This exhibition comprises a survey of textiles from the majority of nations that make up the Commonwealth.
Consisting of key historical and contemporary works, the collection demonstrates how various traditional and visual languages have transformed over time. It also provides an opportunity for the differences and similarities between the constituent nations of the Commonwealth to be explored while examining a range of issues.
The exhibition will tell two grand stories common across these diverse cultures while celebrating the courses of human histories and experiences. Firstly, the ceremonially significant textiles in display of power – the Power Cloths – worn by key figures in the nations of the Commonwealth, ranging from a state gown belonging to Queen Victoria to the Melbourne Lord Mayor John So’s Aboriginal possum cloak.
The second story concerns garments and textiles used in the Rites of Passage – from birth, circumcision, marriage to death and all that comes in between. RMIT Storey Hall facade will be transformed by cloths woven from gold and silver thread.
The exhibition is part of Festival Melbourne 2006, the cultural festival of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Festival Melbourne 2006 celebrates the breadth of culture and art from across the nations of the Commonwealth. The Festival is proudly funded and supported by the Victorian and Australian Governments.
Exhibition13 May – 25 Jun 2005
The Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial is recognised nationally as Australia’s pre-eminent textile related exhibition. The 16th Biennial focuses on time and temporality….
Exhibition9 Feb – 21 Mar 2012
Specific textile skills covered in this exhibition range from resist printed textiles to hand embroidered cross-stitch, from metal wire knitted on a…
Exhibition23 Mar – 23 Apr 2006
This exhibition comprises a survey of textiles from the majority of nations that make up the Commonwealth. Consisting of key historical and…
