CANBERRA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) was in line for wholesale changes under new management, despite funding cuts which have clouded the future of the gallery.
Nick Mitzevich, who recently served as the director of the Art Gallery of South Australia and doubled average attendances, took the NGA head job this week and said the gallery was set for a huge shakeup.
"I want the big, I want the small, and the exquisite, the brash and everything in between," Mitzevich told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Thursday night.
"We will be buying art that defines the times we live in. It means that we have the capacity to be courageous and adventurous."
The future of the Canberra-based gallery had previously spiraled into uncertainty following a parliamentary inquiry submission led by former NGA director Gerard Vaughan earlier this year.
"The organization is undoubtedly at a crossroads," Vaughan told the parliamentary committee in March.
"Funding reductions have put the core purposes of the NGA at risk, with questions around financial sustainability."
The NGA's new director said he would take the inquiry recommendations, which included a "solvency" issue, on board, but he was still determined to restore Canberra's national institution to its former glory.
The NGA was broadly known for a single piece of art called Jack Pollock's Blue Poles, which was purchased for around 960,000 U.S. dollars in 1973 and was now valued at over 258 million U.S. dollars.
Mitzevich said he was confident his administration would be able to repeat history and capture the public's attention.
"I completely believe that in the future we will be attracting works of art that have the same potency, the same impact on the world of art," Mitzevich said.
