Know My Name The Project, The Exhibition, The Book…

They say as you get older the policemen get younger – for some of us it’s Directors of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), where the charming Nick Mitzevich is now in charge. In his office last September, we remembered James Mollison, its first occupant, from whom Mitzevich, when appointed, took advice. Mollison had a dream ride: in the 1960–80s the gallery project and the national collection were bi-partisan Commonwealth priorities. Artists worked directly with Prime Ministers then, and the Commonwealth of Australia became the biggest spender in the international art world. Mollison had been mentored by great artist administrators; his job description assumed intense engagement with the contemporary art world; he made constant visits to studios, galleries and collections across Australia. Subsequent directors have not been as widely and deeply connected.

Since Mollison’s 1989 retirement from the brut NGA, wonderful inviting galleries have been built; the institution is no longer central to the nation’s visual arts. 'Investors' populate the art world and skew the market; Fine Art degrees and amalgamations have infected art schools, favouring