November 29, 2022
South Burnett Regional Council has politely turned down an offer to exhibit an Expo 88 sculpture because it does not have a suitable location where the piece could safely be put on public view.
At November’s Liveability standing committee meeting, Councillors voted unanimously to decline an offer from the Legacy of Expo 88 organisation to display one of Expo 88’s surviving statues.
And at its General Meeting last week, Councillors confirmed their earlier decision without further comment.
The work in question was “Rescuing Captain Bligh”, a large piece that shows an imagined 18th century Bligh being rescued by a team of 20th century lifesavers.
The statue was one of the Artbuster sculptures displayed at Expo 88.
It was also shown at the Gold Coast City Council chambers in 2013 in an exhibition put together to mark Expo’s 25th anniversary, and later at Caboolture.
Artbuster statues were cast in fibreglass – often from moulds made using real people – and were a very popular feature of the Expo but lacked the robustness of stone or wooden sculptures.
All surviving sculptures are now quite fragile, which means they need to be displayed where they can be protected from damage.
southburnett.com.au understands these considerations played a key role in the Council’s decision.
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