In tribute of Dame Elizabeth Murdoch’s 75-year relationship with the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), the RCH Foundation commissioned The games children play, designed by Robert Ingpen AM in 2009.

There is a well established understanding of the importance between art and healing, within hospital environments. This tapestry is a playful way to provide those using the hospital’s facilities with a colourful and amusing distraction, while they may be coping with more serious health concerns. Established in 1989 the RCH Foundation works tirelessly to raise funds for a number of different projects, such as state-of-the-art medical equipment, ongoing paediatric research programs and scholarships for medical and allied health professional staff.

Having illustrated over 100 published books and worked across stamp design, sculpture design and public mural commissions, Ingpen was a fitting selection as designing artist for this specific commission. Ingpen has a long-standing relationship with the ATW, having designed the Melbourne Cricket Ground tapestry in 2004.

For The games children play, Ingpen sought inspiration from the painting titled Games Children Play by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, painted in 1590. Using the format and flat picture plane of this work as a starting point, Ingpen has re-set and re-cast this work within a twenty first century context.

This tapestry was a true collaboration between Ingpen and the weaving team. Throughout the weaving process, a number of alterations and adjustments were made to the design, brightening the palette and developing the characters to reflect the true multicultural cross-section of Australian communities. The children and families using the hospital can spend time looking and finding the different characters in the tapestry. The vibrant and energetic representations of the figures will inspire even the most sedentary viewer and add to their understanding of the possibilities of play.

One of the many challenges this tapestry represents is the shaded background, which changes from a deep to a pale gold. This is complicated by the multitude of figures that break it up making the continuity of this gradation more difficult to keep even. The weavers used a cross-hatching technique to keep these subtle changes soft. In contrast, the weavers have made the figures appear much sharper, breaking them down to strong block colours, to give them an animated and playful feel.

Robert Ingpen is represented by Melaleuca Gallery in Victoria.