More than 500 tapestries have been created by over 80 weavers since the Australian Tapestry Workshop was founded in 1976. These now hang in public and private collections throughout Australia and overseas, making the Workshop renowned worldwide.
The organisation, which began as the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, was the vision of Lady Joyce Delacombe, the wife of the state's then governor, and Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. That it's celebrating its 40th anniversary is remarkable, given that weaving by hand is labour-intensive and costly.
Weavers at the cutting-off ceremony for Yvonne Todd’s Alice Bayke (2008).Credit: Viki Petherbridge
Independent tapestry weavers were part of a strong studio crafts movement that emerged after World War II, influenced by improved education and employment opportunities, as well as the impact of migrants and the changing recognition of Indigenous Australians.
Pamela Joyce and Milena Paplinska working on Juan Davila's Sorry (2013)
Many architects in Australia were interested in including tapestries in their plans and well-known artists were keen to work with tapestry, motivated by the chance to make large public works and explore the medium's textures and colours – today's weavers can choose from an almost photographic palette, comprising about 200 colours in cotton and 370 in wool.
Finding Kenneth Myer (2011) by John Young, on the loom
A large, rundown 19th-century building in South Melbourne was selected as the site for the Workshop, which drew criticism from the art community for using "commercial" rather than "natural" colours and fibres – and for producing versions of existing paintings rather than original art.
But the workshop soon began striking out on its own, with the first collaboration with Indigenous Australians – Papunya Tula artists from the Western Desert – in 1978. Another notable commission was the 20m x 9m tapestry by Arthur Boyd for the new Parliament House in the 1980s.
Alice Bayke (2008) partially revealed
Many Hands: The First 40 Years of the Australian Tapestry Workshop (HarperCollins, $50) is out December 1.