Coronavirus: Backs against the walls? Not us, say galleries

Under the watchful eye of art-starved Australians, the directors of the country’s galleries are adamant this year will be nothing like 2020.

Backs against the walls? Not us, say galleries. Picture: Rohan Thomson

It was a diabolical year for the ­nation’s biggest galleries but with their backs against the walls, the directors of the country’s art museums are determined to make 2021 bigger and better than ever for art-starved Australians.

Director of the National Gallery of Australia Nick Mitzevich said attendance numbers were down by 66 per cent in 2020, but there was an air of “cautious optimism” about 2021.

Putting more energy into building regional engagement has been an integral part of the NGA’s “COVID comeback”, starting with the launch in two weeks of Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhales, which will eventually tour the country. “They will fly over the city, so we know regardless of COVID it has the potential to attract an extraordinary audience,” Mitzevich said. “Our job is to share the national collection so that includes taking works to regional centres around Australia.”

The Botticelli to van Gogh exhibition opening in March will be the NGA’s first international blockbuster since COVID-19 hit. Comprising 61 works from the collection of the National Gallery, London, it will encompass works from Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait to van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

“Another strategy for 2021 is to bring an amazing exhibition to Australia that includes masterpieces that have rarely travelled outside London, let alone to the southern hemisphere, so people can … see works that embody the history of art.”

Mitzevich says there is growing hunger from audiences to return to the nation’s galleries, despite restrictions. “There won’t be huge queues or filled rooms but it is very heartening to see people reconnect with art,” he said.

When the National Gallery of Victory closed to the public in March, director Tony Ellwood and his team went into overdrive to transform the space into a virtual museum. “We quickly started to film the exhibitions as well as introducing courses and a whole range of fresh content,” he said.

“We had 26 million eyes on our content, so it hasn’t been all doom and gloom.”

He is adamant compromise is not on the cards, insisting the NGV’s 2021 agenda will remain intact. “We have winter and summer show as well as a range of local Australian content we have been developing.”

NGV International opened in December with the summer NGV Triennial exhibition, on display until 18 April, featuring 86 projects by more than 100 artists.

Museum of Contemporary Art director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor said COVID-19 saw attendance numbers fall below 40 per cent and forced the Sydney-based gallery to rethink how to engage its local audience. “How we keep connected … was our main focus; No 2 was what works and artists we should reopen with,” she said.

Australian artist and “leading provocateur” Richard Bell’s show this year will be a highlight for Macgregor, given the upheaval from Black Lives Matter and its relevance in Australia.

Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand said the focus was on celebrating the 150th anniversary in 2021. “Art is a beacon of hope and inspiration in times of difficulty. It brings connection when we feel most isolated.”