Making a mark: the collection and display of Aboriginal and Asian art at the Queensland art gallery

Abstract

This thesis examines the collection and display of Aboriginal and Asian art at the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) during the period from the move to the current South Bank site in 1982, until 2000. It investigates the increasing prominence and legitimisation accorded to these two collection areas. It demonstrates how QAG's initiatives in these domains, in particular the Asia-Pacific Triennials of Contemporary Art, have enabled the institution to 'make its mark' and distinguish itself from other Australian art museums. By analysing collection and display practices, the study also addresses some of the challenges faced by the Gallery in presenting the art of differing cultures. While most collection histories are commissioned by the institution under analysis, and much of the research into cross-cultural representation in art museums focuses on individual exhibitions, this dissertation presents a critical, comprehensive and disinterested view of collection and display at a specific institution during a period when the Eurocentric art historical narratives in public galleries were being challenged. This investigation of the combined areas of Aboriginal and Asian art, and QAG's initiatives in representing cultural pluralism, raises issues that are both specific to Australia and relevant to other art museums. The study thus contributes to museological history, theory and practice. The dissertation adopts an 'institutional perspective' and focuses on a series of significant exhibitions and collection hangs to determine how classificatory and exhibition practices have been transformed as Aboriginal and contemporary Asian art increased in status. Questions of power and agency, as well as the relevance of 'processes' of production, and pluralist approaches in mounting cross-cultural presentations, are significant issues examined in this work. By investigating where and how these two collection areas have been positioned- both literally and conceptually - within the Gallery and the wider art world, this analysis provides important insights into the ways that curatorial practice shifted during the period covered by the study. Show more