ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/14/2001 11 September 2001
Foundations of Gold exhibition opens in Mumbai
Art from Mumbai, Melbourne, Manila, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore
Foundations of Gold, a unique project to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold in Victoria, Australia, opened in Mumbai today. The exhibition will be open from 11 to 17 September at the Taj Art Gallery, Hotel Taj Mahal.
The exhibition by artists drawn from six cities -- Mumbai, Melbourne, Manila, Osaka, Seoul and Singapore, is the initiative of the City of Melbourne in partnership with the Asialink Centre of the University of Melbourne and RMIT Gallery. It has also received the support of the Australia India Council (AIC), the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Arts Victoria and the Australian Gold Council.
Inaugurating the exhibition, Australian High Commissioner to India Rob Laurie said, "Foundations of Gold is a unique project of cross-cultural collaboration, celebrating the creative relationships possible between people of different cities - bound together by gold, and also by expanding business links."
"Foundations of Gold celebrates the wonder of gold - in terms of its form, its function and its meaning - across the cultures of our region. The discovery of gold in Victoria, Australia, 150 years ago was the starting point for the multicultural society we celebrate today," said Councillor Irene Goonan, Chair, City Business Committee, City of Melbourne.
"The allure of gold attracted people from all over the world to seek their future. The works in this exhibition demonstrate the many creative possibilities of Australian gold."
Monica Correa (Mumbai) and Georgina Chapman (Melbourne) have explored the possibility of gold in textiles -- building on the long traditions of Indian textiles with the contemporary feel of one of Melbourne's most adventurous designers, Ms Goonan added.
Gold (provided by the Australian Gold Council) in the exhibition is stretched into threads and woven, flattened to the finest film and printed, made as links in necklaces and on plates, trapped as layers of lustre between molten glass and flickers in the background of grand history of paintings.
The six cities participating in the project are members of the Business Partner City Network, all meeting in Mumbai during the showing of the exhibition. Mumbai is the first international venue for the exhibition, after Melbourne where it originated. The exhibition will also tour Singapore, Manila, Osaka and Seoul.
For further information please contact, Mr. Shabbir Wahid, Consul-General & Trade Commissioner, Australian Consulate, Mumbai, on telephone 2181071.