Fibre and Textiles

Building the Gallery’s Collection to represent the diversity of fibre and textile traditions in Far North Queensland supports the Gallery’s research interests in womanhood, and how fibre and textile are used to explore issues of family, cultural identity, and connection to place and country.

The Gallery established its Collection of printed textile designs in 2015 when it commissioned nine Indigenous artists, working across painting, sculpture and printmaking, to create designs for digitally printed lengths of fabric. The exhibition Out of Queensland took the artists to new audiences while extended their individual contemporary arts practices.

In 2016, the Gallery commissioned First Nations artist, Grace Lillian Lee, to create her first series of body sculptures based on traditional styles of weaving. The works were acquired for the Collection and this project initiated other major commissions and exhibition opportunities for the artist.

Linda Jackson is one of Australia’s foremost fashion and textile designers. Her hand-printed textiles were inspired by travels to countries and cultures across the world’s tropic zone, including Australia. In 2019, the Gallery acquired a collection of works from her exhibition Linda Jackson: Tropical Designs to complement its textile-design collection by Indigenous artists from far north Australia. In the same year the Gallery acquired works by Shirley Macnamara. Her spinifex grass works incorporate age-old weaving techniques with cultural signifiers such as bones and feathers, and a contemporary aesthetic.

To celebrate its 30^th anniversary, and to continue its support of fibre and textile art and artists in the region, in 2025 the Gallery has commissioned Maljah Cathy Snow to produce her first collection of textile designs for exhibition, with funds from the Double R Arts Foundation. The Gallery has also commissioned works by nine Queensland artists for the Our Stories exhibition that explores relationships between weaving, cultural identity, traditions and rituals.

In 2025, the Gallery has brought to the region an internationally renowned collection of war quilts from the Annette Gero Collection. This exhibition is a showcase of rare quilts made by military men from their army and naval uniforms over the past 300 years, including those worn during the Napoleonic and Crimean wars.