Exhibition criticism unfair—director

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 9

Exhibition criticism unfair—director

Criticism that the Robert McDougall Art Gallery’s biggest festival exhibition, Paperchase, should have been taken on a South Island tour was unfair and misinformed, said the gallery’s director, Mr John Coley, yesterday. Mr Coley said that gallery staff, who had put months of work into the exhibition, were upset at the criticism made by Sir Michael Fowler, chairman of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council.

After the opening of the exhibition on Tuesday evening, Sir Michael told "The Press” he was disappointed that the exhibition was not being shown in places such as Nelson and Oamaru. With more forethought and more support from local authorities, the exhibition could have been taken on tour, he said.

Mr Coley said he believed Sir Michael did not understand what was involved in putting an exhibition of the

size of Paperchase on tour. Gallery staff had tried to find ways of getting the show to other centres but they did not have the resources needed, either in money or staff. Some of the works in the exhibition had been created for spaces in the Robert McDougall gallery and could not be shifted. Others, such as the works by the nineteenth century artist, Henry Fuseli, could not be shown in galleries without suitable security, lighting, and air-conditioning.. The gallery’s only technician would have to spend three months making crates in which to ship the works. During that time he would not be available for other gallery work. The gallery had to take careful precautions to protect works on tour. It would not attract overseas exhibitions if it did not have a good reputation for protecting works. Another problem was that

galleries in other South Island centres had already planned their timetables and would not have enough space to display parts of the Paperchase exhibition. “The basic thing is that the logistics are so considerable that they are beyond the resources of our gallery to carry out,” Mr Coley said. Even then, the gallery would not have the staff time or funds to put the show on tour. A tour would cost about $9OOO to $lO,OOO. “I do not know if the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council would be very enthusiastic about coming up with the money needed for a show like this to travel,” he said.

Mr Coley said the Robert McDougall Art Gallery always tried to do “its bit” in getting art out to people. Even though Paperchase would not tour, people were coming from all over the Canterbury region to see it and to take part in the Christchurch Festival.