One of Australia’s most highly regarded photo-media artists, Anne Zahalka, is collaborating with Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) to realise her first-ever tapestry, Detail (from ‘The Dutch Painter’), 1991.

Based on a detail from Zahalka’s photographic work of the same title, the 65 x 85 cm tapestry will be handwoven by ATW weaver Tim Gresham over approximately four months, beginning in September 2026.

Gresham’s specialised practice in the historic technique of hatching informs his interpretation of Zahalka’s image, translating its tonal structures, folds and material textures into the language of tapestry.

The project brings Zahalka’s ongoing exploration of photographic reproduction and digital image-making into dialogue with tapestry, where the pixelated logic of the photograph is reconfigured through thread, colour and the physical structure of the weave.

Moving between photographic, digital and handwoven processes, the collaboration opens up new material and visual possibilities for Zahalka’s work through the medium of tapestry.

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Anne Zahalka

Anne Zahalka (1957– ) is an acclaimed Australian photo-media artist whose career spans four decades. Her work explores cultural and environmental points of tension, approaching them with humour and a critical perspective. Through deconstructing and re-presenting familiar scenes, her practice opens up alternative narratives around cultural diversity in Australian society and the ecological impact of the global climate crisis.

A significant figure in Australian contemporary art, Zahalka’s work engages with the history and culture of this country. She has held more than 40 solo exhibitions and participated in exhibitions internationally, including at the Australian Embassy in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea.

In 2023, Zahalka was awarded the prestigious Bowness Photography Prize for Kunstkammer. Her work continues to engage audiences and curators, opening conversations around culture, history and the environment. Zahalka is represented by ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne, and Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney.