About Time in Horsham

(l to r) Anthony Camm, Mardi Nowak and Adam Harding at Horsham Regional Art Gallery ( l to r: tapestries by Valerie Kirk, Kate Derum and Gerda van Hamond)

Our touring exhibition, 'About Time: Australian Studio Tapestry 1975-2005' was officially opened at Horsham Regional Art Gallery on Sunday 20 February at 3pm. The exhibition looks great in the gallery's temporary home. It was nice to see many people from Horsham's textile community in attendance and the inclusion of a Horsham community tapestry at the entrance to the exhibition was a nice reminder of the importance of the community tapestry movement in the studio tapestry story. Horsham Regional Art Gallery Director, Adam Harding was a great host and with his colleague Michael Shiell has done a great job in presenting and promoting the show.

We are thrilled that Mardi Nowak, who is an artist-weaver featured in 'About Time', has agreed to deliver public programs to support the exhibition's tour throughout regional Victoria. The day after the opening, Mardi presented a very successful talk in Horsham to over 50 high school students from across the Wimmera. Thanks Mardi! Mardi is also Curator of the Town Hall Gallery in Hawthorn.

The 'About Time' catalogue essays are now available to read on-line at Craft Victoria's 'Craft Culture' respository of craft writing. Ararat Regional Art Gallery Director, Anthony Camm's essay provides a response to the works in the show and their place in the rise of the studio tapestry movement. Essays by notable artist-weavers, Professor Kay Lawrence AM, Sara Lindsay and Hilary Green, from a section of the catalogue called, 'Reflections from the Field', can also be read on-line.

The Horsham show closes on 6 March, after which the exhibition will travel to Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery (1 July-14 Aug)and Central Goldfields Art Gallery in Maryborough (4 Sept-9 Oct). 'About Time' is funded by the Regional Exhibitions Touring Initiative and its catalogue is sponsored by the Gordon Darling Foundation.

Australian Studio Tapestry

Above: Tim Gresham with his tapestry 'Triptych from Red (2002)
Below: (l to r) Cresside Collette, Gerda van Hamond, Marie Cook, Sara Lindsay

Ararat Regional Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, “About Time: Australian Studio Tapestry 1975-2005” was officially opened on Saturday 14 August 2010 at 2pm by tapestry artist and Head of Art, South West TAFE, Warrnambool, Marie Cook. Marie, whose work is represented in the exhibition, joined tapestry artists from Melbourne and across Victoria at the opening.

“About Time” features 23 mostly large-scale tapestries in a rare survey of independent tapestry practice. The exhibition draws on the Gallery’s substantial holdings of studio tapestry, alongside some selected loans from other public galleries and private collections. While the exhibition does not tell the complete story of studio tapestry in Australia, it does aim to promote a greater understanding of the movement and acknowledge those who have been important in establishing and advancing this field of contemporary craft practice.

Since 2008 the Gallery’s studio tapestry sub-collection has been strengthened with acquisitions of major tapestries by important artists Kate Derum and Sara Lindsay. The “About Time” exhibition opening provided an opportunity to announce the Gallery’s successful funding application to the Robert Salzer Foundation, through the Public Galleries Association of Victoria, to support the acquisition of Tim Gresham’s ‘Triptych from Red’ from 2002.

“Triptych from Red” explores the tension between the immediacy of photography and the slowness of the weaving process. Tim, who is also a professional photographer, has distilled compositional elements from his photographs of the built environment to create this stunning abstract tapestry in three parts. Tim’s ambitious tapestry, which is presently on display in the “About Time” exhibition, took a year to weave and featured in the National Gallery of Victoria’s prestigious Colin and Cecily Rigg Craft Award in 2003. “About Time” continues until 26 September 2010.

ARAG 40th anniversary essay by Kevin Murray

Ararat Regional Art Gallery celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008 with an exhibition (held from 4 December 2008 to 26 January 2009) that featured 40 artists from its permanent collection. The process of developing and presenting the exhibition was incredibly valuable, leading to renewed critical engagement with the collection for staff and audiences and facilitating a reconnection with represented artists, many who returned to Ararat after many years.

A room brochure was published for the occasion and we were fortunate to have Dr Kevin Murray write an essay to mark ARAG's 40th anniversary. Kevin has posted the essay entitled, 'From Macrame to Digital Looms: Threads of Australian Identity' on his website. Hard copies of the brochure are available - if you'd like to receive a copy, just let us know.