News

The Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) has announced the appointment of John Ridley as Board Chair following the retirement of Peter Williams. Peter was appointed to the ATW Board in 2002 and served as Chair from 2009.

The Australian Tapestry Workshop launches the inaugural ATW Tapestry Design Prize for Architects to be awarded in 2016. The prize invites architects to design a tapestry for a hypothetical site, which for the 2016 Prize is the Col Madigan designed National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Peter Williams, chairman of Australian Tapestry Workshop and founding director of Williams Boag Architects, calls on architects to consider the long-standing relationship between textile art and architecture and the ways tapestry can play an intrinsic part in defining space.

The National Craft Initiative and the National Gallery of Victoria present an international event exploring the future of contemporary craft and design. ATW Director Antonia Syme will be speaking at the event.

The ATW is honoured to have been awarded the 2015 Victoria Day Award for the Arts. VIctoria Day Awards are awarded each year by the Trustees of the Victoria Day Council to recognise individuals and organisations who have made significant and valuable contributions to the Victorian community.

Many of Australia's leading architects gathered at the Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) in South Melbourne on Thursday for the announcement of the winners of the inaugural Tapestry Design Prize for Architects. The Prize was conceived by the Australian Tapestry Workshop to attract the engagement of architects and focus on the long relationship between architecture and tapestry.

Unveiled this week, was The Australian War Memorial’s Commission by Imants Tillers, titled Avenue of Remembrance – a tapestry produced by Australian Tapestry Workshop of a painting by Tiller to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

Four tapestries created at the ATW have been featured in the Amity Craft Exhibition 2013 at George Paton Gallery, at the University of Melbourne from the 19th to 22nd of November 2013. The exhbition was organised by the World Craft Council, Asia Pacific Region to promote craft within this region. Our tapestries were displayed along with arts and crafts from Australian and the Asia Pacific region including jewellery, ceramics, textiles and clothing.

Lily Fish, a theatre artist who was an ATW artist-in-residence in 2012, is back at the Workshop rehearsing a site-specific performance that will be part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Lily's work was influenced by the ATW weavers and the tapestries on the looms, including Juan Davila's 'Sorry' 2013 and Brent Harris's 'Rome' 2012. Click on the date above for the recent feature in 'The Age' and to learn more about the project.

The staff, board and supporters of the Australian Tapestry Workshop are deeply saddened by the passing of its longtime patron Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE, the driving force behind the Workshop’s establishment and a tireless and enthusiastic promoter of its work.

The Australian Tapestry Workshop was delighted to be one of the few venues in Victoria included in the itinerary of HRH The Prince of Wales. His Royal Highness visited Australia as a personal representative of Her Majesty The Queen during the Diamond Jubilee year, which marks The Queen’s 60 years as the monarch.