Historical information

Belinda Ramson first learned cloth weaving in 1965-66 in Canberra, Australia, studying with Solvig Baas Becking. In 1967 Ramson studied as a special student for a year in the Tapestry Department, Edinburgh College of Art, and returned to Edinburgh in 1973 to work as a weaver at the Dovecot Tapestry Studio. Established in 1912, Dovecot is a world-renowned tapestry studio and a landmark centre for contemporary art, craft and design.

Ramson went on to be a key figure in the development of tapestry in Australia, teaching trainee weavers at the newly established Victorian Tapestry Workshop (now Australian Tapestry Workshop, or ATW)

In her obituary for the ATW newsletter, Kay Lawrence wrote: “Through her work as artist, teacher and consultant to the ATW, Belinda Ramson played a crucial role in shaping the vibrant and distinctive woven tapestry movement that emerged so surprisingly and with such authority in Australia in the 1970s. Her influence is threaded through the development of contemporary tapestry in Australia: an art form now renowned internationally for its transformative and expressive use of an ancient medium. Belinda Ramson’s legacy is the vibrant and creative tapestry field in Australia, with its attention to technical excellence, relationship with contemporary art and strength of visual qualities.”