The following exhibitions are currently open or will be opening soon.
Australia Wide Nine
8 November – 8 December 2024
Fabrik Arts and Heritage, 1 Lobethal Road, Lobethal, South Australia
Gallery Hours: See website.
Australia Wide Nine is a non-themed, survey exhibition showcasing the artwork of OZQN members from across Australia. The exhibition was launched at Fabrik, Lobethal, South Australia in November and will continue on tour until 2026.
Of Material Interest: Fabric-Actions by Jan Frazer
7 October – 29 November
Kyabram Town Hall Gallery, 199 Allan St, Kyabram VIC 3620
Gallery Hours: Monday- Saturday 10am – 4pm
Over the years, Jan’s style has evolved from a traditional to a more contemporary art style. She likes to use strong colours and her approach to colour selection is inspired by nature where anything goes.
Escape- Cathy Jack Coupland
23 October- 24 November
Timeless Textiles, 90 Hunter Street, Newcastle East
Gallery Hours: Open Wednesday – Saturday 10am- 4pm; Sunday 10am -2pm
Combined, a simple needle and thread posses a world of power – to construct, transform, repurpose and decorate, triggering long-held memories or upholding centuries-old cultures and traditions.
They play with our emotions bringing promise of new beginnings, exciting potential or simple pleasure from time spent working with our hands.
American fashion designer Tom Ford said ‘Time and silence are the most luxurious things today’, so in an age where connections and peace are being eroded, embroidery is recognised for its connectivity, re-establishing those links to become a worldwide language.
Working with our hands quietens the mind while the hands work repetitively to alleviate stress and reduce anxiety, bringing a sense of timelessness and peace. The muscle memory needed to create and build embroidery patterns provides that much-needed condition for our brains to simply switch off.
Embroidery offers both visual and tactile responses. English embroidery artist Alice Kettle states that ‘textiles are about sensibility; the emotional content is the textile, the sense of feeling and seeing’.
From the world’s fashion catwalks to religious and royal regalia, from historical, traditional and cultural uses to passive yet powerful protest, innovation and endless creativity, embroidery can grasp our attention with its visual appeal aimed directly at our hearts and sensibilities.
Embroidery captures memories and dreams offering many a sense of community and self-worth.
Whether we work with wild colours and exciting textures or within traditional boundaries and techniques, the reward of stitching, by hand or machine, gives back tenfold.
Each stitch is a step into the unknown.
We develop, refine, utilise our instincts and follow our unique visions.
Stitch by stitch.
Poetry of the Lakes- Dianne Firth
18 October – 1 December
Balconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen ACT
Gallery Hours: Tuesday- Sunday10am -4pm. Closed public holidays.
Anniversaries provide the opportunity for reflection and celebration and Lake Burley Griffin and nearby Lake George have anniversaries in 2024 .
Lake Burley Griffin acknowledges Walter Burley Griffin as the designer of the national capital and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Robert Menzies 60 years ago on 17 October 1964. Lake George, known as Weereewa by the local indigenous people, was renamed by the colonial governor after the British King, George IV. Land grants to colonial settlers started around 200 years ago in 1824.
Lake Burley Griffin is a controlled human construct, Lake George is a natural endorheic, or sink-lake whose water level responds to the seasons. Both lakes are significant water bodies in the Canberra region and both provide rich stories of their people and place.
Firth invited poets associated with the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research at the University of Canberra to write about these lakes. Some chose one place, some chose both. Firth then used these poems as both inspiration and brief to create the textile works for this exhibition.
A Sense of Place
26 October- 6 December
Warwick Art Gallery, 49 Albion Street, Warwick QLD
Gallery Hours: Monday- Friday: 10am -4pm. Saturday 10am- 1pm. Closed Sundays.
Textile Artists Rebecca Staunton Coffey and Alison George explore the theme of Sense of Place in this exhbition of art quilts.
The Outback, The Coast and In Between
25 October – 25 November 2024
Waltzing Matilda Centre, Outback Regional Gallery, 50 Elderslie St, Winton, QLD
Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday : 9am – 5pm. Weekends / Public Holidays : 9am – 3pm. Entry ticket required.
Presenting a rare opportunity to see a historically and artistically significant group of works. Included in the exhibition is the National Gallery’s most requested work of art: The Rajah quilt 1841.
