Not really relevant but wouldn’t this have been amazing:
“Old switcheroo art deal weathers well”, ran the headline in The Daily Telegraph.
The exchange program was soon derailed after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, an event that took place while the exhibition of old masters was still showing (to huge audiences) in Sydney. Security for the visiting show was tightened amid fear of attacks.
Future events were abandoned with cold politeness on both sides; these included a huge show of Aboriginal art that was to go to Russia in 1982, in exchange for an Australian tour of masterpieces of French impressionism from Soviet museums.
