The material histories held in clay, terra sigillata, indigo, and cotton intersect with the object histories found in the form of the ancient greek amphora and humble denim jeans to tell stories of commerce, migration, labour, and embodied practice.

The installation for Vessel, Cloth & Cloak is entitled The Weight of Waiting and comprises of a ceramic amphora, earthenware clay, terra sigillata, cobalt earthenware glaze, hand-twined denim jean rope, denim jean warp thread, wool, and cotton.

Presented by the Australian Tapestry Workshop as part of Melbourne Design Week ‘Vessel Cloth and Cloak’ features work from artists and designers Jacky Cheng, Kait James, Isabel Avendano Hazbun, Florence Jaukue Kamel, Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran and Jake Nakashima-Edwards, Seth Damm and Neon Zinn creating functional textiles as vessels of culture, stories, and identity and explores works that traditionally carry, protect, contain and cover – and reinterprets them in a contemporary design context.
 
This event is part of Melbourne Design Week 2023, an initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the NGV.

All images by Marie-Luise Skibbe Photographer.