Five of our WA Inspired group entered and had works accepted for the juried stitched and bound 2017 exhibition: Hilary Arber, Liz Humphrey, Roberta Chantler, Meg Cowey and Pat Forster. Hilary’s quilt ‘Beach Drift’ has been featured on the promotion for the exhibition including on the cover of the catalogue, with great effect.We enjoyed a delightful day yesterday giving short floor talks about our quilts, together with other exhibitors.
Beach Drift by Hilary Arber
The quilts in our Mundaring exhibition are now down and packaged for buyers, or safely stored. The next outing for some of them is the NZ Symposium in Christchurch, NZ in October. WA Inspired will exhibit with four other groups at a very nice venue ‘The Piano’ during the symposium. This blog will go quiet now as we are having a rest till September.
Thank you to everyone who has visited WA Inspired Art Quilters’ exhibitions over the last few weeks, and for the feedback given. Balbuk’s Country has closed now but Mundaring Arts Centre Exhibition runs till June 18.
Several people have expressed interest in the Journal prepared on Balbuk’s Country so a link is provided below. It includes quilt photos for Balbuk’s Country and the history behind the quilts.
May 6 – June 18. Do come and visit. The quilts are great in the real! Catalogues are on this website under the Primary Production and Sand/Salt/Strata/Scheme tabs. Gallery hours are TUE – FRI 10AM – 5PM, SAT & SUN 11AM – 3PM. Floor talks are on: May 14, 11am; May 21, 11am; May 26, 11am; June 3, 1pm; June 10, 11am.
Our ‘Balbuk’s Country’ display in the City of Perth Library is also still on – finishes May 18. Some of us will be at the display half an hour before and after the library talks on Fanny Balbuk on May 11, and after the symposium on May 17. For details, search on Balbuk at
https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/explore/?content=ahf_event&ahfdate-search
Catalogue. Do visit, the quilts are better in the real. Display closes May 18.
Balbuk’s Country: Heirisson Island, Looking East by Elizabeth Humphreys
Last Thursday was exciting! Balbuk’s Country quilt set (15 small quilts) was installed in the glass cabinets by the library entry desk at City of Perth library. Terrific lighting makes the quilts sparkle and brings out their colours. As we left, floral arrangements in sympathy with the quilts were being installed in the foyer of Council House. Do visit if you are in the city. The exhibits will be up till May 17. They honour Fanny Balbuk, an Aboriginal women who lived at the time of white settlement in Perth.
Last Wednesday we previewed our ‘Balbuk’s Country’ quilts to a small group of City of Perth employees, Gina Pickering from the National Trust, and two of Fanny Balbuk’s ‘Whadjuk’, Noongar family group. The experience was profound.
The Whadjuk people were Glenys Lawrence (Ponton) Yarran and Dianne Wynne (daughter of Glenys). After we each described the motivation and symbolism in our quilts, Glenys responded to them. She recalled, as a child, knowing the river crossing where the Causeway now stands. She was born in the Burswood area and used to walk to the Perth city area with her family, staying only within the hours that Aboriginal people were allowed. She referred to our ‘bush tucker’ quilts and, when Liz asked her, gave us her method of cooking kangaroo meat.
Afterwards our group enjoyed morning tea, provided by the National Trust, when we sat outside the City of Perth library with Dianne, Glenys and Gina. Conversation was interesting all around. Among other things, Dianne told us about her involvement in setting up a reimagining project on Aboriginal culture, and Roberta and Glenys had a friendly chat about days past in Gosnells.
Hilary explaining her map of the Swan River to Jenna who will be installing the quilts in the City of Perth library
Jenna getting the low down from Liz on the attachment of the Velcro that Jenna requested
Roberta explaining her ‘Continuous Crossing’ quilt
Our quilt display in City of Perth Library is from April 18- May 17, in cabinets to the right of the library counter near the library entrance. We would love you to pop in while in the city. Do look above the library counter : there will be a continuous slide show of us sewing!
Our Mundaring Art Centre Exhibition runs from May 6 to June 18. One of us will be in attendance at the following times so you could have a guided tour. Floor talks at other times may be able to be arranged for groups–email
Sunday, May 14th. 11am – 12noon.
Sunday, May 21st. 11am – 12noon.
Friday May 26th, 11am – 12noon.
Saturday June 3rd, 1pm – 2pm.
Saturday June 10th, 11am – 12noon.
Our exhibition of Heirisson Island/Balbuk quilts is part of the National Trust Heritage Festival. See our listing and related events at
https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/explore/?content=ahf_event&keyword=balbuk
We have been busy preparing for exhibitions and will start regular posts again now.
City of Perth Library April 18- May 17, Balbuck’s Country quilt set (15 small quilts on early white settlement in Perth and Fanny Balbuck 1840-1907, a Noongar woman). This exhibit is part of the National Trust Heritage festival and is a very exciting venture for us.
QuiltWest, Perth Convention Centre, May 24 – 27. We have entered a selection of quilts from ‘Balbuk’s Country’ set into the small quilt category at QuiltWest.
Mundaring Arts Centre, May 6 – June 18. Triptych quilts on Primary Production are the feature of this exhibition. Their subjects are varied – wheat, sheep, canola, forestry, fish farming, vineyards and orchards. This exhibition will see the realisation of our initial aim to exhibit in an art gallery. The photo is of one of the three quilts in Roberta Chantler’s work.
