Tamworth Regional Gallery is proud to present Nature Machine: The 6th Tamworth Textile Triennial, a major national exhibition set to open in 2026, that showcases the vision and innovation of contemporary textile practice across Australia.
Director, Tamworth Regional Gallery & Museums Bridget Guthrie says The Triennial showcases the best of textile art from across the country.
“Held every three years, The Triennial attracts artist participation from all states in Australia, wide audiences and critical review.”
“The Triennial also assists by continuing the development of our textile collection, as many works are purchased for the Tamworth Regional Gallery’s permanent collection.” Ms Guthrie says.
Nature Machine is curated by Blake Griffiths, a textile artist, curator, and arts leader whose practice draws on research, critical inquiry, and community engagement to explore how ‘textile thinking’ can shape contemporary art and culture.
Mr Griffiths saysNature Machine brings together leading and emerging textile artists whose practices reflect the profound and often complex ways makers grapple with the complex relationship between hand, body and machine.
“With boldness and care, the exhibition asks: how can artists create in ways that sustain, rather than deplete, the materials and ecologies they work with?” Mr Griffiths said.
“The artists of Nature Machine experiment with growing, harvesting, recycling, and reimagining textile resources, while others turn to the virtual, embracing artificial intelligence and machine production to explore and challenge the changing role of textiles in a technological age.”
“The exhibition celebrates the diverse ways artists are responding to urgent environmental concerns, protecting traditions, revaluing craft knowledge, and proposing new ways of living with, and making from, the world around us.”
Artists endured a rigorous selection process, with a large panel selecting 18 artists from nearly 300 applicants.
The panel was made up of Director, Tamworth Regional Gallery, Bridget Guthrie, Curator Blake Griffiths, Lecturer Celica Heffer from the University of Technology, Acting Executive Officer Arts Northwest, Miranda Heckenberg and First Nations artist and Weaver Amy Hammond.
The artists chosen for this exhibition are: Abdullah M. I. Syed, Alycia Bennett, Anita Johnson, Cara Johnson, Ellen Ferrier, Jackson Farley, Jacky Cheng, Jacqueline Stojanovic, Janette Murrungun, Jennifer Robertson, Joseph E Burgess, Juanella Donovan, Juanita McLaulan, Lauren Kerjan, Lucia Dohrmann, Margaret Woodward & Justy Phillips, Rebecca Mayo and Sharon Peoples.
The Tamworth Textile Triennial has a rich history beginning with competitive art exhibitions organised by the Tamworth Arts and Craft Society in the 1970s. These early exhibitions grew into a nationally significant event that has, for over fifty years, championed fibre and textile arts in Australia. Today, the Triennial stands as the most important platform for contemporary textile practice in the country – providing a vital space for artists to explore pressing ideas, connect with audiences, and to continue to sustain, and celebrate the National Textile Collection.
Nature Machine: 6th Tamworth Textile Triennial will open at Tamworth Regional Gallery in September 2026 before touring nationally.
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