NGA appoints High Court Judge as independent provenance reviewer

Hon Sue Crennan appointed as independent reviewer of NGAs Asian Art Provenance Research Project in pursuit of ethical collecting.
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Susan Crennan, QC, formerly judge of the High Court of Australia, will head up review at NGA. Supplied.

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), together with the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) and several art museums internationally, has been navigating the politically sensitive area of questionable provenance of its Asian Collections.

The gallery made headlines last year when its 900-year-old bronze, Shiva as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, was the centre of a court case in America over dealings with the gallerist Subhash Kapoor. The sculpture was purportedly stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu before being sold to the National Gallery in 2008. The sculpture was returned to India by Prime Minister Tony Abbott in September.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina