The Embroiderers’ Guild
is of great interest to our fellow guilds around the world, and during any given
year we expect to receive visits from these friends to the Guild at Hampton Court
Palace. Our visitors are often particularly interested in the Guild's Collection
and Library, and staff working with these resources in particular have the opportunity
to meet our guests, and talk with them about the work of the Guild here in the
UK.
Whilst June Carter, the Guild's Development Manager was on holiday in Australia
during October 2002, she was invited to give a talk and show the Guild's video
Future Plans and Developments to the members of the Bendigo Branch of the Embroiderers'
Guild in the state of Victoria. There are 2000 members throughout Victoria, including
eleven Country Branches. The home of The Embroiderers’ Guild, Victoria, is
in Malvern (a suburb of Melbourne) where a permanent collection of historical
and contemporary embroideries, handmade lace, and embroidery tools are housed
in the Malvern Guild Rooms. There are over 2000 individual pieces in the collection
from all over the world. Well worth a visit if you are in the region or you can
view specific items on their website www.embroiderersguildvic.org
Bendigo Branch is a large and enthusiastic group of all ages who meet together
regularly and have close interaction with other nearby Branches - though of course,
nowhere is "near" in Australia! They are renowned for the high quality
of their work and well known for the number of ecclesiastical commissions they
have undertaken. They also contributed towards the Parliament House Embroidery
which hangs in the Gallery of the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra.
The entire piece, which has sections worked by all the State and Territory Embroiderers'
Guilds, measures sixteen metres in length.
A packed room of members warmly welcomed June and thanked her for taking time
out from her holiday to visit them. Following an introduction, the video was shown,
after which there was time for questions. It was a wonderful opportunity to take
the news about the Guild's future plans to the other side of the world - in person,
and for them to be so enthusiastically received by such a warm and responsive
audience was heartening.
To conclude her presentation June gave the video to the Chairman so that other
Branches in the region should have the opportunity to view it and learn about
the Embroiderers' Guild's exciting plans for the future.