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Due to some freak circumstances, Goodbye Kind World
now finds itself as part of the Melbourne Festival, showing at RMIT Gallery.
Thanks to the spirited assistance of Maudie Palmer, the exhibition has managed
to make its way into the festival program at the very last minute.
The new dates for GKW is 11th October to 13th
November 1999. As this will follow the temporary closure of the State Library
reading dome and NGV, there may be a Swanston Street focus accompanying the
exhibition. The Australia Centre at the University of Melbourne has offered to
support a forum.
Naturally, there are still some vowels to dot and consonants
to cross. However, this new arrangement means that the GKW is likely to have a
bigger audience that it was to initially. Expect further correspondence on the
new deadlines.
Meanwhile, I’d still like to continue filling out artist
details for the web site. Any more outstanding materials would be gratefully
received.
It’s been heartening how everyone has stood by the show when
it was out in the rain.
So we can keep going. Or, as they once used to say, ‘She’ll
be right as rain’.
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You may have already that Metro Craft Centre was
closed on Friday 14th May 1999. Locks were changed and staff were
terminated. From what I understand, the board and Arts Victoria decided to
put the centre under temporary management due to financial difficulties.
We hope to hear what the future of the centre will be by Thursday. It's
come as quite a shock not only to myself but also the staff I have been
working with.
Pamela Irving, artist whose exhibition was just installed inside
the closed Meat Market Hopefully, the
new management will honour the program that had been put in place for this
year. If not, we may have to find an alternative venue for Goodbye Kind
World. It is a rare event to have such a timely an exhibition with such
notable participants become available. Meanwhile, I am encouraging artists to continue as
normal. I'll be putting the catalogue and web-site together, as scheduled.
Of course, we can't let the irony go unnoticed. The exhibition was devised to reflect on
what is being left behind in the mad race to the 21st century. This year has witnessed an
acceleration in the process of discarding the collective heritage. We have already seen
the closure of Pentridge, Georges, Bank of Melbourne and the last home football match. It
now appears 'Goodbye Kind World' finds itself at the centre of this process. In a way,
this irony gives extra momentum to the exhibition.
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