Sangeeta Sandrasegar Atrium Commission

In partnership with the Australian Tapestry Workshop, view a new textile installation by artist Sangeeta Sandrasegar working with master dyer Heather Thomas. I ragazzi dei millefiori: the flow’rs of song and story explores ideas of migration and the storied history of plants and colour.

Suspended from the ceiling in the open space of the Atrium, the work comprises panels of silk organza and cotton dyed various hues, using natural plant dyes. Within the fabric, details will appear, including botanical illustrations referencing a famous tapestry, the Millefiori Tapestry of Pistoia, and archival imagery of Italian flower sellers at this site, on Princes Bridge, in the early 1900s.

The artwork explores the ways in which we relate to flowers and plants throughout history, and the embedding of cultural connection in stories of plants within narratives of migration, hybridity and identity.