The Diocese of Wangaratta and Bishop, the Right Rev. John Parkes sought assistance from Mr Rupert Hammond (a member of Canberra-Goulburn diocese) to propose a project where textile artists in the ACT community could undertake and then present to the Wangaratta Diocese on the anniversary of the fire-storm that swept through the communities in February 2009.
The project was for ACTTAA to create a Bishop’s Cope and Mitre made out of any fabric that has survived the bushfire and fabric from fire-fighters uniforms and any other uniformed personnel involved in fighting the fires or assisting the communities.
The making of a Cope and Mitre is governed by the ecclesiastic text on vestments and cloths in the Anglican Church, ACTTAA was lucky enough to have some member’s experienced in making these items previously.
ACTTAA was given two bags filled with uniforms from fire fighters, SES and others, a floral shirt from the relative of a lady who died and a single knitted top from a lady who we were told, survived. There was a letter explaining the sad demise of the shirt and wearer and we were given permission to use the shirt in part of the cope design. As well as badges from the organisations involved with the catastrophic event (SES, Ambulance, Red Cross etc...), there were also three teaspoons that had survived the fire.
Consultation with the Conservators at the War Memorial advised ACTTAA what to do to ensure the integrity of the fabrics, which needed to be neutralised, stabilised and where necessary treated before being cut and sewn. The garments were un-picked, neutralised in soapsuds and gently dried. The shirt that was charred had to be kept as is and sandwiched with a special conservation fabric called silk “crepeline” and base material.
The cope design concentrates on the renewal and rebuilding after the bushfire horror, and portrays the hope and community spirit present. Images portraying the fire and the aftermath were combined with pictures of regrowth and rebuilding with burnt wood in the background. It was decided to use digital images around the base and middle of the cope, and use the fabrics from the clothes in parts of the images and the uniform cloth to form pieces. The “red cross” was planned to go on the back hood with the coat of arms of the Wangaratta Diocese and other pieces incorporated in the mitre. The badges were to be placed down the front sashes and the spoons on the front crosspiece.
Watercolour sketches were done and used as digital artwork, these were inspired by various media sources relating to the Bushfire events. The watercolour sketches were sent to a printing firm in Sydney who printed the images onto silk organza with fibre reactive dyes and ACTTAA members applied hand and machine embroidery over the images to enhance the designs.
The National Museum of Australia is very interested in the project and a document has been produced to give to the National Museum of Australia for its records.
The finished cope and mitre was presented to the Right Reverend John Parkes during the memorial service on Sunday 7th February 2010 held at Alexandra, Victoria. |
