By JUDITH WHITE What a dark story emerges when the lid is lifted on the NSW Government’s much-vaunted “cultural infrastructure” spending! Evidence at the hearing on 12 September of the Upper House Inquiry into Museums and Galleries, held at Parliament House in Sydney, revealed a [...]
By JUDITH WHITE When Brazil’s Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro burned down on 2 September, staff described it as “a tragedy foretold”. For years, successive governments had cut recurrent funding for the museum, whose collection of 20 million priceless and irreplaceable objects was the [...]
By JUDITH WHITE Truth telling and cultural amnesia Truth telling was the theme of this year’s Garma festival, held in northeast Arnhemland on the first weekend of August. It’s also a crucial element in the Statement from the Heart made by the indigenous National Constitutional [...]
By JUDITH WHITE The reappointment of Dr Michael Brand as director of the Art Gallery of NSW signals the Coalition Government’s determination to push ahead with building the $344 million Sydney Modern expansion on green space alongside the Harbour shoreline (digital impression above). News of [...]
An act of governmental vandalism By JUDITH WHITE 28 April 2018 - updated 29 April NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Arts Minister Don Harwin in Saturday finally announced their plans to demolish the Powerhouse Museum, relocate it to Parramatta and turn its historic Ultimo site [...]
Alternative locations, future funding not seriously considered By JUDITH WHITE The Art Gallery of NSW has now responded to the raft of submissions opposing its Development Application (DA) for the Sydney Modern project, condescendingly dismissing some of the most significant concerns. Its 126-page response report, [...]
The 2025 Summit and recurrent funding By JUDITH WHITE You’ve got to hand it to NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin – he’s stolen a march on the Labor Opposition in the run-up to the NSW State elections to be held in March next year. Harwin, [...]
By JUDITH WHITE Corporatisation and the Powerhouse after-party The NSW museum sector has been alarmed by reports of an alleged drunken after-party following the $1,000-a-seat Fashion Ball at the Powerhouse last month. Chair of the Upper House Inquiry into Museums and Galleries, Robert Borsak MLC [...]
By JUDITH WHITE Search for a construction manager The position of Director of the Art Gallery of NSW, currently held by Dr Michael Brand, has been put up for grabs just as the institution is about to deliver its response to the many objections to [...]
NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts is caught in the spotlight over the mysterious process to provide approval for the $344 million Sydney Modern Project. Roberts, a spear carrier for the Liberal Party’s right-wing faction, will be the sole arbiter of whether the Development Application (DA) [...]
