Originally conceived as a small theme exhibition for the Queensland Art Gallery's experimental space, Gallery 14, 'Balance 1990: Views, Visions, Influences' immediately attracted the interest and enthusiasm of many Aboriginal and White Australian practitioners. The developing 'Balance 1990' gathered a momentum which gave the concept and the burgeoning exhibition a national profile.

With the opening of the exhibition, which reflects the range and diverse manifestations of the rich and complex Aboriginal culture, comes the opportunity of seeing and evaluating an area of activity in the visual arts which previously has not been collated into a cohesive and deliberate format; it is a concept of a shared aesthetic in which works by Aboriginal and White Australian artists, using both traditional and contemporary images and a variety of media, cross previously accepted boundaries and merge culturally.

One can interpret this as a continuing search for Aboriginal identity in traditional, regional and urban environments. In the work of the White Australian artists, there often exists, either in part or in total, a constant manifestation of Aboriginal social, political and (on occasions) religious issues, through images which appropriate elements of traditional Aboriginal art. They are works in which White Australians can begin to establish their relationship with the disparate manifestations of Aboriginal culture.

'Balance 1990' does reveal a variety of views, visions and influences, but in many cases a balance or equilibrium has not been achieved in the issues raised and approached in the images themselves, and this gives the exhibition its immediate relevance and dynamism.

This exhibition is the first co-ordinated national exposure given to this important and active area of Aboriginal and White Australian collaboration in the visual arts. The 'Balance 1990' co-ordinators, Michael Eather and Marlene Hall, undertook a national tour visiting isolated, regional and urban artists, as well as advisers, academics and others connected with contemporary Aboriginal Australia.

The 'Balance 1990' team, which includes local Brisbane murris, has worked under the umbrella of the Gallery's Public Programs and Curatorial and Support Services sections and their respective Managers, Greg Roberts and Chris Saines, who are to be acknowedged for their invaluable role in overseeing the difficult logistics of an exhibition of this scope.

The Australia Council's Visual Arts! Craft Board and the Aboriginal Arts Unit are thanked for both their moral and their financial assistance. ARCO Coal Australia Inc., one of the Gallery's longstanding sponsors, is also thanked for its substantial financial support which enabled works to be purchased directly from artists during the tour to remote areas.

It is this interest from many individuals, agencies and the sponsor which has taken the exhibition beyond the mere illustration of an idea to a level of authenticity and depth which reveal it as a landmark in the area of Aboriginal and White Australian interaction.

Doug Hall AM was director of the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art from 1987 to 2007. This text, written in 1990, is drawn from Balance 1990: Views, visions, influences [exhibition catalogue].¹

^Endnote

1. Doug Hall, 'Foreword', in Balance 1990: Views, visions, influences [exhibition catalogue], Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1990, pp.6–7.

Feature image: Works installed for ‘Balance 1990’, QAG, 1990 (scan from colour side, QAGOMA Library) / Photograph: R Fulton, QAGOMA