Tasmania?s first commercial woollen factory will celebrate 150 years of weaving quality textiles in an exhibition at Launceston?s Design Tasmania. Waverley Mills was founded in 1874 on the banks of Distillery Creek, and is the last remaining manufacturing facility of its kind in Australia. 
Its rich history includes weaving products for the Australian Army, Qantas, Melbourne Airport and other iconic Australian businesses, once producing 80 percent of the blanket market in the country. 
Design Tasmania?s Waverley 150+ exhibition will honour this legacy in an evolving exhibition that includes an invitation for the public to share their memories of the mill with stories, photographs and vintage blankets and apparel. These contributions, along with treasures acquired from around the country, will establish a Waverley Mills Design Archive, which will be gathered throughout the duration of the exhibition.  Throughout the exhibition duration, Waverley 150+ will also introduce Tasmanian artists and designers into the weaving process for the first time as an intrinsic part of Waverley Mills? future. Featured artists include: 

Tricky Walsh, who will bring their experimental approach to a non-traditional, machine-woven fashion fabric. They have previously been commissioned to create works for galleries and museums in the United States, Italy, France and China, and exhibited extensively throughout Tasmania, Australia and overseas. 
Sharon O?Donnell, a textile artist who weaves th...