Showing 171 items
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Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages
Book, Laura Brearley et al, Gulpa ngawal : Indigenous deep listening, 2010
... education art music Indigenous research Sista Girl Productions ...Introduction: In the Ngungikurungkurr language of the Daly River in the Northern Territory, the word for "Deep Listening" is 'Dadirri' (Ungunmurr, 2009) and in the Yorta Yorta language of the Murray River in Victoria, it is 'Gulpa Ngawal'. The closest we can get to describing it in English is deep and respectful listening which builds community. Deep listening draws on many senses beyond what is simply heard. It can take place in silence. Deep listening can be applied as a way of being together, as a research methodology and as a way of making a difference.colour illustrations, colour photographsyorta yorta, taungurung, gunnai, gippsland, gunditjmara, richard frankland, deep listening, woolum bellum, education, art, music, indigenous research, sista girl productions -
Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages
Book, Sarina Singh, Aboriginal Australia & the Torres Strait Islands : guide to Indigenous Australia, 2001
Comprehensive text with maps, coloured photos etc., dealing with all of Indigenous Australia. Provides historical references. Details of the Mabo finding.maps, b&w photographs, colour photographs, illustrations, word listsculture, travel guide, tourism, art, food -
Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages
Book, Museum of Victoria Education Service, Aboriginal perspectives, 1996
The kit is designed for the general public, teachers and students, to give an understanding of Australian Indigenous people and culture and to break down stereotypes that are common in the school system and the wider community. The information presented is about the cultural, spiritual, economic and religious aspects of pre-contact societies. The impact of invasion on traditional societies and the post-colonial history of Australian Indigenous people is explored.Maps, b&w illustrations, b&w photographs, colour photographsculture, history, john batman, batman treaty, coranderrk mission, koorie culture, lake condah mission, kinship systems, aboriginal art, dreaming stories, kulin, gunai/kurnai, mara, wotjobaluk, wudjubaluk, koori -
Sunshine and District Historical Society Incorporated
Sports Uniform (Netball) - TOTTENHAM NORTH PRIMARY SCHOOL, 'Ryder' Brand T-Shirt, Early to mid 1980's
This Netball uniform from circa 1986 was worn by a girl named Rebecca when she attended the Tottenham North Primary School. Tottenham North Primary School was opened on 29 May 1953 and was built on a South Road, Braybrook site purchased in 1929. After a fire in February 1961 the pupils were sent to the Powell and Curtin Street schools in Yarraville, and to the Maidstone and Sunshine East schools. The new building was officially opened on 22 August 1962 by A. McDonell, Director of Education, and it had sixteen classrooms, an art/craft room, and an assembly hall. Sporting achievements by the pupils included the 1963 football premiership and the 1968 cricket premiership. Over the years it has been called Tottenham Primary, Tottenham Crossing Primary, and Maidstone Primary. The different names resulted because of mergers with other local primary schools as the number of primary aged children in the Braybrook and Tottenham area changed. The school on South Road is now named Dinjerra Primary School. Dinjerra supposedly means 'out west' in the dialect of the original indigenous people of the area. Dinjerra Primary School is now the only neighbourhood government primary school in Braybrook Tottenham. The above information was sourced and compiled from: 1. 'Vision and Realisation - A Centenary History of State Education in Victoria - Volume 3', Education Department of Victoria 1973. 2. The Dinjerra Principal's website article at: http://www.dinjerra.vic.edu.au/91/Message-from-the-Principal.The netball uniform serves as a historic reminder that a school named Tottenham North Primary School once existed. The uniform also provides us with information of the colours used on these types of sports uniforms, and of the design of the School Logo.Two items of Netball Uniform. (a) Skirt - Maroon coloured wrap around sports skirt. (b) T-shirt - Yellow, Size 14 'Ryder' brand children's T-shirt, with maroon coloured triangular shaped School Logo printed on the front.TNPS. TOTTENHAM NORTH P.S. 4703 - (Printed inside triangle)sports uniform, netball skirt, netball t-shirt, tottenham north primary school, south road braybrook, tottenham primary school, maidstone primary school, tottenham crossing school, dinjerra primary school, tottenham north state school, state school 4703 -
Warrnambool Art Gallery
Pooneed-ke (child carrier), c. 1890-1920
This mat was donated to the Museum by the Rev. Andrew Rule Osborn. Reverend Osborn donated several artefacts including Aboriginal artefacts, Zulu and Pacific Islander objects. The Reverend came over from Tasmania to serve here in Warrnambool. His wife Annie was a fantastic author and wrote children's literature which was serialised in the newspapers. She was a supporter of women's suffrage and also the first woman editor of The Age.A flat circular mat made from native Australian grasses. Indigenous Australians would use this as a baby-carrier on the back. One band would be placed around the lower back and mat and two higher up. The child would be placed between the back and the mat. It was also sometimes used as a sun shade or something to sit on. It is a spiral form with grasses woven around to bind it together.aboriginal, indigenous, child carrier, mat, native grasses, reverend andrew rule osborn, annie osborn, women, mothers -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Sculpture: Pamela IRVING (b.1960), Pamela Irving, Green Wedge Larry, 2012
Pamela Irving (born 1960) is a prominent Australian visual artist specialising in bronze, ceramic and mosaic sculptures as well as printmaking and copper etchings. Irving's early art was influenced by artists including Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Noel Connihan, Mirka Mora, Sidney Nolan and John Perceval. In recent years, Irving has been influenced ″by the honest and direct expressiveness of ‘outsider art’ (the art of self-taught or ‘naive artists’) and the craft of ‘memoryware’″ Significantly, this interest grew following Irving's visit to Nek Chand's Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India.Green Wedge Larry - dog sculpture reminiscent of the iconic Larry LaTrobe located at Melbourne City Square. The dog is constructed from Italian Bisazza glass tiles, using a Mapei adhesive system. The theme for his 'coat' is the flora from the local surrounds of Nillumbik, drawing from the 'Live Local Plant Local' Nillumbik plant directory.green wedge, larry, dog, sculpture, mosaic, indigenous flora, irving -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Sculpture: Angela NAGEL, Angela Nagel, How to Explain Genetics to a Thylacine, 2009
Entry into the 2009 Nillumbik Prize. Angela holds a Masters of Fine Art and has worked with clay for over 20 years. Her work is held in collections around Australia.Angela Nagel's creative practice is informed by an interest in the human condition, universal symbols, mythology and Jung's theory on the 'collective unconscious'. Her hybrid part human/animal creatures reference introduced species and indigenous Australian animals as a way for her to explore a personal mythology, and narrative, of home and environment. Recent work is developing around the relationship of ceramics to other materials such as glass, printmaking and found objects. Angela holds a Masters of Fine Art and has worked with clay for over 20 years. Her work is held in collections around Australia.Human and animal like figure in the stance reminiscent of classical sculpture. Hand built ceramics with engobes, oxides, glaze and gold leaf Medium: Porcelain, oxide, underglazeangela nagel, nillumbik shire council collection, victoria, nillumbik prize, ceramic -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Clay: Leanne Mooney, Leanne Mooney, Tiles from the Boomerang Studio, 2002
'Tiles from the Boomerang Studio' is a prototype of the work 'Year 2052', created while Mooney was an Artist in Resident at Laughing Waters in the Boomerang studio in 2002. Records of flora were collected in and around the Gordon Ford garden in Laughing Waters Road. The work 'Year 2052' is made up of '77' tiles and was acquired by Geelong (Regional) Art Gallery in 2003. Whilst working at the Boomerang studio, local based artist Mooney noticed that “a battle raged in the bush between non-indigenous plants and indigenous plants”. She also noticed how humans “invade” land, changing the surrounding environment and causing irreversible damage. This work is an interpretation of the fragility and value of Nillumbik’s indigenous flora and of its conflict with introduced species. The title of the work (Year 2052) and look of these ‘fossilised specimens’ asks viewers to cast themselves into the future and to look back at today. “These tiles have been found; an incomplete record of flora collected in and around the Gordon Ford garden in Laughing Waters Road. The tiles appear to have been made at the beginning of the millennium. The viewer is asked to contemplate which species are missing”. Mooney works with collected indigenous items to emphasis the beauty of their natural shapes, while at the same time introducing selected materials of contrast or sympathy. Her work creates a great sense of “stillness and peace, of simplicity and connection with the natural world as well at the vanishing Australian bush.”This work is made up of seven handbuilt earthenware oval/round clay 'tiles' - (eight pieces - with one tile intentionally broken), brown in colour and bisque and blackware fired, giving a matt black ash coating on each of the tiles' surface. Each tile has an imprint of a floral specimen indigenous to the Laughing Waters area in Eltham. Each tile has an imprint of the following specimens: tiles, earthenware, flora, indigenous, bisque, boomerang, ford, laughing waters -
Nillumbik Shire Council
Public Art: Helen BODYCOMB (b.1964, South Australia) and Enver CAMDAL (Lives and works Turkey), Enver Camdal et al, Nest (Location: Roundabout, Main and Luck Street, Eltham), 1997
Commissioned by Nillumbik Shire Council - 1997 The selection panel in the commissioning process to this 'extraordinary acquisition' was Rhonda Noble, Director of La Trobe University Museum of Art, Jeph Neale, Eltham Roundabout Advisory Group, Chris Marks, NSC Curator of Collections, Geoff Glynn, NSC Manager of Infrastructure Development.'Nest' highlights the indigenous flora and fauna of the Shire. The stiff, coarse grass used to create the nest is indigenous to the area and the eggs are like those of the spotted quail thrush, a ground-nesting bird of the Shire. The circular flow or placement of the eggs recalls the revolution of the seasons and nesting cycles. There is a tall light pole above the eggs, shining down at night. The effect is of a giant incubator. Enrichment and nurturing of the larger environment can be associated with this sculpture. This work resembles a large bird's nest, with three egg-like forms of fibreglass covered in a pebble render, set on sand. The nest is positioned within the paved boundary of the roundabout. The nest shape has been created out of stiff, coarse indigenous grass, periodically trimmed so the view is not obstructed. The eggs are a brown-speckled, creamy yellow colour. The three eggs are arranged in a ring, with the narrow end of each pointing to the large end of the next, in a circle that mimics the flow of traffic. N/Apublic art, nest, eggs, eltham, ekphrasis2017, mosaic, pebbles, roundabout, spotted quail thrush -
Yarrawonga and Mulwala Pioneer Museum
Indigenous Collection— 3 aboriginal Tapping Sticks, Not known
Indigenous culture3 Wooden Tapping Sticks with a high gloss varnish. Appears to be commercially made.Sticker “An original work of art” Painted black white ochre . Dots and stripes on one end. -
Koorie Heritage Trust
Booklet, Albert, Trish, Stories through art, 2009
11 Indigenous artists discuss their work and motivation.32 P; plates; photographs; ill.11 Indigenous artists discuss their work and motivation.artists, aboriginal australian -- 21st century. | art, aboriginal australian -- 21st century. | australian -
Koorie Heritage Trust
Book, Department of Pacific and Southeast Asian History, Australian National University, Aboriginal History - Volume 08. 1-2 1984, 1984
This volume of 'Australian History' is devoted to studies of the south-eastern corner of the Australian continent. The papers arose from a series of meetings convened with Professer R. W. Dixon in 1981. They involved scholars from the disciplines listed, all concerned with the south-east. A series of articles by leading writers on Aboriginal History.237 P.; ill,; figs.; tables; notes; reviews; 24 cm.This volume of 'Australian History' is devoted to studies of the south-eastern corner of the Australian continent. The papers arose from a series of meetings convened with Professer R. W. Dixon in 1981. They involved scholars from the disciplines listed, all concerned with the south-east. A series of articles by leading writers on Aboriginal History.aboriginal australians -- periodicals. | ethnology -- australia -- periodicals. | settlement and contacts - colonisation - 1788-1850 | race relations - violent - massacres, murders, poisonings etc. - to 1900 | sex relations | indigenous knowledge - world view | language - personal names | language - semantics | social identity | language - sociolinguistics | government policy - state and territory - new south wales | socioeconomic conditions - living conditions | language - linguistics - language classification | language - vocabulary - word lists | language - linguistics | geography - territories and boundaries | art - rock art - painting | art - production - materials / techniques | art - art motifs | -
Koorie Heritage Trust
Book, Sabbioni, Jennifer, Indigenous Australian voices : a reader, 1998
An impressive collection of the poetry, artwork, and prose of thirty-six contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and artists. . . . The world views and the expression of the contributors are compelling. . . . It is an exploration of Ôthe dreamingÕ that organizes the text, in the sense that individual and kinship relationships to the origin stories of ÔdreamtimeÕ inform both a resistance to the genocidal heritage of Australian colonization as well as a unique focus for indigenous identity.xxxi, 310 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm. An impressive collection of the poetry, artwork, and prose of thirty-six contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and artists. . . . The world views and the expression of the contributors are compelling. . . . It is an exploration of Ôthe dreamingÕ that organizes the text, in the sense that individual and kinship relationships to the origin stories of ÔdreamtimeÕ inform both a resistance to the genocidal heritage of Australian colonization as well as a unique focus for indigenous identity.australian literature -- aboriginal australian authors. | aboriginal australians -- literary collections. | aboriginal australians, in art. | -
Ballarat Heritage Services
Work on paper, Bede TANGUTALUM, Yam, 1991
Bede TANGUTALUM (1952- ) Wurrumiyanga (Nguiu), Bathurst Island Tiwi People Bede Tungutalum works across a range of media, including carved and painted wooden sculpture,printmaking and painting. Tungutalum learned carving from his father, the well-known sculptor Gabriel Tungutalum, and was taught how to cut woodblocks for printing while attending Xavier Boys School at Nguiu. He refined and developed these techniques in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His earliest prints date from the late 1960s. In 1969, with fellow Tiwi artist Giovanni Tipungwuti, Bede Tungutalum established Tiwi Design, an art centre dedicated to the production of hand-printed fabrics featuring traditional Indigenous designs.Framed lithograph depicting yams, printed in colour inks, from multiple stonesbede tangutalum, tiwi, wurrumiyanga, bathurst island, tiwi design, yam, aboriginal -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Painting - oil on linen, Ellen José, Pipi, 1998
Ellen José, Pipi 1998, oil on linen, 92 x 92 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Purchased 2022oil on linen (diptych)pipi, ellen josé, ellen jose, torres strait, indigenous, painting -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Painting - oil and acrylic on canvas, Robert Kelly, Chinaman's Creek, 2016
Bob Kelly paints landscapes of culturally significant sites along the Mornington Peninsula and depicts these locations as he imagines they originally were before colonisation. Using traditional Western painting techniques, Kelly records the underlying spirit of the Peninsula from a Wathaurong perspective. Chinaman’s Creek in Capel Sound (Rosebud West) was an important watercourse that originally ran from Wonga (Arthur’s Seat) down through Tootgarook Swamp into Port Phillip Bay. It was a great fresh water and food source and home for many Boonwurrung people. Since settlement over 170 years ago, the creek has been drained, blocked, reconstructed and damaged. Kelly depicts a lush green landscape in which the clean creek water winds through the surrounding vegetation of spinifex grasses and gum trees, the background hills are abundant with trees, untouched from man's intervention. Using painstaking detail, Kelly records each blade of grass and ripple on the surface of Chinaman’s Creek. His attention to detail serves to powerfully reimagine this important cultural site, returning it to its former pristine state, and reinvigorating its role as a key place of sustenance for the Indigenous populations of the Peninsula. Chinaman's Creek was a finalist in the 2017 Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize.oil and acrylic on canvaslandscape, creek, trees, chinaman's creek, painting, indigenous, robert kelly, bayside acquisitive art prize, bob kelly, wathaurong, rosebud, arthur's seat, tootgarook swamp, port phillip bay, boonwurrung -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Artwork, other - woven basket, Lisa Waup, Mourning basket, 2015
emu feathers, white sulphur crested cockatoo feathers, cotton, possum jaw.basket, feathers, indigenous, lisa waup, cockatoo, emu, possom, woven -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Artwork, other - woven basket, Lisa Waup, Custom, 2016
emu feathers, pine needles, job seeds, cotton.basket, woven, feathers, pine needles, indigenous, lisa waup, job seeds, handcraft -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Artwork, other - woven basket, Lisa Waup, Ties to country, 2016
emu feathers, parrot feathers and peacock feathers, seed, cottonbasket, feathers, seeds, indigenous, lisa waup, woven, emu, peacock, parrot, handcraft -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Artwork, other - woven basket, Lisa Waup, Nature, 2016
emu, parrot and peacock feathers, silk thread, cottonbasket, woven, indigenous, lisa waup, peacock, emu, feather, handcraft -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Sculpture, Lisa Waup, Chosen before birth, 2016
It is known that we choose our family before we are born, for me I get a great deal of comfort knowing this, for me it is very true. I was adopted at birth, I have always known this. My mum is my best friend, she is my confidant in times of sadness and pain. She is my guiding light in times when I have lost my way. I share everything with her as she does me. She is my hero, especially now that I have my own children, seeing the sacrifices she has made along the way and is still sacrificing so much for our wellbeing. I celebrate her daily for all she does, we celebrate together the wonderful things that we achieve on a daily basis no matter how small they appear to be. She is always there for me – how privileged I am to have her in my life. I met my birth mother once I had children of my own, I understood what a sacrifice it must have been to give me up. The first words that I muttered out of my mouth when I met her was, “I am so proud of you, and thank you”. She was quite baffled by this and then I explained. Through your unconditional sacrifice I have been given a wonderful life, the doors have been opened to me in so many ways. I have been loved unconditionally and have had the devotion of my mum and dad behind me all the way – how blessed I have been. The dual figures that I have weaved signify my mothers, my mum is holding a babe in arms a gift from the universe. My birthmother is present within this figure, her face is at the back of my mums head. She wasn’t physically there during my many years without her, yet spiritually she never left. This figure is a homage to my mothers, a recognition of respect and admiration, to hold them in great esteem, adulation and worship. Lisa Waup, 2016emu feathers, parrot feathers, ostrich feathers, tapa cloth, fibre, crow’s feet, parrot feet, parrot wings, possum fur, seeds, raffia, woodmother and child, sculpure, weaving, lisa waup, torres strait islander, gunditjmara, indigenous, handcraft, chosen before birth, adoption, emu, feather, possum, mother, child -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Print - etching, Vicki Couzens, Arweet sit down, 2010
As part of the redevelopment of the Indigenous Coastal Trails, this work was commissioned by Bayside City Council as one of four prints produced in a limited edition of ten. This etching was produced in response to stories of the Boon wurrung people as written by Carolyn Briggs, Boon wurrung elder.Vicki Couzens, Arweet sit down 2010, etching, 28 x 19.5 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Commissioned 2010. etchingetching, arweet, vicki couzens, carolyn briggs, bayside indigenous coastal trail -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Print - etching, Vicki Couzens, Paint the Country, 2010
As part of the redevelopment of the Indigenous Coastal Trails, this work was commissioned by Bayside City Council as one of four prints produced in a limited edition of ten. This etching was produced in response to stories of the Boon wurrung people as written by Carolyn Briggs, Boon wurrung elder.Vicki Couzens, Paint the Country 2010, etching, 19.5 x 28 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Commissioned 2010.etchingetching, vicki couzens, country, indigenous coastal trail, bayside, carolyn briggs -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Print - etching, Vicki Couzens, Yams and eels, 2010
As part of the redevelopment of the Indigenous Coastal Trails, this work was commissioned by Bayside City Council as one of four prints produced in a limited edition of ten. This etching was produced in response to stories of the Boon wurrung people as written by Carolyn Briggs, Boon wurrung elder.Vicki Couzens, Yams and eels 2010, etching, 28 x 19.5 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Commissioned 2010. etchingetching, yams, eels, vicki couzens, bayside indigenous coastal trail, carolyn briggs, bayside -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Print - etching, Vicki Couzens, Women's journey, 2010
As part of the redevelopment of the Indigenous Coastal Trails, this work was commissioned by Bayside City Council as one of four prints produced in a limited edition of ten. This etching was produced in response to stories of the Boon wurrung people as written by Carolyn Briggs, Boon wurrung elder.Vicki Couzens, Women's journey 2010, etching, 28 x 19.5 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Commissioned 2010.etchingetching, journey, vicki couzens, yam, eel, bayside indigenous coastal trail, carolyn briggs -
Bayside Gallery - Bayside City Council Art & Heritage Collection
Sculpture, Guy Boyd, The swimmer, 1988
bronzesculpture, swimmer, female, figure, guy boyd, public art, bayside, bayside city council, australian bicentennial project, guy martin à beckett boyd, bronze, city of sandringham, indigenous resource garden, bluff road, sandringham -
Ararat Gallery TAMA
Textile, Frances Burke, Goanna, c. early 1950s
Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs. -
Ararat Gallery TAMA
Textile, Frances Burke, Mosaic, c. 1962
Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs. -
Ararat Gallery TAMA
Textile, Frances Burke, Tiger Stripe, c. 1939
Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs. -
Ararat Gallery TAMA
Textile, Frances Burke, Crete, 1948
Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.