Govt brings artworks home to New Zealand

RT HON HELEN CLARK
PRIME MINISTER OF NEW
ZEALAND

20 December 2001

The 'homecoming' of artworks formerly held by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade will enable New Zealanders to enjoy more of the
outstanding work of New Zealand artists, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts,
Culture and Heritage Helen Clark said today.

Helen Clark was speaking at a function at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa
Tongarewa this afternoon to celebrate the gifting of two significant artworks to
the museum by the government.

"Earlier this year Foreign Minister Phil Goff and I announced that 59 major
works of art held by MFAT and its posts around the world, worth around $3.4
million, would be brought home and donated to public art galleries and museums
throughout New Zealand for public display.

"This homecoming is now under way. Care has been taken to donate works to
galleries and museums where they will complement existing collections.

"Te Papa will receive two of the repatriated artworks, Sandfly Bay, Otago by
nineteenth century artist Nicholas Chevalier, and Painting 59-1, by contemporary
artist Milan Mrkusich.

"Fittingly, Milan Mrkusich has already made his mark at Te Papa. The coloured
glass installation on the outside of the museum is his creation.

"Aside from their own artistic significance, the two paintings gifted to Te
Papa illustrate the breadth of the MFAT collection, ranging from colonial art to
modern, challenging pieces at the forefront of the New Zealand contemporary art
scene.

"Over the next two to three years, 24 galleries and museums throughout New
Zealand, from Invercargill to Whangarei, will receive art from the MFAT
collection.

"The artists represented form a roll-call of New Zealand's best and most
enduring artistic talent, ranging from Colin McCahon, to Frances Hodgkins, Tony
Fomison, and many other others.

"As this art by New Zealand's established artists is distributed throughout
New Zealand, it will be replaced at MFAT's posts with works by emerging artists
who provide a distinctive statement of contemporary New Zealand culture.

"I congratulate freelance curator Alexa Johnston for the outstanding job she
has done in working with MFAT and the recipient institutions to identify which
artworks would be sent to each location.

"With Alexa's report as a blueprint for action, New Zealanders will now be
able to enjoy even more of the outstanding art produced in our country over the
last 150 years," Helen Clark said.

A copy of Alex Johnston's full report can be viewed at:
www.mfat.govt.nz/about/worksofart.html