Drill Hall Gallery reopens after $2M upgrade

12 July 2016

Gallery staff installing a large piece from the National Museum of Australia, which has not been displayed since acquisition in 1990. Photo: supplied.

An interior of the refurbished University Drill Hall Gallery featuring the Indigenous artworks in its first exhibition since the upgrades, titled 'Streets of Papunya'. Image: supplied.

The University's vision is to be the destination of choice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander intellectual leaders and this includes Indigenous artists.

The Australian National University (ANU) Drill Hall Gallery will reopen on Friday to the public following a $2 million refurbishment and a major philanthropic gift of great Australian artworks.

The refurbished gallery will also showcase the Sidney Nolan masterpiece Riverbend - a nine-part iconic painting series which evokes the serenity of the Victorian bush - in a new purpose-built gallery with a special curved wall.

"The Drill Hall Gallery upgrades are a fine example of the University's commitment to the arts and doing our bit to continue to promote and show off the works of some of this nation's greatest artists," said ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt AC.

The renovated Drill Hall Gallery will be home to a major donation of paintings and sculptures from the collection of David Erskine, which includes works by Indigenous artists Emily Kngwarreye and George Tungurrayi.

With an estimated value of more than half a million dollars, Mr Erskine's gift makes it the largest contemporary art donation ever to be given to the Gallery and the University.

Professor Schmidt said the donation features some of Australia's best contemporary works of art, particularly from Indigenous artists.

"The University's vision is to be the destination of choice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander intellectual leaders and this includes Indigenous artists," he said.

Gallery Director Terence Maloon said as a result of his generous gift, Mr Erskine has been nominated a life patron of the Drill Hall Gallery.

"It is a very personal and very thoughtfully put-together package. These works are by artists close to James Erskine's heart," he said.

As part of the Gallery upgrades, new insulation, ventilation systems and state-of-art LED lighting has also been installed.

The Drill Hall Gallery will also extend its opening times to 10am - 5pm Wednesday to Sunday.

To coincide with the gallery's reopening, an exhibition titled The Streets of Papunya, which presents painters from Western Desert art, is also on show in the main gallery.

The Drill Hall Gallery officially opens to the public on Friday, 15 July.