A gift from the Vice-Chancellor, Ian Chubb, on behalf of The Australian National University to University House for the Jubilee Year.

Three tapestries were commissioned to celebrate Nobel Prizes associated with the Australian National University. These were;

1. Peter C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel for discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence.
2. Howard Walter Florey for discoveries concerning isolation and therapeutic application of penicillin
3. 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.

As the designer of the tapestries I was interested in showing the importance and relevance of the Nobel Prize work to ongoing research, highlighting a commitment to science, innovation and technology at the Australian National University. In all three designs I used key black and white images to celebrate the original Nobel Prize research and contrasted the black and white images with contemporary, new technology, colour enhanced digital images to evoke present and future research.

The research began by reading about the Nobel Laureates, their achievements, vision, philosophies and meaning of their work in relation to their fields and our lives now. I sought expert guidance and Dr. Madeline Nicol from the Neuroscience Division of JCSMR arranged a meeting with Professor Gordon Ada from the Immunology and Cell Biology Division of JCSMR and Professor David Curtis and Karen Edwards of the Multimedia Information and Communication Unit also at JCSMR.

I was given the best fast track lesson on Killer T cells, penicillin and neurological processes. Cathy Gillespie from Electron Microscopy at JCSMR provided detailed images of cells and a very clear photograph of a natural killer cell destroying a target tumor cell. From the Neuroscience Division Dr Bruce Walmsley and his Phd students supplied the computer captured image of the spinal interneuron injected with the fluorescent "Lucifer Yellow" dye and colour enhanced in reds using confocal microscope filters.

The material gathered was experimented with visually to arrive at the finished designs.

In the Peter C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel tapestry design the black and white image selected is an electron micrograph from Peter Doherty's Nobel lecture showing lymphocyte invasion into tissue sites of virus growth. Detailed images of cells and a very clear photograph of a natural killer cell destroying a target tumour cell were used for the background.

A cartoon (full scale photographic enlargement/drawing) was produced to hang behind the warp. The weaving begins at the base of the loom and progresses in an organic way, shapes woven over each other. The three designs have been translated into tapestries during 2005. The process is unfashionably time consuming, as every mark, change of colour and shape made has to be woven by hand. French artist Jean Lurcat described tapestry as

Well, it's a fabric, no more nor less than a fabric. But it is a coarse, vigorous, organic fabric; supple certainly, but of a less yielding suppleness than silk or linen. It is heavy... heavy with matter and heavy with meaning. But it is more, it is heavy with intentions. It is this which secures its magnificence.

In this way the choice of medium seems most fitting to celebrate the time consuming and dedicated work of the Nobel Laureates.

Valerie Kirk
October, 2005

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