It is significant that the majority of the artists represented in this exhibition have a strong connection with the Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW), formerly the Victorian Tapestry Workshop (VTW). Many, like me, trained there in the 1970s or 1980s and spent several years working collaboratively with fellow weavers and Australian and international artists, whilst simultaneously developing an independent studio practice. I spent 14 years as a weaver at the VTW before leaving in 1990 to live and work in Hobart for almost a decade. Whilst teaching at the Tasmanian School of Art, and later employed as a Curator at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, I was able to structure my life to provide sufficient studio time to embark on large-scale tapestry projects. There were plenty of opportunities to exhibit my resulting work in Australia, Europe and Japan.
During that period of time, tapestry as a medium was vigorously pursued by a number of independent artists, with conceptual rigour at the forefront. Tapestry had a strong presence in art schools around the country and this was reflected in many exhibitions such as ‘Texts from the Edge’, curated by Marie Cook, Kay Lawrence and Diana Wood Conroy and exhibited at the Jam Factory in Adelaide, before touring nationally in 1995; and ‘Clashing Fragments’, which I curated and was exhibited at the Plimsoll Gallery in Hobart in 1993.
The then VTW (now ATW) continued, as it does today, to produce magnificent monumental tapestries. Young weavers, often graduates from Monash University’s unique tapestry studio, regularly gained employment there; with some finding the experience of working collaboratively too challenging and others committing to a profession as a production weaver.
Today tapestry struggles to survive in art schools 1, which means that fewer young people are working in the medium and one wonders about its future. However, having returned to the ATW as Studio Manager, I watch visitors, on a daily basis, marvel at the quality and contemporary nature of the tapestries being produced. Exhibitions such as ‘Bias Bound’ and ‘Weaverama’ have recently been held to celebrate the work our weavers make in their own studios, after hours; Emma Sulzer’s funky ‘Sneakers’ and Milly Formby’s playful ‘MillyMonsters’ leave you in no doubt that tapestry is NOW!
Sara Lindsay
July 2010
These three short essays from practising studio tapestry artists are presented under the heading ‘Reflections from the Field’ in the exhibition catalogue, ‘About Time: Australian Studio Tapestry 1975-2005’. ‘About Time’ is an Ararat Regional Art Gallery touring exhibition presented at the following Victorian public galleries:
Ararat Regional Art Gallery - 12 August – 26 September 2010
Horsham Regional Art Gallery - 22 January to 6 March 2011
Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery - 1 July to 14 August 2011
Central Goldfields Art Gallery, Maryborough - 4 September to 9 October 2011
Footnotes
1. An important event, ‘Tapestry 2008’, held at the Australian National University’s School of Art, explored the relationships between visual art, tapestry and the craft of weaving through a symposium, exhibitions, master classes and seminars.
