Unwrapped: Australian Fashion and Textiles Designers is an exhibition featuring exquisite contemporary fashion and textile works by over twenty contemporary designers from across Australia including Akira Isogawa, 1delica (Andrea Geisler), Easton Pearson, Vixen [Georgia Chapman], Six, Gwendolynne, Beauty of Nature [Natalie Wood], Lorinda Grant, Breathless [Rebecca Patterson], Sara Lindsay, Sarah Crowest, Liz Williamson, Tiwi Design & Stewart Russell, Ilka White, Julie Ryder, Margaret Ainscow, Kerry Pryor, Ernabella Arts, Rosemary O'Rourke amongst others.

Showcasing the ingenuity, innovation, diversity and do-it-yourself attitude of Australia's design industry, Unwrapped features an extraordinary range of media including wild kangaroo fur, hand-printed textiles and clothing, sumptuous wool creations and collaborative artwork combining printed Aboriginal designs with hand quilting. With a focus on the investigation of identity, space, colour and the fusion of Indigenous, Asian & European influences within a uniquely Australian context, Unwrapped blurs the boundaries and challenges our preconceptions of the contribution of designers to contemporary art practice.

Unwrapped has been curated by textile designer and artist Meredith Rowe (Asialink Korea Resident 2000) in partnership with Bendigo Art Gallery and has toured to Kuala Lumpur ( National Art Gallery, February-March 2004), Bangkok ( National Gallery of Thailand, July 2004), Manila ( Metropolitan Museum of Manila, September-November 2004), Singapore ( Earl Lu Gallery, March-April 2005).

Vixen Hibiscus Dress 2001 (background), Ilke White Cut Triangle Drapes 2001 (foreground)

Meredith Rowe Gravity is the root of lightness 2001

Curatorial Rationale

Generally coming from the populous Northern Hemisphere, most visitors to Australia are astounded by the light, the huge amount of space, the diversity of the landscape and population mix, and then by the prolific output and high standard of our industries. Light, land and people: these factors have a major impact on Australia's creative output today, and certainly within art and design, these influences construct a common language.

The small size of Australia's domestic market defines its initial parameters, thereby shaping its design product. Designers have to be versatile, adopting multiple forms of media, finding market niches and often working within several markets. Small producers who succeed under these circumstances have been able to create individual businesses focusing entirely on handcrafted or unusual products, with a strong local emphasis and innovative use of materials. Larger successful producers often tap into an aspect of Australian identity, such as surf culture, a unique understanding of space and colour or a blending of tribal, Asian & European influences.

Aspects of sociology can be understood by reading textile and fashion history, as these media, in clothing and interiors, are closest to the body. Today, no one thing could be said to define the Australian style, rather it is the dichotomy of an ancient land whose people consider themselves young and free, and the resulting mixture of personal expression which characterises our work. Omnipresent nature, the multicultural character of the population and our proximity to Asia provide a mixture of influences, which speaks of our place in the world. A do-it-yourself diversity where everything is attempted, all media from the handcrafted to the digital are incorporated within the marketplace, and the sun is shining.

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