Ipswich Threads celebrates Ipswich’s long history of woollen textile manufacture, and is funded by a RADF grant. The Queensland Woollen Manufacturing Company (QWCW) was the start of an industry that ran for 120 years. The old mill still stands on the banks of the Bremer River at North Ipswich, and is state heritage listed.
The project is being co-curated by Janis Hanley, PhD and Deborah Baronas. There are three stages to the Ipswich Threads project:
2023
Workshops, gathering community, and preview exhibition
2024
150th Birthday Exhibition
2025
Queensland Woollen Mill hub hosted by Picture Ipswich
This first phase of the project aims to gather together artists interested in collaborating in an exhibition in 2024 to celebrate 150 years since the QWMC formed in Ipswich. Rhode Island artist, and former textile designer, Deborah Baronas, will lead a series of workshops on her process for creating 3D textile artworks and transforming archival stories into art installations.
The outcome of this phase will be a preview exhibition of what’s to come in 2024 …
Ipswich Threads will also be creating an Online Woollen Mill hub through Picture Ipswich, that brings the archival and arts materials together.
Parallel Threads - Entangled Ends 