Textiles in Canberra

Some people know that I spend a bit of time at the Australian War Memorial, where there are numerous examples of textiles and embroidery, such as:

This tapestry, entitled Avenue of Remembrance, was commissioned by the AWM from the Australian Tapestry Workshop, and completed in 2015.

It is based on an oil painting by Imants Tillers, and took master weavers over 2,380 hours to complete. The poetic landscape is reminiscent of wartime roads on the Western Front, and the many Avenues of Remembrance planted around Australia after the end of the First World War.

If you would like to find out more about the making of this beautiful work of art, click here, where you can see the full scale and detail of the work.

Have you heard of The Digger’s Dress?  It was made by three double amputees while they were in hospital in London during the First World War, and presented to Mrs Minnie Rattigan, one of the founders of the “ANZAC Buffet”, which provided free meals and entertainment to Australian servicemen.

The tabard features hand embroidery, and the skirt has appliqued unit colour patches. More detail can be found here.

That’s just a very small taste, so here’s a challenge – visit the Australian War Memorial, and look for some of my favourites:  patriotic crocheted milk jug cover; Rising Sun flag hand embroidered by veteran in hospital; woollen army blanket covered with embroidery by WW2 prisoner of war;  and much, much more on display.  Warning: might entail more than one visit!

And not bragging or anything, but our own Guild has participated in a number of Projects of National Significance

Enjoy!

Gail

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