensland economy and attracted over

1.26 million visitors to the Gallery. Throughout the year, visitor

surveys indicated 97 per cent satisfaction with our exhibitions

and programs.

In 2012–13, the Gallery’s major international exhibition

program had wide audience and cultural tourism appeal:

‘Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado’ was the

first ever collection of work from Madrid’s esteemed Museo

Nacional del Prado to visit Australia, while ‘Quilts 1700–1945’

was an exclusive exhibition from the renowned Victoria and

Albert Museum in London.

Some 409 new works were acquired by the Gallery during

2012–13, bringing the total number of works in the Collection

to 16 095. Two major Collection-based exhibitions were

presented during the year — ‘Sculpture is Everything:

Contemporary Works from the Collection’ demonstrated the

strength of the Gallery’s contemporary international sculpture

collection, and ‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home:

Contemporary Art from Black Australia’ was a major exhibition

of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art

drawn from the Collection. ‘My Country’ was complemented

by ‘Voice and Reason’ and ‘Death and Life: rakuny ga walnga:

Contemporary Arnhem Land Art’ — almost 70 per cent of

GOMA’s exhibition spaces were dedicated to Indigenous

Australian art with the presentation of these three exhibitions.

Forty-four per cent of the work on display in ‘The 7th Asia

Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT7) was acquired

by the Gallery. In the lead up to APT7, Michael Parekowhai’s

The World Turns

, which was commissioned on the occasion of

GOMA’s fifth anniversary (2011) and the twentieth anniversary

of the APT (2012), was installed on the banks of the Brisbane

River overlooking the GOMA Cafe Bistro; the public’s response

to this stunning bronze sculpture has been overwhelmingly

positive.

Four exhibitions toured to regional Queensland centres

during this period: ‘Ah Xian: Metaphysica’, ‘Lloyd Rees: Life

and Light’, ‘The Moderns: Highlights from the Queensland Art

Gallery Collection’ and ‘Contemporary Miniatures’. In addition,

Kids’ APT7 on Tour was requested by a record 75 regional

and remote venues throughout the state, and the Xstrata

Coal Queensland Regional Touring Workshops Program

was presented in ten regional venues between August

and October 2012.

The Gallery’s commitment to providing meaningful experiential,

educational and social access for audiences of all ages was

evident in innovative interactive resources, such as the visitor

lounge La Sala del Prado, in ‘Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces

from the Prado’; the online QAGOMA TV; award-winning

publications and interactive exhibitions for children and

families; and audience engagement through public programs,

resources and online access, including exhibitions and

programs for regional Queensland audiences of all ages.

Donations, principally through the Queensland Art Gallery |

Gallery of Modern Art Foundation, were used to acquire art

works and support important exhibition and programming

initiatives. I commend the Foundation Committee and

members, and acknowledge the exceptional contributions

of longstanding benefactors Foundation President

Tim Fairfax,

, his wife Gina, and their family; Win Schubert;

James C Sourris,

; Philip Bacon,

; Henry Bartlett,

CMG

OBE

; Margaret Mittelheuser,

, and Cathryn Mittelheuser,

The Tim Fairfax Family Foundation continued its extraordinary

support of the Gallery, this year facilitating the award-winning

publication

Portrait of Spain for Kids

; Kids’ APT7 and Kids’

APT7 On Tour. As a result, the Gallery has increased the

scale, scope and reach of programs for children and families

throughout Queensland.

The successful 2013 Foundation Appeal raised funds for

the acquisition of five significant woodblock prints from

Albrecht Dürer’s

The Apocalypse

1496–98, and I extend

my thanks to all those who helped achieve this wonderful

outcome. The Foundation’s governance was greatly enhanced

by the establishment, in April, of the QAGOMA Foundation

Committee, as a committee of the Queensland Art Gallery

Board of Trustees. For more information on the many

achievements of the Gallery’s Foundation this year,

please see page 110.

I also gratefully acknowledge the generous assistance and

donations received from sponsors and partners, corporate and

private benefactors, and collectors and artists. A full schedule

of the exhibition program, recognising partners and sponsors,

appears on pages 54.