Australian Tapestry Workshop Celebrates 40 Years!

The Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) enjoys an international reputation as a leader in contemporary tapestry. This year the ATW celebrates 40 years of creating more than 500 contemporary tapestries which adorn the walls of many private residences and important public buildings and spaces in Australia and abroad, including nine Australian embassies.

One of the ATW’s most ambitious and significant projects to date is the Arthur Boyd tapestry in the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberra. This iconic tapestry was woven by twelve weavers in vertical sections and took two years to complete. The massive scale of the work makes it the second largest tapestry in the world.

Arthur Boyd tapestry

Established in 1976, ATW is the only workshop of its kind in Australia and one of only a handful in the world for the production of hand-woven tapestries. Artists worldwide are discovering how this traditional medium can be used in completely new ways, and the ATW is in the vanguard of this revival.

Using the same techniques employed in Europe since the 15th century, the ATW’s skilled weavers work with artists from Australia and overseas to produce tapestries that are known for their vibrancy, technical accomplishment and inventive interpretation.

Since its inception, the ATW’s philosophy has been to employ weavers trained as artists to enable close collaboration with the artists whose work they are interpreting. Many notable Australian and international artists have collaborated with the ATW’s weavers over the years including Arthur Boyd, Jon Cattapan, John Olsen, Jorn Utzon, David Noonan and Sally Smart.

ATW have a calendar full of special events and programs. Some of the highlights include:

2015 Artists in Residence exhibition opening in February;
2016 Tapestry Design Prize for Architects with applications opening in April;
Pacific Women and ATW weavers will provide free weaving demonstrations, talks and workshops in Weaving Worlds in May; and
A lecture on ‘The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries’ by Dr Elisabeth Taburet-Delahaye, Director of the Cluny Museum in Paris

Experience a journey through the last four decades of weaving at the ATW in an exciting exhibition of 40 Years of Contemporary Tapestry in November. A party to help celebrate this milestone will also take place in the month.

Support ATW by making a donation to our 40th Birthday Appeal.

www.austapestry.com.au

Great Hall Tapestry designed by Arthur Boyd in Parliament House
Photo by John Gollings AM

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