Craft / 2024 Propositions: 2023 Tapestry Design Prize for Architects, Australian Tapestry Workshop. At Craft + Design Canberra, until December 30, Reviewed by MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE.

This exhibition presents the possibilities of the art of woven tapestry to enhance architectural spaces.

They were specifically designed by architects from around Australia for the Bundanon Art Museum. Sections were woven as large format studies by weavers at the Australian Tapestry Workshop.

Propositions show the potential for the designs to be realised as large-scale tapestries.

Kerstin Thompson Architects designed new facilities for Bundanon. The Art Museum and the Bridge for Creative Learning address how buildings and landscapes can be both resilient and resistant and they celebrate and complement the surrounding environment. Bundanon was a gift to the Australian people from Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in 1993. The new facilities have particular reference to the climatic conditions of the area – especially bushfires and floods.

Set in a landscape surrounded by river flats, Bundanon is on the Shoalhaven River. The river has eroded a deep trough through sedimentary rocks which form the Shoalhaven River Gallery.

Arthur Boyd painted this place many times. Amy Cornall selected Counterpoint by Adjacency Studio in NSW to weave. Earth, water and sky are represented in this work, which has many curves, deep blues and greens, reflecting Boyd’s paintings.

Pamela Joyce selected Old Growth Fire by Ellen Kwek from Victoria. This work is haunting and evocative. Kwek included free form threads in her design brief and Joyce has used supplementary weft to bring them to life. She has wrapped the weft around pieces of cotton fabric to create fat, glossy “worms” that lie on the surface of the woven fabric, representing fallen limbs and trunks.

Arthur Boyd designed the huge tapestry in the Reception Hall at Parliament House, which depicts the life that exists at Bundanon. Chris Cochius chose a portion of a landscape, which layers the busy, the river, the rich greenery on the river’s edge and the soil, referencing Boyd’s many paintings.

Tapestry weaving is a complex art form and is particularly suited to architectural settings – whether they are major buildings, or domestic homes. They are versatile, and can be vibrant or quiet.

While large tapestries are commissioned for buildings in the ACT, we don’t often have the opportunity to view works in a large group such as this. Here is a chance for everyone to view the works and appreciate them.