Celebration of textile art

An Ararat Gallery Textile Art Museum Australia exhibition celebrating 50 years of textile art at the gallery will continue until March 17.

Gallery leaders launched the exhibition with half-century birthday celebrations on Saturday.

Art enthusiasts from across western Victoria made the most of free bus services to be part of the celebrations.

Ballarat artist and acting gallery curator Kat Pengelly organised the event. With help from Horsham Town Hall’s Charee Smith, she also arranged free art buses from Natimuk-horsham and Ballarat to encourage regional art connections.

The gallery is celebrating 50 years of collecting ¿EUH DUW ZKLFK KDV HVWDEOLVKHG $UDUDW DV D QD tional leader in textile-art exhibitions.

Ararat Gallery TAMA was established in 1968 and has had a curatorial and collection focus on WH[WLOH DQG ¿EUH DUW VLQFH WKH HDUO\ V

Ms Pengelly said Ararat’s decision to align LWVHOI ZLWK WKH ¿EUH DUW PRYHPHQW DW WKH WLPH ZDV a result of federal and state government funding for validation of craft.

“However, it is the region’s historical assoFLDWLRQ ZLWK ¿QH PHULQR ZRRO SURGXFWLRQ WKDW XOWLPDWHO\ VHFXUHG WKH JDOOHU\¶V ¿EUH DUW VSHFLDO isation,” she said.

“The half-century milestone provides a moPHQW WR UHÀHFW RQ WKH LPSRUWDQFH RI WKH 7$0$ collection. It’s an extraordinary repository that WUDFNV WKH GHYHORSPHQW RI WH[WLOH DQG ¿EUH EDVHG practice from the early 1970s through to today – a legacy elevating the TAMA collection to one of WKH PRVW VLJQL¿FDQW RI LWV NLQG LQ $XVWUDOLD

“A wide range of acquisitions including traditional quilts, tapestries, baskets and embroideries intersect with the visual-arts practice that is increasingly challenging the demarcation of art and craft.”

Ararat Gallery TAMA is a key part of Ararat’s refurbished town hall. The gallery has new exhibition spaces to showcase its permanent collection and a dedicated textile exhibition area.