PICTURE OF THE COUNTRY OF NEW HOLLAND SOUTH WALES (SHIN ORANDA MINAMI WARURESUKOKU NO ZU), 1866, TSUKIOKA YOSHITOSHI, WOODBLOCK PRINT, INK AND COLOUR ON PAPER, TRIPTYCH. ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, YASUKO MYER BEQUEST FUND 2020 – TAASA Review December 2022

House, a place for contemplation, reflection and, ultimately, gratitude. Elemental and Correspondence in the Asian Galleries As part of the wider reconsideration of collection displays throughout the Art Gallery building and preparing for the opening of the new building, we have been reflecting on the Art Gallery’s extraordinary collection of Asian art.

Acquired over a period of more than 150 years, the collection of over 4,200 pieces spans over 2000 years of Asian art history and has a geographical reach extending from Iran to Japan and Indonesia to Mongolia. The Asian art curatorial team, Yin Cao, curator of Chinese art, Natalie Seiz and Matt Cox, curators of Asian art, and I worked on the redisplay project with inspired advice from art historian Chaitanya Sambrani from the Australian National University.

Together we developed two distinct but related exhibitions from the Art Gallery’s historical and contemporary collections, with the two Asian galleries again connected via a staircase for the first time in six years...