The final of the Jubilee Tapestries, gifted from the Vice-Chancellor, Ian Chubb, on behalf of The Australian National University to University House for the Jubilee Year was unveiled by Frank Fenner at University House in December, 2005. The third tapestry was in honour of the Nobel Prize winner Howard Walter Florey "for the discover of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases".

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

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

It has been a great pleasure working on this commission. During the process I have met many interesting people, including Frank Fenner, who located key books in the library for me. I have also discovered areas of our university that I previously did not know existed. Each tapestry has provided its own challenges and rewards. Tonight I will talk specifically about the third tapestry celebrating the Nobel Prize winning work of Howard Walter Florey. The prize was awarded in 1945 "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases".

Like most people I knew of penicillin from school science projects, looking at bread mould under the microscope. Also being brought up on a farm I was familiar with the penicillin that was used to treat cows and sheep, a pale yellow liquid in an old-fashioned glass jar, kept on the dairy shelf.

But, for this project I needed much more specific information.The finished tapestry could not depict any old bread mould.

I discovered the John Curtin School of Medical Research Museum with its fascinating photographs and accompanying texts. The images made me think of the time before penicillin when even a simple cut could lead to death through an infection. One historic picture of a ward of children in old metal beds reminded me of the sick children I have come across in the remote villages of Laos and Vietnam in recent years. Children and babies there, still today suffer the same pre-penicillin infections, and because of their lack of access to modern medicine they routinely die from bacterial infections. In Australia today we no longer see these kinds of festering, untreated wounds. We have greatly benefitted from antibiotics and now take them for granted.These thoughts formed the basis of the concept that links the three tapestries - the importance of the work in its time and its ongoing relevance , even when research has gone far beyond the first discoveries.

To represent the original research, I selected a small photograph displayed in the museum showing the action of penicillin on a petri dish. Karen Edwards from the multimedia and communication unit provided me with a copy. While experimenting with this image on the photocopier, a background pattern of small black marks appeared. This immediately struck a chord as I thought about the discussions I had had about Florey's contribution in knowing that the penicillin had to be produced in greater and greater quantity. Trays, tins and bottles were originally used to grow the penicillin, then bedpans, which were borrowed from the Radcliff Infirmary, were used as efficient containers for growing penicillin, ... but even this was not enough - milk cans were used and eventually penicillin went into full industrial production. The pattern of black marks represents this vital aspect of growing in large amounts.

I had imagined that getting a contemporary image of penicillin would be simple. This was not so. I was directed to CSIRO and Rosemary White showed me text book illustrations but said that nobody was now intereted in working with penicillin.

Eventually an ideal mature growth specimen of Penicillium sp. was sourced from the Canberra Hospital. Roger Heady at the ANU Electron Microscope unit photographed this and produced beautiful, detailed images, which I have used as reference for the coloured part of the tapestry image.

The three designs were finalised and presented here at University House in June 2004.

The weaving commenced on 18 August this year and was finished on the 20 November, so it has taken 3 months of full time work at the loom. This tapestry has been the most complex to weave, because of the small repetitive black shapes spread across the entire image. The tapestry has to read as if the coloured image is in the background and the black superimposed over it. To make this happen, technically the coloured weft had to be woven at each side of every black shape then the black weaving was stitched in place. In this way it has been like meshing two jigsaw puzzles together or weaving two tapestries at the same time.

Green was another challenge in this tapestry. You only have to look at nature to see how many variations of green there are - grey greens, yellow greens, sharp acid greens, soft woody greens. I went to the Victorian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne to select the weft yarns for the tapestry. There I held my original artwork against cops of yarn to select colours, but even with a standard range of 350 colours, the greens were not exactly as I wanted. To achieve precise colours I plied 12 - 16 strands of fine wool on each bobbin, changing the combination of colours to give subtle blends and smooth transitions from one colour or tone to another. This gives a natural organic feel through the colour mixing in the tapestry.As the weaving was reaching completion and the date for my return to work in Textiles at the School of Art approached, I thought of the famous Greek weaver, Penelope. As she had suitors lining up ... I could see a list of end of year tasks ahead of me back at work. Could I postpone my return by weaving by day and unpicking by night? The time spent absorbed in the project was so precious, unburdened by the clutter of administration and bureaucracy.

However new projects are on the horizon and I am looking forward to next year working with the students again.

This has been a great project from beginning to end. My thanks go to everyone who has been involved in the planning, research, staff replacement in textiles, hanging and presentation of the tapestries.

Valerie Kirk
December, 2005

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