Enough is enough – stop the war on culture
By Judith White It’s been a difficult year for many public institutions in Australia, but as it draws to a close we can take heart from the growing numbers of people ready to speak out against the governmental idiocy responsible. When writer and former Wallaby [...]
Sport, art and the vanity project
Infrastructure spend and the corporate lobby Rebuild Sydney’s sports stadiums at a cost of $2.3 billion? Gladys, you can’t be serious! It’s yet another ill-considered cash splurge of a kind all too familiar to supporters of cultural institutions. This isn’t just about sport – it’s [...]
Time to rethink Sydney Modern – Have YOUR say
By Judith White The NSW government is on the brink of making another expensive blunder in arts policy, and it’s time for concerned citizens to speak out. On 15 November the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW) revealed the final design for the massively ambitious expansion [...]
Sydney Modern under fresh scrutiny
Criticism grows over Gallery expansion plan A fresh obstacle is confronting plans to spend $344 million to build the grandiose Sydney Modern gallery near the current site of the historic Art Gallery of NSW. A distinguished group of architects, environmentalists and arts professionals is calling [...]
Tim Storrier and the Art Gallery “cabal”
Postmodernism and art prizes Tim Storrier, on winning Australia’s richest art prize (above, October 18), couldn’t resist taking a swipe at the board of trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW). They were, he said, a “postmodernist cabal” driven by fashion, identity [...]
Funding galleries and museums – the real issue
It’s a sad reflection on the level of discussion about culture in the New South Wales Coalition government that when arts funding is mentioned to its representatives, they assume that you’re talking about a new building. Preferably one to which the dreadful words “iconic” and [...]