Lainie Anderson: Aboriginal art gallery is worthy but will it work?
A LIBERAL plan for a world-class Aboriginal art gallery on the old RAH site is at risk of ending up a $60m white elephant, because indigenous culture — as beautiful and worthy as it is — isn’t a big enough drawcard, writes Lainie Anderson.
THERE’S a reason former Art Gallery of SA director Nick Mitzevich was headhunted to Canberra. The guy’s a genius when it comes to arts curation and marketing. And when he envisioned a new gallery to make Adelaide a destination for globetrotting arts lovers, did he suggest an Aboriginal art gallery? No.
Why not? Because Aboriginal art and culture — as beautiful, as worthy and as ancient as it is — simply isn’t a big enough drawcard. For South Australians. For Australians from interstate. Or for cashed-up arts and culture tourists from around the world.
If it was, the magnificent Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery at the SA Museum would be packed with people every day. So would the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.
Sadly, they are not.
Mitzevich had grand plans for a contemporary art gallery in a jaw-dropping building — the kind of iconic gallery that springs to mind and makes you want to visit New York (Guggenheim), London (Tate Modern) and Hobart (MONA).
So why is the Marshall Government continuing with its plan to build an Aboriginal gallery on Lot Fourteen (the old RAH site)?
One answer, of course, is it was a policy the Liberals took to the election and, to their credit, they’re steadfastly following through with their promises. Another, less admirable answer is a contemporary gallery was the idea of the former Weatherill Government.
And that should make all South Australians nervous.
Apart from the revamped Adelaide Oval, can you remember the last publicly funded new attraction in Adelaide?
I’m struggling to think of anything but the National Wine Centre of Australia, a gorgeous building funded by the last Liberal Government.
It opened beside the Botanic Garden in 2001 and was quickly reduced to a venue for weddings and corporate events because the concept was worthy, the business plan was lousy and the public appeal was zero. (Why go to a wine centre when hundreds of divine wineries are within an hour’s drive?)
As taxpayers, we’re going to spend millions, maybe even hundreds of millions, on this project. I have no problem with that. I agree 100 per cent with Treasurer Rob Lucas when he says the $60 million allocated to a gallery in this week’s Budget is justified because this new attraction has the potential to bring tourists and their wallets to the state.
I also agree that Lot Fourteen is the right spot, especially with the Liberals planning to create an adjacent tourism and culinary education hub which will double as a magnet for international students. But it must be the right kind of gallery.
One criticism of the Budget by Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas is it lacks any overriding positive vision. I think that’s a fair cop when it comes to the selling of this new Aboriginal art gallery — supposedly one of the hallmark public investments in the next few years.
Premier Steven Marshall is responsible for the arts portfolio — where’s his vision for this project? What does he want it to achieve? Why? How?
Another $200,000 was allocated in the Budget for a study to define the gallery’s scope and overall vision in consultation with communities, the SA Museum, and the Art Gallery. Let’s hope that study includes due diligence on the merits of an Aboriginal art gallery versus a contemporary gallery — or better still, a combination of the two.
Imagine a gallery that doesn’t insulate Aboriginal works from other art but, instead, showcases it beside its contemporaries and provides some incredible global context.
This $200,000 study must demonstrate that we stand to receive a maximum return on investment from any new gallery: how and why it’s going to attract thousands of new tourists and entice them to part with money that can be spent on schools and hospitals and public housing.
Anything less and we might as well save ourselves the trouble — just put a giant papier-mache elephant on Lot Fourteen and paint it white.
AND ANOTHER THING:
■ Good on former deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop for speaking out against the bullying culture within the federal party.
What a damning insight to learn she has witnessed the kind of appalling behaviour that wouldn’t be tolerated in any other business in the nation.
But why didn’t she speak up and, more importantly, take steps to address the concerns when she was in a position of power? Or is the macho, bullying culture so bad that even a deputy leader is powerless to act?
■ So Coles’s Little Shop has been a marketing coup, with those tiny plastic products racing out of stores across the country. Wonder how many are already in landfill?