Designed by Yiling Shen and Yuchen Gao, woven by Saffron Gordon, Fata Morgana (detail), 2023. Wool and cotton, 110 x 75cm. Photo: Marie-Luise Skibbe. Courtesy: the artists and the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne.

Since 2015, the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects (TDPA) has fostered exciting new creative dialogues between architects and tapestry weavers. In 2023, architects were challenged to design a tapestry for architect Kerstin Thompson’s Bundanon Art Museum.

Showcasing the resulting ten finalists’ designs, sections of these were woven as large format studies by weavers from the Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW). Leonie Bessant, Chris Cochius, Amy Cornall, Saffron Gordon, Tim Gresham, Pamela Joyce, David Pearce, Emma Sulzer and Caroline Tully all responded individually to a section of each design that inspired or intrigued them. Propositions provide a glimpse into the potential for these designs’ to be realised as large-scale tapestries.

These designs and the resulting woven studies are a snapshot into contemporary thinking on tapestry’s ability to enhance architectural spaces; they celebrate the artistry and technical skills of ATW weavers and the creative and innovative possibilities available to architects, artists, and designers.