Gallipoli Tapestry (Study)

The tapestry, titled 'Avenue of Remembrance', was commissioned by the Memorial in conjunction with the Australian Tapestry Workshop. The Australian artist, Imants Tillers (b. 1950) was selected to provide a painting, ‘Gallipoli Tapestry (Study)’, on which the tapestry is based. The tapestry now hangs permanently at the Australian War Memorial. This painting (study) donated by Tillers represents the upper part of the tapestry.

The study and tapestry are a commemorative response to the First World War centenary which also make reference to the Gallipoli letter. The Gallipoli letter is an 8000 word document, written by Keith Murdoch to Prime Minister Andrew Fisher in 1915, and is one of the National Library of Australia’s treasures. It is widely thought to have helped bring the Gallipoli campaign to an end. Tillers' poetic landscape painting is reminiscent of the wartime roads on the Western Front and the many ‘avenues of remembrance’ planted in memorial to the First World War around Australia. Layered over the top are words from the Gallipoli letter and a selection of names of the many places where Australians fought and were buried during the First World War. Previous works by Tillers had combined image and text that reflected on mortality, loss, time, and remembrance and he decided to use a similar approach with the tapestry study. As Tiller’s stated about his design “My “Avenue of Remembrance” is, I hope, a way or means to remember not only those young Australians who died but also the profound loss and grief experienced by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers and sisters, by their friends, by their communities. By our nation.” (24 October 2014)

Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Imants Tillers in 2016