{"id":12786,"date":"2018-05-15T05:35:55","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T05:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureheist.com.au\/?p=12786"},"modified":"2018-05-15T08:58:24","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T08:58:24","slug":"the-branding-of-sydney-modern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cultureheist.com.au\/wordpress\/2018\/05\/15\/the-branding-of-sydney-modern\/","title":{"rendered":"The Branding of Sydney Modern"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JUDITH WHITE<\/p>\n

The reappointment of Dr Michael Brand as director of the Art Gallery of NSW signals the Coalition Government\u2019s determination to push ahead with building the $344 million Sydney Modern expansion on green space alongside the Harbour shoreline (digital impression above). News of the reappointment came two days after it was confirmed that Planning Minister Anthony Roberts will be the sole consent authority for Sydney Modern\u2019s Development Application (DA), despite pleas from many of the 178 objectors for it to be referred to the Independent Planning Commission.<\/p>\n

The decision came in defiance of the overwhelming objections, without regard to the overall cultural requirements of the State and with no serious consideration of alternative sites.<\/p>\n

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Dr Michael Brand<\/p><\/div>\n

In a 10 May press release announcing Brand\u2019s reappointment, Arts Minister Don Harwin said that in his six years at the helm the director had \u201cimpressed the arts community and inspired audiences\u201d and added: \u201cWith the Gallery set to undergo a once in a generation expansion, Michael\u2019s passion for the project made him an obvious choice to guide our magnificent cultural institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Art critics are among the many unconvinced by the claim that the AGNSW under Brand has \u201cinspired audiences\u201d. Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> columnist John McDonald wrote in his personal blog that the Gallery \u201chas allowed exhibitions to slide down the list of priorities\u2026 How the government expects audience numbers to double without a concerted focus on exhibitions is a complete mystery\u2026 For the past few years we have seen no indication that the AGNSW is thinking about anything but the building itself.\u201c<\/p>\n

Many Gallery staff and supporters share his concerns. One former senior curator told me: \u201cI now think of the AGNSW as of an old friend who has died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responsibility for the autocratic decision-making about Sydney Modern rests with Premier Gladys Berejiklian\u2019s Cabinet, which is refusing to release the project\u2019s business case for public scrutiny.\u00a0One leading objector, former Environmental Defenders Office chair Bruce Donald, has slammed the refusal, saying: \u201cMajor projects require full public access to the detailed case with decisions being made by transparent and independent processes, not by ministers behind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secret business cases<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There can be no public trust in a business case kept secret by Cabinet \u2013 and not only because of the Berejiklian\u2019s alarming record of cost overruns on infrastructure projects. The sums may just be wrong.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month it was revealed that in the case of the Powerhouse move, for which only a brief summary of the business case has been published, incorrect figures had been used. Questions in the Upper House by Deputy Opposition Leader Walt Secord revealed that a variation from the usual discount rate was used in calculating the Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), which in the case of all Restart NSW infrastructure projects has to be positive \u2013 and that pushed the figure over the line.<\/p>\n

How the Sydney Modern project \u2013 or any public cultural institution \u2013 can have a positive BCR is beyond imagination. It would require the projected doubling of visitation to be not only achieved but sustained, while ongoing costs remain at their present low level.<\/p>\n

In all its \u201ccultural infrastructure\u201d projects the Berejiklian Government has shown not the slightest concern for the recurrent funding necessary to sustain institutions \u2013 or the increase in recurrent funding required for an expanded institution to fulfil its purpose. Minister Harwin even told Parliament on 1 May, in relation to the Powerhouse: \u201cNew museum operating costs are absolutely the last thing someone would regard as a cost of developing the museum because they are nothing other than the existing budget \u2026 times the lifespan of the project.\u201d In other words, there will be no<\/strong> increase in recurrent funding for his gargantuan projects.<\/p>\n

There is little chance of the secretive Berejiklian Government releasing the business case for either the Powerhouse or Sydney Modern. That same 1 May parliamentary session saw a stormy discussion over Cabinet\u2019s refusal to comply with the Legislative Council\u2019s demand for release of the full documents concerning the Powerhouse relocation. Both Walt Secord and Greens MLC David Shoebridge, who moved the original motion for publication the previous month, were ejected from the Upper House chamber.<\/p>\n

But Harwin \u2013 a seasoned political operator and Liberal Party numbers man \u2013 justified his refusal to comply with the motion by citing a Premier\u2019s Memorandum on Cabinet confidentiality issued in 2006 under the Labor government of Premier Morris “Open for Business” Iemma. It decreed that \u201cunauthorised\u201d disclosure of Cabinet documents \u201cundermines collective ministerial responsibility\u201d. The Iemma memorandum was a way of circumventing the High Court\u2019s decision in the case of Egan v Chadwick<\/em>, which affirmed the principle that ministers were responsible to parliament and should release documents when requested. The ALP memo is now being used by the Berejiklian government to keep matters of demonstrable public interest concealed from Australia\u2019s oldest parliament and the public.<\/p>\n

Luke Foley\u2019s Labor Opposition has so far shown no sign of opposing Sydney Modern in the way it has opposed the Powerhouse move, but the new building in The Domain will prove to be a similar millstone round the neck of any incoming government.<\/p>\n

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Arts Minister Don Harwin, right, with David Gonski<\/p><\/div>\n

The very name of Sydney<\/strong> Modern suggests a turn away from the core functions of a State<\/strong> institution. At a time when smart institutions around the world \u2013 the Tate, the Louvre, the big American museums – are taking up the satellite model and expanding into new areas, the Berejiklian Government is pandering to the big end of town and leaving the regions bereft.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s now the NSW brand of cultural policy.<\/p>\n

What could possibly go wrong?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Responsibility for giving the green light to the DA for the AGNSW expansion lies with Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, Arts Minister Don Harwin and Planning Minister Anthony Roberts, who is expected to give it the go-ahead in the near future.<\/p>\n

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Treasurer Perrottet and Premier Berejiklian<\/p><\/div>\n

At the Gallery itself the project rests with Director Michael Brand and President of the Trustees David Gonski \u2013 a longstanding associate of multi-billionaire Frank Lowy whose son Steven first announced the plan with Brand five years ago. After months of uncertainty over the directorship \u2013 in 2017 Brand\u2019s original five-year contract was extended by just one year – Gonski said the Trustees were \u201cvery pleased\u201d with his reappointment, which is for an unspecified term, but carries a salary considerably more than that of the State\u2019s Premier.<\/p>\n

Also giving fulsome support to Sydney Modern, despite the grave concerns of many members, are Art Gallery Society president Brian Ladd and Brand\u2019s former colleague, executive director Ron Ramsey.<\/p>\n

So now you know who to turn to when any of the following happen:<\/p>\n