Ararat Regional Art Gallery director, Anthony Camm at the opening of the 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial with Tamworth Regional Gallery staff (l to r) Kate Hofman, Pam Brown and Tamworth director, Sandra McMahon.
Patrick Snelling speaking about the exhibition.Tamworth Regional Gallery's 1st Textile Triennial, 'Sensorial Loop', was officially opened by ABC presenter, Claudia Chan-Shaw, on Friday 30 September 2011 at 6pm. Although this is Tamworth's first triennial, it builds on 18 earlier biennial exhibitions, which have provided an important platform for surveying developments in contemporary textile art practice.
Ararat Regional Art Gallery's director, Anthony Camm, had an opportunity to visit Tamworth Regional Gallery for the first time to attend the launch of the triennial. His visit was possible thanks to a grant from the Gordon Darling Foundation. Ararat Regional Art Gallery and Tamworth Regional Gallery share similar collection and programming specialisations and his visit provided an opportunity not to only view the triennial exhibition, but to meet staff and participating artists and view the collection area.
This triennial exhibition has been astutely curated by Patrick Snelling, and is thought provoking in the way it addresses the diverse concerns of artists working with textiles fibre materials and techniques today. It is especially interesting to see the work of established artists alongside recent graduates and to consider the extraordinary developments that have occurred since textile fibre art first came to prominence in the 1970s. A series of curator and artists' talks held on the weekend following the opening inspired lively discussion about the state of textile fibre art in Australia. ‘Sensorial Loop’ will soon commence its national tour, which includes Ararat Regional Art Gallery in 2013.
ABC Radio has posted an interview with Patrick Snelling online about the triennial exhibition, which shows photographs of the featured artworks. A catalogue accompanying the exhibition can be purchased from Tamworth Regional Art Gallery, including in a lovely, limited edition boxed version. There is an extract from Patrick Snelling's catalogue essay on his blog.
