QAGOMA: Brisbane’s Rising Voices art collection makes history at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum
Brisbane is used to importing art from Europe – QAGOMA’s current blockbuster exhibition of Scandinavian artist Olafur Eliasson being a prime example.
But in a reversal of that flow, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art has exported a major show of its works to one of the most important galleries in Europe – the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington, London.
Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific celebrates QAGOMA’s art from those regions.
The works were collected across 30 years of the galleries’ flagship event, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.
Visitors to the V&A will pay £17 ($32) to see the Rising Voices exhibition, which will run until January 10, 2027.
QAGOMA director Chris Saines said the opening of Rising Voices was “a watershed moment” for the gallery as the V&A was one of the most influential and visited museums in the world.
“Visitors to the V&A will be struck by the astonishing diversity in artistic and material practice that has distinguished the Triennial for over three decades,” he said.
Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek said Rising Voices was “a significant moment for the contemporary art of our region” and provided an international platform for local artists.
Langbroek said more than 4 million visitors had experienced the Asia Pacific Triennial over the past three decades and the event had injected $140 million into Queensland’s economy.
Being shown in the V&A’s Porter Gallery, Rising Voices features art from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, and beyond.
Queensland artists Michael Cook, Naomi Hobson, Shirley Macnamara, Ken Thaiday Sr and Judy Watson are included.
“These works have never been seen in the UK before, yet they speak to histories and perspectives that are essential to a fuller understanding of our shared contemporary world,” said Daniel Slater, director of exhibitions at the V&A.
Established in 1852, the Victoria and Albert Museum has a collection of more than 4.5 million objects of art, design and historical craft.
It recently opened a new building in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London, that includes an archive of musician and artist David Bowie’s collection.
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Nick Dent is a Culture Reporter at Brisbane Times, covering arts and things to do in the city.Connect via email.
