Craft Australia attended the unveiling of the second Jubilee Tapestry, a gift from the Vice-Chancellor, Ian Chubb, on behalf of The Australian National University to University House for the Jubilee Year. The second tapestry was in honour of the Nobel Prize winners Peter Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel for discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence.

Valerie Kirk, Head of Textiles, School of Art, Australian National University was commissioned to undertake the making of the three tapestries. Her introduction talk at the unveiling of the second tapestry follows.

Good evening and thank you for asking me to speak here again at the unveiling of the second Jubilee Tapestry.

I feel honoured to speak in Peter Doherty's presence. It has been a great privilege working on the design and weaving of a tapestry to celebrate Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel's work.

The project began last year when I discussed the brief with John Richards. Three tapestries celebrating Nobel Prizes associated with the ANU were commissioned, but this seeemed to be a controversial subject. How many? And which prizes can ANU claim? After discussion the decision was made.

The three tapestries will focus on Peter C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel for discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence, Howard Walter Florey for discoveries concerning isolation and therapeutic application of penicillin and Sir John Carew Eccles for discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane.

There are, however, three spaces remaining in the foyer, opposite the tapestries hanging now, so room to highlight further ANU achievements!

My research for the tapestry designs took me out of my normal school of ANU environment - to explore laboratories, offices, libraries and museum of our science and medicine facilities. It was a fascinating and unpredictable journey. I began with no idea at all about killer T-cells, what they looked like, or how I would make an image that would justice to the prize - winning discovery.

I understand the process of doing research, experimenting with images, thinking critically and making decisions to arrive at the finished design for a tapestry.

Interestingly, I read recently about Peter Doherty's thoughts on the qualities necessary to be successful in science. He said, "You have got to be persistent and totally absorbed in what you do. You need to have an open mind, and be prepared to drop one line of inquiry and follow another if it looks interesting."

This advice can be equally applied to art. You can never be sure of the end result till you get there. On the way you have to follow your instincts, sometimes set logical tasks to pursue, but also be prepared to abandon a line of exploration and make a creative leap, because it feels like the right thing to do.

Dr Madeline Nicol, Neuroscience Division of John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) arranged a meeting of experts to guide me. At this meeting Professor Gordon Ada gave me a simplified lesson on killer T-cells. He told me there are killer T- cells, non-infected cells and infected cells. Killer T-cells attach to infected cells and break them up. He drew a picture with biro and colour coded the cells - red, green and yellow I GOT IT! It seemed so simple.. but when I read the scientific explanation it was a great deal more complex!

I was introduced to Catherine Gillespie of Electron Microscopy JCSMR and she agreed to provide images of cells for me. When the photographs arrived, in black and white, I was disappointed that they were not like the colourful digital images displayed along the corridor walls.

Looking in books and on the web I found matter of fact diagrams and lots of pictures of mice being inoculated with virus X.

At that time I was very disheartened. The tapestry design had to work visually - as well as convey its subject matter. Diagrams looked boring, and mice with syringes were not what most people would want to look at out of laboratories. Also this tapestry had to relate to the other two tapestries. I was searching for a linking factor.

Eventually the overall concept for the three tapestries came to me. They should all celebrate the original Nobel Prize Research, show importance and relevance of Nobel Prize work to ongoing research and highlight a commitment to science, innovation and technology at ANU.

I discovered I could convey these points by contrasting original black and white images relating to the Nobel Prize Research with contemporary colour enhanced digital images, representing research and technology now in and in the future.

The direction was clear, and for this tapestry I went back to black and white micrograph and placed this on top of a colour enhanced image of cells.

At last - the weaving could begin. 600 warp threads were spaced evenly across 2.4 metre (the height of the tapestry on the loom). The image is woven on its side for technical and aesthetic reasons. The coloured weft is mainly fine wool - 12 to 16 strands of colour plied together and wound onto bobbins. Changing the mix of colours on the bobbin enables transition from one colour to another in the weaving.

The weaving took approximately 3 months which inspired me to think and write about The SLOW ART of Tapestry Weaving - drawing comparisons with the Slow Food Movement and Contemporary Art Work, like Douglas Gordon's 24 Hour Psycho - a slowed down version of Alfred Hitchcock's film.

It has been a great honour and pleasure to take the time to create this tapestry and I hope that over time many people seeing the tapestry will be prompted to celebrate the great achievement of Peter Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel.

Valerie Kirk
October, 2005

Valerie Kirk is the Head of Textiles, School of Art, Australian National University