Artists rename NGV Triennial works to protest gallery’s Wilson Security contract
Hannah Francis The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 December 2017
As the National Gallery of Victoria unveiled its first Triennial of contemporary art to the world this week, it spared no expense on celebratory parties and VIP events. But last-minute changes by international artists to some of the key works commissioned for the exhibition left the gallery with egg on its face – or as one artwork infers, “bloody” hands – over its continued employ of Wilson Security, which guarded detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. Candice Breitz’s large video installation was supposed to be called Love Story. Instead, the title plate in the gallery bears the words “Wilson Must Go”, above the names of Hollywood actors Alec Baldwin and Julianne Moore, who recount the moving stories of six refugees. The Berlin-based South African artist said the work’s new title would remain until the NGV severed its contract with Wilson Security. “While I am grateful for the immense support I have received from the NGV, it would be morally remiss … for me to remain silent in the context of the current conversation that is taking place around the Australian government’s ongoing and systematic abuse of refugees,” Ms Breitz said. At the other end of the gallery, on the same floor, Ireland’s Richard Mosse updated his work Incoming – a multi-video installation containing footage from a refugee camp in Greece – to include commentary from Iranian refugee and former Manus Island detainee Behrouz Boochani. “It is not acceptable that an art organisation like NGV has signed a contract with a company whose hands are so bloody,” reads large text on a screen, dated December 14, the day before the Triennial opened.
“You cannot claim you care about humanity and care about people escaping from war and persecution and at the same time make money for a company that has tortured refugees.” Breitz has changed the title of her work in the NGV Triennial in protest. Photo: Jason South Canadian-Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer has also changed the name of his Triennial work Recorded Assembly to Wilson Must Go. Launching the Triennial on Friday, NGV director Tony Ellwood said participating artists explored five broad themes including “movement”, which he interpreted firstly as “the defining issue of our times: the movement of people across borders”. Richard Mosse’s Incoming was updated to include commentary from former Manus Island detainee Behrouz Boochani about NGV’s contract with Wilson Security. Photo: Hannah Francis Mr Ellwood highlighted the works of Breitz and Mosse in his speech but did not mention the artists’ last-minute changes to their works. The gallery has refused to comment on the matter, other than to issue a short statement reiterating the “interim” nature of Wilson Security’s contract, adding that it was selected by a Victorian government security services panel. NGV director Tony Ellwood defined one of the themes explored by artists in the exhibition as “the movement of people across borders”. “The NGV is currently in the process of securing a long-term security services provider, who will be selected and appointed through a public tender process as part of a revised Victorian government’s security services panel.” The statement concludes by saying the institution “supports artists’ rights to express a range of viewpoints”. In one of a number of protests throughout the year, a group called the Artists Committee covers Picasso’s Weeping Woman with the Wilson Security logo. Photo: Eddie Jim Responding to the changed title of Ms Breitz’s work, Wilson Security said it “categorically rejects Candice Breitz’s false claims, which are not based on any evidence or fact”. Regarding Mr Boochani, the company said it “does not comment on operational matters”. Candice Breitz it would be “morally remiss” to “remain silent in the context of the current conversation that is taking place around the Australian government’s ongoing and systematic abuse of refugees”. Photo: Till Cremer/NGV “The safety and security of all residents [in offshore detention] has always been Wilson Security’s highest priority, and we have a strong record of providing professional security services to the Australian Government and its contractors,” the statement said. NGV commissioned many new works in the Triennial, including those by Breitz and Mosse (a co-commission with London’s Barbican) and curated numerous other pieces that incorporate overt statements on the global refugee crisis. Footage from a refugee camp in Greece appears in Richard Mosse’s work. They include award-winning Australian artist Ben Quilty’s painting of a refugee’s life-jacket, High Tide Mark; Indian artist Shilpa Gupta’s eerie, untitled sculpture and poem about a world without borders; and Melbourne artist Louisa Bufardeci’s embroideries, The Sea Between A and I, which map the course of boats full of asylum-seekers that have sunk attempting to reach Australia. It was also announced this week that the NGV would host a key work in Melbourne’s White Night in February 2018, projecting video interviews with current and former detainees on its St Kilda Road façade. Ben Quilty’s High Tide Mark at NGV Triennial. Photo: Tom Ross/NGV Behind the Wire’s They Cannot Take the Sky builds on an previous exhibition at Melbourne’s Immigration Museum earlier this year. White Night Melbourne artistic director David Atkins said two key organisations were needed to make the commission happen: Visit Victoria and the NGV. They Cannot Take the Sky will appear at NGV International during Melbourne’s White Night in February 2018. Photo: Visit Victoria “It’s been quite an effort by everybody involved to bring this to fruition,” Mr Atkins said. “Obviously it’s a very contentious work and a work that certainly my creative team feel very strongly about in terms of our social consciousness in relation to White Night and what we want to present to people. David Atkins, the new artistic director of White Night, wanted to give more opportunity to emerging bands. Photo: Eddie Jim “We have the two organisations that needed to get on board to actually bring this to life from our point of view for White Night, and that is Visit Victoria and the National Gallery of Victoria. Both have supported this and believe it’s an important work.” Victoria’s creative industries minister Martin Foley said a globally ambitious exhibition like the Triennial had to be “bold and chart new courses”.
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Ben Quilty’s High Tide Mark at NGV Triennial. Photo: Tom Ross/NGV Behind the Wire’s They Cannot Take the Sky builds on an previous exhibition at Melbourne’s Immigration Museum earlier this year. White Night Melbourne artistic director David Atkins said two key organisations were needed to make the commission happen: Visit Victoria and the NGV. 
