Habitual browsers of a leading internet art site, accustomed to an absence of Australian content, would have been startled in February of this year, to observe a prominent reference to Australian art at Madrid's ARCO. For Paul Greenaway, Director of Greenaway Art Gallery in Adelaide, and motivated by a desire to redress the lack of international awareness of contemporary Australian art, it marked the culmination of seven years of lobbying to have Australia designated the focus nation at the Spanish contemporary art fair.
Aboriginal Threaded Objects From the Central Desert and Arnhem Land, Co-curated by Louise Hamby and Diana Young Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Adelaide 22 June - 11 August, 2002
While only a small percentage of national enterprises are based in the west, business leaders have a tradition of serious interest in the visual arts, with a number owning fine collections which they are prepared to share with the public. The three collections featured here all include contemporary Western Australian art - a form of patronage local artists can instantly appreciate. The associated catalogues and books produced are an enduring form of patronage which provide a much needed record of art in Western Australia.