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| From http://www.artisan.org.au/index.php/component/content/105?task=view |
What may have started
as a girlhood rhyme to guess at the profession of one’s future husband, is now
the fitting title for Artisan’s latest exhibition to celebrate the centenary of
International Women's day in 2011. A day in which any profession is available
to women. It is interesting to note that it was at International Women’s Day
celebrations in 2010, that the seed for this exhibition was sewn for Artisan’s
curator Kirsten Fitzpatrick, as Her Excellency Ms Penelope Wensley urged
celebrants to do something special for the centenary in 2011 (1).
And so the concept of
one hundred brooches to celebrate one hundred women was born with Fitzpatrick
commissioning jeweler and historian Dr Dorthy Erickson the daunting task of
selecting one hundred successful Australian women to pay tribute to (2). Meanwhile, Artisan set about selecting one hundred talented women jewelers to represent
them through brooch. A fitting tribute
considering the long history of the
brooch as a piece of adornment and its association with women. Several of the jewllers chosen for the show are current or past students and teachers
of Queensland College of Art, of which the college and it's community
is very proud.
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| Fiona Kwong's brooch for Ruby Payne-Scott From http://www.greatsoutheast.com.au/gsec2cqw/ story.asp?weekID=882&storyID=4140 |
The layout of the
exhibit is simple yet effective, with ten custom-made display cabinets holding
ten brooches each, placed around the gallery. On the surrounding walls are
didactics, grouped together near to their relevant cabinet with each displaying
an image of a brooch, a brief description of the woman it represents and the
rational of the jeweler behind the work. Many brooches are easily identifiable
as to the profession of the woman it represents before reading its didactic,
such as Fiona Kwong’s brooch for Astronomer Ruby Payne-Scott. But it is from
reading the didactics that it becomes clear that all the materials and themes
used by each jeweler were no accident as each brooch is carefully created from
start to finish with its intended woman in mind. For example, Caz Guiney’s brooch for rebel
Beatrice Miles is made from tram tickets in reference Beatrice’s well-known
refusal to pay for transportation in Sydney,
while Christen Van Der Laan’s brooch for Dr Fiona Melanie Wood used pearls in
reference to Dr Wood’s research examining how pearl macre could be used to
regenerate and enhance cell growth (3).
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| Installation shot of Caz Guiney & Beatrice Miles' Didactic |
It seems that every
type of profession has been included in
the exhibition, with Dr Erickson making sure to even include one of each
profession listed in the Tinker-Tailor poem displayed on the wall of the
gallery (2). Thus proving that any
profession is now possible for women on the centenary of International Women’s
day. This is further evidenced by the
fact that for the first time, Australia’s
Governor-General and Prime-Minister as well as Queensland’s Governor and Premier are all
women. It is therefore no surprise that Queensland’s Premier,
Her Excellency Ms Penelope Wensley, officially opened the exhibition on
Thursday 29th September to a packed crowd (4).
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| Installation shot of Christel Van Der Laan & Dr Fiona Wood's Didactic |
'One hundred women, one hundred brooches, one hundred stories' is an inspiring concept that will be traveling throughout Australia for the next two years, showcasing Australia's talented women and craft/design sector (5). Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor is not only a fitting tribute to the one hundred women represented, but to the one hundred talented women who honored them through their craft.
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor exhibits at Artisan gallery, 381 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley
From 29 September to 12 November 2011
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(1)
From http://www.craftaustralia.org.au/library/essay.php?id=fitzpatrick-artisan-tinker-tailor-brooches
(3) From 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor' exhibition catalogue. Published by
Artisan, 2011.
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| Installation Shot |
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| Installation Shot |
Thanks for writing about this event Jess.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you chose not to mention the 5+ QCA people who had work in the show...
Great articulation of the show though.
Cheers
Thanks for the feedback Eryn, I don't know why I didn't mention it as I was very proud of them! Have updated it now.
ReplyDeleteJess