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L O O K I N G B A C K O N 2 0 1 3
2 0 1 3 R E V I E W
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
In April 2013, I returned to the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art as its eighth
Director, an appointment I was extremely honoured to take up. The enthusiastic reception
I have received from the Gallery’s staff and the wider arts community, along with the success
and milestones the Gallery has achieved over this year, has exceeded my expectations.
We welcomed over 1.2 million visitors to the Gallery in 2013, curated some of our most
ambitious and challenging exhibitions and programs, and partnered with inspirational artists,
institutions and stakeholders.
This publication celebrates and showcases QAGOMA’s year of programs and acknowledges
those who have played a part in our success. From the outset, I wish to thank the talented
individuals who held the reins in the first few months of the year prior to my arrival —
Suhanya Raffel as Acting Director, and the Executive Management Team comprising
Celestine Doyle, Maud Page and Simon Wright. I also acknowledge those who came before
me and created such a dynamic and innovative arts hub.
‘The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT7), which opened in December 2012
and marked the twentieth anniversary of the Gallery’s flagship exhibition series, closed in
April after attracting attendances of more than 565 000. This equated to our highest daily
attendance to an APT to date — an average of 4451. APT7 also contributed $26.88 million
to Queensland’s economy.
The strength of our contemporary Indigenous art holdings, the result of over three
decades of research and Collection-building, took centrestage of GOMA in the landmark
exhibition ‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia’.
The opening weekend celebrations for ‘My Country’ were a real triumph for the Gallery and
for the community.
We partnered with international art museums to present two distinctly appealing exhibitions
at QAG: London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) for ‘Quilts 1700–1945’, and the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for ‘California Design 1930–1965: Living in a
Modern Way’. Both exhibitions introduced many first-time visitors to our Gallery and made
tremendous contributions to the Queensland economy through associated cultural tourism.
The exhibition that really turned the world’s attention to Queensland this year was
‘Cai Guo‑Qiang: Falling Back to Earth’ and it was important on so many levels. The largest
exhibition we have ever presented by a single living artist, it was the result of a relationship
between Cai and this Gallery that has continued to grow since Cai was first included in
‘The Second Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ in 1996. ‘Falling Back to Earth’
included two of the most ambitious commissions QAGOMA has undertaken.
