Page 7 - Annual Review 2010

Rewind 7
director’s message
art for contemporary kids’ was
co-curated with the sherman
contemporary art foundation,
sydney, for an exhibition there;
while ‘frame by frame: asia pacific
artists on tour’ and ‘namatjira to
now’ will be seen in 19 regional
queensland venues.
the gallery has continued to develop
audiences and promote brisbane as a
cultural tourism destination with the
presentation of two hugely successful
international exhibitions over the
past 12 months, both of which were
exclusive to brisbane — ‘hats:
an anthology by stephen Jones’
and ‘Valentino, retrospective:
past/present/future’.
the gallery’s relationship with artists
has remained central to our role of
bringing art and people together.
this year we had the privilege of
working on a solo exhibition with
queensland artist scott redford; an
installation by spanish artist santiago
sierra; and a remarkable children’s
art centre installation, ‘ghost world’,
by australian artist callum morton.
celebrating a decade of kids’ apt, the
children’s art centre presented the
largest kids’ apt program to date as
part of apt6, with 17 artist projects
and a successful 11-day summer
spectacular festival in January.
this summer’s 21st century kids
program encompasses 12 interactive
works in the children’s art centre
and throughout the exhibition; the
two-week summer festival; 21st
century kids on tour, which will
travel to a record 50 regional and
this year’s summer exhibition,
‘21st century: art in the first decade’,
has raised the bar for collection-based
shows and has been the perfect end
to a truly incredible year. with more
than 80 per cent of the works in ‘21st
century’ acquired in the past decade,
this exhibition demonstrates our
strategic direction and commitment
to be truly international in
contemporary art collection
development. i acknowledge the
many benefactors whose visionary
support has enabled this.
it is immensely satisfying that ‘21st
century’ is attracting an average
of more than 5000 visitors daily —
including a record-breaking 13 000
visitors in a single day.
in fact, the gallery’s collection has
been centrestage in many of this
year’s most significant achievements.
‘the 6th asia pacific triennial of
contemporary art’ attracted over
530 000 visitors, and 95 of the works
exhibited were acquired for our
collection.
we have also reached new regional,
interstate and international audiences
over the past year with tours of
several collection-based exhibitions.
‘unnerved: the new Zealand project’
travelled to the national gallery
of Victoria (ngV international),
melbourne, after its display at goma;
‘paperskin: barkcloth across the
pacific’, which also included works
from the queensland museum and
the museum of new Zealand te papa
tongarewa, travelled to te papa in
wellington, new Zealand, after its
showing at qag; ‘contemporary
remote venues; and our first children’s
publication, 21st Century Art for Kids.
i especially thank the tim fairfax
family foundation, which sponsored
these groundbreaking children’s
programs, and santos, which
sponsors the children’s art centre,
and whose support has facilitated
these exciting initiatives.
the queensland art gallery
foundation has again provided
exceptional support throughout the
year, which i gratefully acknowledge.
this year’s appeal was the most
ambitious in our history and
successfully secured a stunning group
of banumbirr (morning star) poles
for the collection. many significant
works have come into the gallery’s
holdings this year by way of donations
from private benefactors, and we are
extremely grateful for their generosity.
while this publication reflects on our
achievements in 2010, it is also our
opportunity to thank all the sponsors,
partners and benefactors who have
supported us this year, and you will
find details of these contributions
throughout. i look forward to continuing
this exciting momentum in 2011 as we
celebrate the fifth anniversary of the
gallery of modern art.
tony ellwood
director
opposite: Latifa echakhch | morocco/france b.1974 | À chaque
stencil une révolution (For each stencil a revolution) (installation
view) 2007 | one wall: carbon paper a4, glue, methylated alcohol,
ed. of 3, ap | installed size variable | purchased 2010 with a special
allocation from the queensland art gallery foundation | collection:
queensland art gallery