What a Ripper! 60 everyday objects that shaped Australia
Booking
DATE: Saturday 30 August – 3PM
VENUE: National Library of Australia – Theatrette
Parkes Place, Canberra, ACT
To celebrate his latest book What a Ripper! 60 everyday objects that shaped Australia, Tim Ross is being joined on stage by one of the designers featured in the book, Mary Featherston.
After a short presentation on his favourite iconic designs in the book, Mary (an icon herself) will join him on the stage to talk about her life in design, her creative partnership with her late husband Grant and her passionate design work in the education space.
This is a rare opportunity to hear from one of our most celebrated designers.
Mary Featherston AM was born in the UK and arrived in Australia in 1953. She trained in Interior Design at RMIT. In 1965 she formed a life and professional partnership with Grant Featherston – a partnership that lasted until his death in 1995. Over a period of thirty years the partnership completed projects across many fields of design including furniture, exhibitions and graphics. Whilst sharing a strongly held approach to design each partner had a particular focus: furniture projects were principally designed by Grant and Mary led the design for learning projects. Major projects included the fit-out of the National Gallery of Victoria (1966-68), the Talking Chair for Australia’s Pavillion at Expo ’67 in Montreal and furniture ranges for Aristoc Industries, Uniroyal/Bridgestone.
Mary has collaborated with several activist groups to develop new services for families and children: Community Child Care and Community Schools in the 1970s and the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange in 1995. In 1982 Mary successfully campaigned for the establishment of Australia’s first Children’s Museum in the Museum of Victoria and was subsequently commissioned to develop and design several interactive exhibitions.
Since Grant’s death, Mary has specialised in the development and design of learning environments in children’s centres, primary and secondary schools. The focus of her theory and practice is the relationship between young people, contemporary learning theory and design of supportive physical environments. Together with leading educators, architects, school communities and policy makers, Mary has developed highly participatory design processes and innovative physical environments. Her work has been widely awarded and published internationally.
In 1996 Grant and Mary were inaugural inductees into the Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame, and they are represented in the collections of several State Galleries and the National Gallery of Australia. Mary is an Adjunct Professor at RMIT, a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, a Board Ambassador with the Robin Boyd Foundation. In 2020 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the arts, particularly to interior and industrial design.
