Kaldor Public Art Project 02: Harald Szeemann 1971

29 April – 13 May 1971

Bonython Gallery, Sydney

4 June – 4 July 1971

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Harald Szeemann was the most celebrated and influential curator of the late 20th century. With a career spanning almost 50 years, he invented the modern idea of exhibition making; pioneered the display of conceptual art and performance; created some of the first cross-disciplinary, non-chronological exhibitions; and experimented with non-museum spaces. For Project 2 in 1971, at the launching point of Szeemann’s long career as he prepared for the documenta 5 exhibition in Kassel, John Kaldor invited him to visit Australia and curate an exhibition of the latest contemporary Australian art. The exhibition, 'I want to leave a nice well-done child here', was shown in Sydney and Melbourne and was the first major exhibition of conceptual art in an Australian museum.