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Australian Tapestry Workshop

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Australian Tapestry Workshop

Established in 1976, the Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) is a centre of textile excellence. We welcome enquiries regarding tapestry commissions and sales.

Over 45 years this commitment to a collaborative approach has been skilfully developed by the ATW to the highest professional level and is maintained as a constantly evolving creative process. ATW tapestries are known for their vibrancy and technical accomplishment, as well as their innovative experimental interpretations. Today the ATW thrives on working with contemporary artists who seek to chal

lenge the ATW's weavers and dyer by providing tapestry designs in various mediums including photography, painting, watercolour and digital images.

01/06/2026

Last week, we cut off the tapestry 'Salt Creep with Fence No. 2' by Philip Hunter.

Widely regarded as one of Australia’s most significant landscape painters, Philip Hunter developed a body of large-scale, layered and visually dense paintings using a restrained palette of earth tones. It has been a privilege to translate this work into tapestry under the guidance of Vera Möller, the late Philip Hunter’s widow.

This tapestry took over 2,450 hours to weave over the past nine months by ATW's skilled team of weavers, led by Emma Sulzer, alongside Saffron Gordon, Pamela Joyce, Cheryl Thornton and Dr Caroline Tully.

ATW's two dye specialists, Tony Stefanovski and Heather Thomas, created the 81 colours used in the tapestry, including one custom colour, ‘Hunter Brown’, and 15 botanically dyed colours derived from local eucalyptus varieties.

'Salt Creep with Fence No. 2' enters the SAM Collection as the first major textile acquisition in its history, and visitors can expect to see it on display in late 2026.

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This project is generously supported by AWM Electrical. Photography by Astrid Mulder (.photography)

29/05/2026

FREE TOUR | Join us this Saturday May 30 at 11am, for a free guided tour of ATW.

Join us for special access to the workshop floor, see tapestries in progress on the loom, and go behind the scenes in our Colour Laboratory. You’ll also have the chance to explore our Artists in Residence studios and gallery spaces.

ATW is the only workshop of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and one of just a few in the world. Book to reserve your spot via the link in bio.

The images in this post were captured by a recent visitor, we love seeing ATW through your eyes. Don’t forget to tag us in your photos when you visit.

🗓️ Saturday 30 May
🕚 11am
📍 Australian Tapestry Workshop
👟 262–266 Park Street, South Melbourne

22/05/2026

POSTCODE COLOUR | observe / collect / dye / return

As part of Melbourne Design Week, visitors are invited to take part in Postcode Chroma, an interactive botanical dye project by Joanna Fowles, presented within the exhibition Floras Localis: Colour + Place.

Collect a postcard-sized swatch from the exhibition, dye it using plant materials gathered from your postcode, and return it to become part of an evolving collaborative wall of colour mapping shades from across the nation.

Floras Localis: Colour + Place
🗓 7 May - 11 July
📍 Australian Tapestry Workshop
🕚 Visit Thursday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm.

This exhibition brings together practitioners connected by a shared exploration of colour, materiality and place and includes works by Sally Evans + Heather Thomas, Joanna Fowles, Tammy Gilson (Waddawurrung), Siri Hayes, Amanda Ho, Spiraro, Georgia Stevenson and Melinda Young.

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Pictured: 1 - 3: Joanna Fowles, Postcode Colour, Community Project, 2026. Mordant printed and naturally dyed textile swatches collected from participants. 4 - 9: Installation details of Floras Localis: Colour + Place, works by Georgia Stevenson, Siri Hayes, Sally Evans + Heather Thomas, Joanna Fowles and Tammy Gilson. Photography by ATW.

Melbourne Design Week (14–24 May 2026), presented by National Gallery of Victoria and Creative Victoria

21/05/2026

We’re joining with peers across Australia’s craft and design community to support and share this collective response. Will you add your voice?

The Australian Government is developing a new National Cultural Policy. We're calling for proper recognition and investment in Australia's craft and design sector, skilled designers and makers working across this country who deserve a policy framework that matches their contribution. If you’re passionate about craft and design, whether as a maker, educator, collector or supporter, your perspective is invaluable. Join us and make a submission before 24 May.

Find out more at: www.nationofmakers.com.au

AusGov Office for the Arts Tony Burke MP

19/05/2026

Thank you to all of the incredible volunteers who help make ATW such a vibrant and welcoming place.

This National Volunteer Week, we’re celebrating everyone who generously gives their time, from our tour guides and workshop assistants to the busy bees working behind the scenes. Pictured here are three of our regular volunteers, Jo, Elizabeth and Indi, whose enthusiasm and support are deeply appreciated.

Thank you for being such an important part of our community. 💛

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Photography by ATW.

18/05/2026

WORKSHOP | Traditional Weaving with Native Grasses

Join Current Artist in Residence Emma Stenhouse for a hands-on weaving workshop inspired by the traditional coil weaving practices of Ngarrindjeri women.

Learn the fundamentals of coil weaving and create your own piece using Lomandra longifolia, harvested from Emma’s garden. Discover the process behind preparing native fibres, including harvesting, drying, and soaking techniques. No prior experience is required, and the program is recommended for ages 18 and over.

Traditional Weaving with Native Grasses
🗓️ Saturday 20 June
🕚 1 - 3 pm
🎟️ Adult $140 | ATW Friends / Concession $126
🔗 Spots are limited, book now via link in bio

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Pictured: Emma Stenhouse, Traditional Weaving with Native Grasses, Photography courtesy of the artist.

17/05/2026

Artist Tammy Kannat recently spent a week in mini-residency at ATW, exploring natural dyeing processes and deepening her connection to material and place.

“A recent residency at the Australian Tapestry Workshop brought that truth into sharp focus. Gathering eucalyptus, pinecones and wildflowers from around Lake Eildon and dyeing my own wool from the land felt like the most natural extension of everything I believe about this practice. When colour comes from the earth itself, the work carries something beyond technique. It carries place, memory and feeling.”

We’re grateful to have shared this time and process with Tammy in the studio.

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Photography by ATW

13/05/2026

WORKSHOP | Sculptural Weaving with Claudia Bloxsome

Discover a fresh approach to textile making in this hands-on workshop that pushes the boundaries of weaving. Using yarn, wire, and locally foraged fibres, you’ll learn how to create dynamic, three-dimensional sculptural forms.

Claudia Bloxsome is a contemporary fibre artist whose practice explores the transformation of woven textiles into sculptural forms, drawing on themes of time, care, and materiality. Claudia will show you how to build self-supporting, hollow, and layered structures and you’ll explore new ways of thinking about fibre, form, and structure. Open to beginners and experienced makers alike, this workshop is designed to inspire new ways of thinking and making through hands-on exploration.

Sculptural Weaving with Claudia Bloxsome
🗓️ Saturday 13 June
🕚 1 - 4 pm
🎟️ Adult $165 | ATW Friends / Concession $150
🔗 Spots are limited, book now via link in bio

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Pictured: 1. Claudia Bloxsome, ‘Mother Love’, 2026, courtesy of the artist. 2. Portrait of Claudia Bloxsome by .guy | 3. Studio Detail, courtesy of the artist.

Address

262-266 Park Street
South Melbourne, VIC
3205

Opening Hours

Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm

Website

http://www.austapestry.com.au/

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