American wants N.Z. crafts for gallery

Press, 25 February 1981, Page 2

American wants N.Z. crafts for gallery

The director of a gallery in the National Museum of American Art,' Mr Lloyd Herman, will personally recommend to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that a New Zealand crafts exhibition be held at his museum in Washington. Mr Herman was in Christchurch yesterday, in the second week of a 12-day visit to New Zealand. “I am investigating the types of craft which could appeal to Americans,” he said, at the Robert McDougal'. Art Gallery where he had been “very impressed” with the “3-D” exhibition there. The holder of the 1981 Winston Churchill Memorial Trust fellowship,: he has been director of the Renwick Gallery, at the Smithsonian Institution, since its inception in 1971. He has directed more than 50 design and craft shows from throughout the world and has received awards for his contributions to ' the fields of design and public administration. “As part of the trust fel-

lowship, I am obliged to make a report on what I see,” said Mr Herman. He would write to the Ministry and recommend that it support a New Zealand exhibition at the gal-, lery, although it was not likely to be before the end of 1984, because the gallery space was booked years in advance. The New Zealand Ambassador in Washington (Mr Frank Gill) heard that Mr Herman was visiting Australia to view its crafts and offered a tip to the director — “Ours are much better.” The advice was taken, and Mr Herman said he was grateful. He has been especially impressed with greenstone and the traditional Maori wood-carvings. The Ministry and the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council have assisted his visit.

A New Zealand exhibition would gain great exposure in the United States, because the Smithsonian travelling exhibition service would probably “pick it up” and

take it across the country,

to different museums and galleries, Mr Herman said. There are two galleries at the National Museum of American Art devoted to foreign exhibits, and as it was in a “very good part of town” (just across from the State Department), often state visits and related exhibitions could be combined. When Mr Herman returns next week, he will be present when Mrs Sadat, wife of the Egyptian President, opens a display of her (country’s crafts.