Design Centre - TasmaniaA new start for Tasmanian designDespite Tasmania being home to more craft and design practitioners than elsewhere in Australia1 the Myer Report identified that Tasmanian craft and design lacked a professional organisation as existed in other states, and that there was a need for an organised approach to support the sector. Successful VACS negotiations between the Australian and Tasmanian governments delivered a secure funding base for the Design Centre - Tasmania. Director, Astrid Wootton, claims that the new recognition and certainty have shifted the Design Centre into top gear; "Now we can work actively with Tasmania's designers to challenge and inspire new creativity, develop partnerships with industry, promote Tasmanian design into new national and international markets, promote sustainable timber usage, and educate the community about Tasmania's indigenous timbers."
Brendan Sharpe - Entrance Table 2001 The Centre's new programs draw on the Tasmanian Wood Design Collection, a museum of contemporary wood design housed at the Centre. Since it originated in 1991, the Collection has played a major role in demonstrating the beauty and versatility of Tasmania's timbers and in identifying Tasmania as a centre for high quality design. It has been toured internationally (Sweden, New York, China, Germany and Korea) as a highly successful export and tourism icon. Now the Design Centre is touring the Collection for the first time in Australia with additional financial support from Visions of Australia. The tour will develop national exposure and market opportunities for the designers and educate regional communities about contemporary Tasmanian timber design. The Collection will tour to regional galleries in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia until August 2006. One designer has already gained new clients as a direct outcome of the tour.
Kevin Perkins - Bowl 1997 |
Allan and Jackie Witt - Stave Stool 2001 VACS funding has also allowed the Design Centre to structure a full program of exhibitions dedicated to craft and design for Tasmanian audiences, filling a gap that has existed for many years. The Centre has also produced its second national touring exhibition, Playing with Design which documents the design of twentieth-century wooden toys. The Design Centre is developing a new role to bring designers into productive relationships with manufacturers. These new relationships mean that, with intelligent market testing, one-off pieces and prototypes can be modified and produced for local, national and international clients. "We hope that in the future the Centre can broker and support designer-industry partnerships that demonstrate innovative Tasmanian design and high production standards," Dr Wootton said. Long range education projects are also becoming a feature of the Design Centre. School children with learning difficulties have flourished during pilot curriculum based projects. "Gallery exhibitions are used as sites of learning outside the school room. Students have discovered that they can actually be successful learners, perhaps for the first time, in projects exploring design, requiring complex intellectual skills and the acquisition of manual dexterity. Our education programs aim to nurture Tasmania's designers of the future."
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Member organisation of Craft Organisation Australia are supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments