Chinese artist Wang Jin’s Robe 1999 renders the iconic form of the Peking Opera robe in transparent plastic embroidered with fishing line (illustrated). The juxtaposition of a traditional high-cultural form and modern synthetic material refers to transformations in Chinese society, most pointedly the rapid evolution of consumerism. Robe is on display within the exhibition ‘I…
Continue reading » “Peking Opera robe made in transparent plastic”
This collection of extraordinary telia rumal (some of which are on display within the exhibition ‘I Can Spin Skies’ at the Queensland Art Gallery’s Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries (5 & 6) was made using time-consuming double ikat dyeing techniques. Few weavers still maintain the skills required to create these attractive textiles, in part because…
Continue reading » “Telia rumal: Double ikat textiles from South India”
The Gallery has acquired ten miniature paintings from a volume of the Shahnameh, or ‘Book of Kings’, by the Persian poet Abu’l Qasim Firdausi (935–1020CE), the epic poem captures the lives and stories of the ancient Iranian kings, from the creation of the world to the Arab conquest of Iran in 642.1 The Shahnameh —…
In Hafiz in diaspora (illustrated) Amin Taasha has used sheets from a book of poetry by Hafiz (Persia c.1315–90) to render symbols and motifs from his own life and the history and mythology of Afghanistan and Central Asia. These include illustrations of the Gandharan Buddhist–style imagery that Bamiyan was known for; ammunition and weaponry of…
Receiving and unpacking acquisitions can be an exciting but also a nervous moment for a gallery conservator. This is the first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the artwork you have heard so much about from your colleagues, but you are also well aware of the risks involved with transporting artworks, and this is the…
A lively group of seven woodblock prints representing Nagasaki-e and Kaika-e, made during the Edo (1615–1868) and Meiji (1868–1912) eras signal Japan’s radical transition from a closed economy to a modern, industrial nation. Europeans first came to Japan in the 1540s and were initially welcomed. However, the Tokugawa shogunate grew concerned by news of Spanish…
Continue reading » “Woodblock prints signal Japan’s transition to an industrial nation”
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.