OPENING OF MASTERPIECES FROM THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM

DUNEDIN PUBLIC ART GALLERY

John McCormack, Your Worship the Mayor Sukhi Turner, Warren Leslie, George Wuu, Your Excellency Josiah Beeman, Deputy Director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York Robert Gebbie, Ministerial and Parliamentary colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

This exhibition is a wonderful example of the way some of the best things happen in life: a great opportunity that came about because of the right word in the right place at the right time.

But it's not just luck. You have earned this by developing a world-class facility.

I was unable to attend the opening of the Gallery but I am delighted to be here this evening for the opening of the Guggenheim Exhibition.

You have gained this exhibition by capably bringing together a group of very public-spirited companies and individuals who were prepared to help you bring this wonderful art to Dunedin.

So first I want to warmly compliment you for doing what the people of Dunedin quietly do again and again: accomplishing something quite astonishing without a lot of fanfare.

Next I want to acknowledge the Guggenheim Museum as one of the world's great art museums, and it is a magnificent gesture for it to make its masterpieces available to audiences here in New Zealand.

It really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come face to face, right here in Dunedin, with some of the greatest moments in 20th century art.

We have had many opportunities to track back through earlier historical periods with other exhibitions which have come to New Zealand, but this show is about our own century.

As that century draws to an end, we inevitably want to look back and make some sense of it all.

We have travelled much further and much faster than any of the generations before us, and that perhaps explains, in a good part, why our culture has exploded into so many forms as we try and make sense of it all.

Our century was a period of radical change, experimentation and innovation, in so many fields, and especially in the visual arts.

This show is a marvellous opportunity to see some of the most interesting examples of the change and that innovation.

So I again congratulate the Dunedin Public Art Gallery for taking this initiative, and I'm prepared to speculate that this is only the start.

Of course nothing of this scale can happen without the support of many people, and I think the other partners in this venture deserve our thanks.

You have had the support of the Dunedin City Council, and also the generous support of the Singapore Art Museum and the Dimension Endowment of Art in Taipei.

I'm pleased to be able to say that the Government has had a hand in the venture as well, with Don McKinnon championing the indemnity scheme for the exhibition.

I also understand that SBS, Taylormade Productions, Miller Studios, Ansett New Zealand, Qantas and Wains Boutique Hotel have all been very generous.

Most of all, though, I think we should recognise the generosity of the principle sponsor Wickliffe Press and the principle underwriter George Wuu, who together have made this all possible.

Can I say on behalf of all New Zealanders, how much we appreciate your support.

The exhibition adds another dimension to the very warm and strong relations between New Zealand and Singapore.

Finally, I should add just one compliment to the people of Dunedin.

I know there are quite a number of visitors here from the North Island, and I want to congratulate you for the astute way you are going about encouraging the people on the other side of Cook Strait to make their way here.

I recommend the trip south, and I hope that people from all over New Zealand come and make the most of this wonderful opportunity, and make the most of their time in your city.

Congratulations to you all, and I hope you have as much pleasure taking in this collection as the millions of visitors to the Guggenheim have done before you.

Thank you.

Ends