Museum director to visit Northern Hemisphere in search of Pacific art

The revelatory experience of mounting of a series of major contemporary Pacific art exhibitions while curator at Townsville's Perc Tucker Regional Gallery has resulted in a Churchill Fellowship for University of Queensland Art Museum director Ross Searle.

Next year Mr Searle will travel to Papua New Guinea, England, France, Scotland, Germany and America to meet with museum professionals and study contemporary Pacific art collections in the Northern Hemisphere.

He said the study tour would complement an exhibition, Exchange, Innovation and National Culture: Contemporary Art in Papua New Guinea, 1965-1984, planned for September 2000 - the 25th anniversary of PNG independence.

The exhibition will explore the evolution of contemporary art practice in Papua New Guinea from its earliest manifestations in the mid-1960s to the opening of Parliament House in 1984, he said.

"The notion of art changed dramatically during this time. By the 1970s two perceptions of art were gaining currency for self expression and personal development and as a professional career option," he said.

"The traditional and functional art of the village had given way to a new urban consciousness which embraced modern ideas about art production and commodification."

Mr Searle said many collections of Pacific art were housed in Northern Hemisphere museums where they had been gathered by traders, colonials and missionaries.

Many of the collections were being kept alive by a continual updating of art from the region with the museums keen to engage with new cultures and their new approach to culture.

Mr Searle said his background in regional Australia, especially Townsville, had created a strong interest in Pacific art starting with his involvement in the Festival of Pacific Arts held in for the first time in Australia in 1988.

"Queensland is the only state in Australia to share a national border with another country, Papua New Guinea, and there is a lot of historical contact between the two countries," he said.

"Travelling overseas will also provide an outcome for the University in terms of my professional development and the development of links between museums and curators around the world."

For information contact University of Queensland Museum Art director Ross Searle (telephone 3365 3167).