Published 01 December 2020
Magabala Books, Australia's first indigenous publishing house takes its name from an indigenous vine that flourishes on the pindan soil of north western Australia. Sam Cook is the publisher's first indigenous designer. She talks with Mara Mann.
Textile traditions of indigenous Australians have provided an impressive basis for their current divergent development within the framework of introduced technologies. Looks at various textile producing centres around Australia Tiwi, Ernabella, Kaltjiti, Injalak, Keringke, Ngunga Designs, Warta kutju, Kaen design, Djookan design....
Published March 1997
Exhibition review Jewellery by Brenda Ridgewell, New Collectibles Gallery, East Fremantle WA 20 November - 1 December 1996
Exhibition review Barbie Kjar Dick Bett Gallery, Salamanca Place, Hobart Tasmania 26 November - 10 December 1996
Andrew Carter is a much sought after theatre designer. He is a creator of innovative sets and has received many presitigous commissions.
In 1992 the Premier of WA initiated the Premier's Gift Commissioning Project in conjunction with the Crafts Council of WA inviting artists to design and produce protocol gifts and souvenirs within a lower price range, which though of exclusive design could be manufactured in multiples using light local industrial processes where appropriate.
A unique exhibition curated by Steve Ronayne (owner of Aptos Cruz Galleries) held at theJam Factory Gallery in 1996 'South Australia - Emerging crucible of contemporary design' showed just how many local designer-makers of contemporary craft are adopting industrial processes in their work.
Australian Textile design from an RMIT perspective surveying current and future initiatives - practice based issues of developing guidelines for copyright in an industry that is known for - in polite terms-recycling and reworking proven designs, to the more speculative concept of creating a dialogue in textiles between Australian and other countries via the internet.
Exhibition review Messy and Restless: Helene Czerny, Julie Duffield, Paul Hoban, Terri Hoskin, Derek O'Connor Contemporary Art Centre Adelaide SA 1- 24 November 1996
Perth based Australian Fine China, the only maker of porcelain in Australia and New Zealand, is currently using a number of artist-designers to move from being a stolid china manufacturer for railways and cafes to one whose products are seen in top flight restaurants in the big hotels, in classy tourist venues and now on the dining tables of the nation. They have some way to go to entice Australians to purchase the 'local product' for their homes but they are making steady progress.
Sydney's Powerhouse Museum began collecting artefacts relating to industrial design in the late 1980s. Since then a number of designers and consultancies have been represented in the collection. The author, curator of Industrial Design, Innovation and Marketing at the Powerhouse tells the story of these unsung heros and heroines of the everyday.
Book review Absolutely Mardi Gras Jointly published by Doubleday and the Powerhouse Museum 1997 RRP $29.95
What landscape architects in Australia have been doing since about 1970 is to begin to address the Australian lanscape in all its extraordinariness and vastness - as a subject for design and interpretation in the creation not only of our settlements but all those places where we may leave our mark, even if we don't inhabit them.
