The crew at the Smithton Heritage Centre have re-created a very impressive handmade textile display first assembled in 1989 as part of the Circular Head Arts Festival.

The display consists of three large hand-crafted tapestries that give some insight into life in Circular Head at the time, with two of the gorgeous creations looking out windows and showcasing parts of the town from the era as well as looking towards the nut.

The project, which was first displayed at Stanley Town Hall before being put on display in various other locations, creates a completely hand-crafted room, including dolls, clothes, rugs, ceramic biscuits and even knitted fruit.

As you can imagine, the project took many months and many more hands, with many of the craft groups in the region banding together to do their part.

“It was a huge project, it would have taken a lot of organisation,” Smithton Heritage Centre’s Elayne said.

After the project had done the rounds it found its way to the Heritage Centre, where it has been sitting ever since. Elayne was very excited to re-create the exhibit and has been well supported by volunteers at the centre.

“We thought it was good timing with the upcoming CHArts Festival,” she said.

The display will remain for four months, with a number of open days to allow locals in to view the exhibit free of charge.

Elayne and her band of volunteers are also looking for local primary school alumni who would have been in grade six in 1989.

A quilt that adorns the legs of grandma in the exhibit was stitched together using squares made by the schools, with grade six students thought to have contributed at the time.

“The students made their own squares and submitted them and then stitched them together to form the quilt. We would love to talk to some of the students who were involved.”