Magellan House is the original building that housed Merrepen Arts, when it was still a women's centre. Later a large elevated building to house the gallery and language office was built adjacent, but Magellan House is still in use today and has an 8.5m table for hand screen printing fabrics.
Over the years thousands of metres of fabrics have been printed onsite. More than a decade ago textile artist Bobbie Ruben came to the community to deliver her first design workshop. What emerged was a fruitful collaboration over the following years that led to the creation of a range of outstanding designs. Using techniques they'd been working on in their paintings, the artists produced complex, dynamic designs inspired by their ancient culture and local environment.
To expand production and also to manage some of the complex multi-screen designs, printing of some screens is outsourced to two Australian printing houses: Publisher Textiles (Sydney) and Print Ink Studios (Melbourne). Working with these partners has been very positive for the art centre.
Right: Marita Sambono working on a transparency for her legendary Fog Dreaming fabric design. This was created in 2012 and was featured in the iconic frock that won Melbourne Cup Fashions on the Field in 2013 (below right).
Bottom: printing of five and three screen designs at Publisher Textiles
