Many Hands: The First 40 Years of the Australian Tapestry Workshop
Australian History Local History Art History Cultural Studies Crafts & Hobbies Textile Arts
Many Hands: The First 40 Years of the Australian Tapestry Workshop is the definitive, lavishly-illustrated hardback that charts four decades of one of the world’s last great hand-weaving studios. Published in 2016 by HarperCollins Australia, this oversized 28 × 25 cm volume weighs in at nearly a kilo of premium art paper, each page alive with full-colour images of wall-sized tapestries commissioned by leading Australian and international artists. From the original 1976 “tapestry renaissance” in South Melbourne to today’s collaborations with the likes of John Olsen, Ginger Riley and Kara Walker, the book shows—step-by-step—how raw wool becomes museum-quality textile art. Collectors, art students and lovers of Australian design will value the detailed process shots, close-ups of hand-dyed yarns and the technical diagrams that reveal the ancient low-warp technique still used on the Workshop’s 17th-century-style looms.
Beyond the visual feast, the text weaves together oral histories, exhibition archives and behind-the-scenes anecdotes to explain how a small civic craft guild became a globally respected cultural institution. Readers discover how the Workshop revived a European medieval craft for a distinctly Australian context, training generations of weavers and sending finished tapestries to the Sydney Opera House, Parliament House, Canberra, and private collections worldwide. The narrative balances scholarly art history with accessible storytelling, making it ideal for both young-adult students exploring craft-based careers and adult enthusiasts of Australian cultural history. Local-history buffs will especially appreciate the chapter on landmark public commissions that document key moments—Bicentenary, Federation, Olympic Games—through textile art.
This very-good-condition first-edition hardcover retains its original dust jacket and shows no ex-library markings, inscriptions or smoke odour, ensuring it displays beautifully on a coffee table or in a reference library. Because the Workshop’s own archive edition is long out of print and rarely surfaces in the secondary market, acquiring a clean copy now secures both a visual record of Australia’s contemporary-art scene and a tangible piece of living craft heritage. Keywords: Australian Tapestry Workshop book, contemporary textile art Australia, John Olsen tapestry, South Melbourne craft history, hand-woven wall hangings, art school reference, collectable Australian art book.
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