READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are
based on Reading Passage 3.
Rebranding art museums
A study of the reopened National Gallery of Victoria
As anyone with even a passing interest in cultural institutions will
know, art museums are adapting to keep up with changes in society.
Do any of these newly developed spaces indicate a fundamental shift
in the ways we engage with art at the beginning of the twenty-first
century? The answer is a qualified ‘Yes’ and also, it must be said, ‘No’.
A clear sense of this can be gained by considering the 2003
redevelopment of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne,
Australia’s second largest city, in the light of the aspirations embodied
in the original building that served as its template.
The first building was considered a thoroughly modern museum when
it opened to the public in 1968. We should not forget that it was also
bold, entrepreneurial and innovative in ways that have done great
credit to the vision and foresight of the architect, Roy Grounds. For one
thing, the 1968 building signalled a strong sense of engagement with
Asian and Pacific cultures, both in its architecture and through the
layout of its collections. Its entrance lobby was designed to facilitate
the rapid and efficient circulation of visitors. It also contained a series
of greatly expanded temporary exhibition galleries and a vast Great
Hall, which represented an unprecedented emphasis on the ancillary
roles of corporate functions and public performances in the
contemporary museum.
This last feature might have seemed excessive to some, yet how wise
it has proven over the years as museums have come to place
increasing emphasis on corporate sponsorship, and on the need to
generate additional funds via room hire. Furthermore, the Great Hall
has for forty years provided an area for children to roam at large
before being escorted through the much less spatially accommodating
galleries themselves. As an unintimidating introduction to the lifelong
rigours of visiting art museums, its impact on attendance cannot be
overestimated.
At the same time, other aspects of the 1968 NGV have not withstood
the test of time so well. Foremost among these are the huge expanse
of the exterior’s windowless wall and the surrounding moat, which
creates a rather unwelcoming expression of the museum as a temple
of culture set apart from the everyday world. Over time, this idea has
been questioned, and has been superseded by the growing impetus
towards the alternative model of the museum as a more open-ended
and visitor-friendly forum that engages the public more effectively.
With these considerations in mind, Mario Bellini’s redeveloped NGV
opened in 2003 and his design reflects what the new, improved,
twenty-first century global museum feels it should be emphasising to
its visitors. Here the institution’s energies are focused, not so much on
the technical subtleties of how to design the galleries themselves, as
on presenting to the public a spectacular image of the museum itself
as a welcoming yet efficient facilitator of social interaction, popular
entertainment and public knowledge. All of this is certainly impressive,
but where has the art gone? We are not allowed to see the exhibitions
until we have completed the necessary inductions. We are greeted by
a hugely expanded cloakroom screening off our vision to the right,
followed by a large visitor information office leading to the ticket
booths. Above us is the cafe and to our left we cannot escape the NGV
shop set alongside the exit.
And what of the redesigned galleries themselves? In fact, they
represent a wonderfully elegant reframing of the permanent
collections in ways that should offer first-time visitors and seasoned
members alike many new avenues for engagement in the years to
come. But herein lies the conundrum posed by the NGV renovation and
by the global sweep of new museum projects more generally. The
mainstay elements of a permanent collection can become all too easily
lost in the increased prominence that these rebranding exercises tend
to place on the more glamorous spectacular aspects of the institution
itself. At its most extreme, this results in the construction of new
buildings that supplant the artworks inside them to become the major
attractions themselves.
These challenges are most keenly felt in the area of the temporary
exhibition. Entrance to the NGV permanent collection is now free, so
the NGV needs something to keep the paying public coming back. The
answer lies in the international ‘blockbuster’ exhibition. The
Impressionists, for example, netted a total of 380,000 visitors, making
it one of the most popular exhibitions in Australian history. There has
also been, it needs to be said, a commendable attempt to leaven the
international masterpieces with selected highlights from the
permanent collection. Overall, though, the prevalence of these ‘rental’
blockbusters cannot but help introduce a certain ‘off the rack’ feeling
to the institution’s exhibition programme. More importantly perhaps,
they clearly narrow the options for other worthy but less glamorous
projects, and they take energy away from the curators’ potential to do
further work on and around the permanent collection itself.
Yet the show must go on, and shows can’t exist without the public.
Even the most adroit organisation, as the NGV assuredly is, needs to
be able to juggle numerous, often conflicting priorities: the need to
advance scholarship, on the one hand, versus the imperative of access
on the other; the need to introduce audiences to new areas, versus the
necessity of luring them in with instant brand recognition. Nobody said
it was going to be easy, and the effect of too much innovation in
museums can be disastrous.
Questions 27 – 30
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27–30 on your answer sheet.
27. What is the writer doing in paragraph 1?
A. comparing the old NGV with the new NGV
B. describing the role of art museums in Australian culture
C. considering the influence of gallery design on art appreciation
D. suggesting there has been a recent change in gallery design
28. The writer criticises the old NGV because
A. the permanent collection was poorly displayed.
B. the building tended to make art seem remote.
C. Asian and Pacific art was neglected.
D. the foyer resembled a shop.
29. What does the writer notice about the new NGV?
A. He thinks the ticket booths are well positioned.
B. He is upset that he is made to move so quickly.
C. He is frustrated because the art is obscured by the entrance.
D. He thinks the redevelopment fails to keep up with international
trends.
30. The writer argues that rental ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions
A. should be cheaper.
B. are a financial necessity.
C. should be increased in number.
D. allow the museum to present an original programme.
Questions 31 – 35
Do the following statements agree with the claim of the writer in
Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 31–35 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts with the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
31. Roy Grounds’s design failed to recognise the importance of
functions and performances in museums.
32. Mario Bellini’s new NGV rejects international museum
design trends.
33. Mario Bellini’s work on subsequent museum projects has
been less successful than that on the NGV.
34. The NGV monitors the number of first-time visitors to
permanent collections.
35. Too much change may have negative impacts on museums.
Questions 36 – 40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–G, below.
Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 36–40 on your answer sheet.
36. If a large space is available in the museum,
37. If children are allowed to move freely in parts of the gallery,
38. If too much emphasis is placed on the museum building
itself,
39. If there is an over-reliance on ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions,
40. If the NGV wants to continue to be successful,
A. the museum programme will lose its individuality.
B. the museum will lose credibility.
C. the art loses its importance.
D. it will have to balance opposing demands.
E. this will encourage museum visitors in the future.
F. it will have the capability of increasing revenue.
G. the architect’s reputation might suffer.
