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Wednesday 10am - 3pm Thursday 10am - 3pm Friday 10am - 3pm Saturday 10am - 3pm Sunday 10am - 2pm

Design Tasmania

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Launceston, TAS
Design Tasmania

Design Tasmania - Gallery, Museum Collection + Retail Store

Design Tasmania is a not-for-profit design centre dedicated since 1976 to furthering design in Tasmania through our exhibitions, collection and store. Our programs, activities and advocacy are designed to embrace diversity, encourage inclusivity and champion professionalism, bringing design to as many as possible.

29/05/2026

SAVE THE DATE!
Sat 27 June 10am-2pm at Design Tasmania

Hosted by Design Tasmania and led by Tasmanian ceramic artist Kate Bowman, Rock, Waste & Place is a 3.5-hour glaze workshop exploring how the materials, geology and waste streams of Tasmania can become part of a ceramic practice.

Working with local rock, hospitality waste and found materials, participants will investigate how place can shape a glaze palette. Through a combination of theory, discussion and hands-on material exploration, the workshop looks at how materials gathered from landscape, kitchens, construction sites and dining rooms can be transformed into ceramic surfaces.

The workshop is a direct glimpse into our Circular Hospitality project in partnership with Regional Arts Australia grounded in three live Tasmanian residency projects developed with The Agrarian Kitchen, Dier Makr and Schole. Each project began with a place, a waste stream and a question about what already existed on site: oyster shell from restaurant service, wine bottle glass, fryer oil, firebrick, abalone shell and demolition waste, all reworked into glazes, lighting and ceramic surfaces.

More info and ticket sales next Wednesday, with limited places available.
Beginner friendly and suited to ceramic artists, designers, makers and anyone interested in local materials, sustainability and the relationship between ceramics and place.

23/05/2026

Submissions to Australia's new National Cultural Policy close at midnight, 24 May 2026. Visit nationofmakers.com.au to read the ACDC network's submission, use our drafting tool to generate your own, or find guidance on making a submission.

Your voice matters.

22/05/2026

As artificial intelligence reshapes the creative world, the authentic and the handmade become more valuable, not less. This is a moment of opportunity for investment into Australian designers and craftspeople. Make a submission to Australia's new National Cultural Policy before 24 May 2026 at nationofmakers.com.au.

20/05/2026

The Australian Government is developing a new National Cultural Policy. We're calling for proper recognition and investment in Australia's craft and design sector, skilled designers and makers working across this country who deserve a policy framework that matches their contribution. Make a submission before 24 May.

19/05/2026

The Australian Government is developing a new National Cultural Policy, and submissions from the public close on 24 May 2026.

Design Tasmania is one of nine members of the Australian Craft and Design Centres (ACDC) network, organisations across the country supporting professional design and craft practice.

Together, we have lodged a joint submission calling for three things:

1. A 10-year workforce plan that invests in skills and career pathways for designers and makers
2. Dedicated craft and design capacity within Creative Australia, with its own mandate to advocate for and develop the design and craft sector
3. An export and tourism strategy that gets Australian designers and makers in front of global audiences.

Visit nationofmakers.com.au to make your own submission before 24 May.

14/05/2026

Our current exhibition, ‘MAKERS: the process’, brings Ivett Dodd’s book MAKERS: Lutruwita / Tasmania to life. Step into the tactile world of ‘MAKERS: the process,’ an exhibition that honors the silent conversation between the maker and their material. Curated by Ivett Dodd, this collection moves beyond the final form to celebrate the dreaming, the doing, and the beautiful evolution of craft in Lutruwita / Tasmania.

Scott Van Tuil’s uses of diverse material experiments are on display showing the many-step processes behind each of his design models.

“Beauty is not in the physical object or space, but rather it is the experience of that object or space. I’m really interested in that. Which is why things like the experiential quality of materials is interesting to me. If you choose marble, the experience will be different to that of stainless steel, or timber, or leather.”

Have a look at Jane Bamford’s collaborative process with CSIRO scientist to create habitat for endangered species.

“My creative rationale is that artists can collaborate with scientists, using their knowledge of a material to create work with the scientific research embedded in it. This also brings the artists’ work and the scientific research to a different and larger audience. Through collaboration, I want to create an alternative career pathway for artists and creative practitioners in this time of climate change and biodiversity loss”

Open until the 31st of May. Wednesday–Saturday: 10am–3pm Sunday: 10am–2pm

27/04/2026

Repost by

This Wednesday evening, we are delighted to be in Launceston for the final salon hosted in a design studio.

Held in collaboration with the this session is convened by .

This will be a fabulous evening. Our conversationalists are the wonderful of Brickworks and and Michelle Boyde and .

Come along for great conversation and to farewell the design studio in style and thank .hiller74 and the Brickworks team for all the support over many years.

26/04/2026

Announcing our next Circular Design Project:
TOWARDS A TIMBER BANK FOR LAUNCESTON

Waste-focused designer and maker Isaac Williams in partnership with Launceston arborists, Arbscape is a successful recipient of an NRM Northern Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Grants, facilitated through Design Tasmania.

A single felled oak tree – approximately 8–10 cubic metres of Tasmania Oak – is the starting point for something with far greater reach.

Over the next 12 months, Isaac will investigate what happens when urban trees are treated as a design resource rather than a disposal problem. The project maps existing arboricultural waste flows, examining where timber currently gets chipped, burned or landfilled, and builds a practical case for capturing and redirecting it. The immediate outcome will be objects made directly from the recovered oak, presented at the completion of the project at Design Tasmania.

The longer-term ambition that will be researched is the potential for a community-accessible infrastructure that keeps urban timber in the local design economy where it belongs.

Follow here for updates, or email [email protected] with CIRCULAR in the headline for direct to email updates on this and other circular projects underway.

Photo: Melanie Creative
Isaac Williams with his work for Tasmania Makes 25

03/04/2026

Great night launching exhibition MAKERS: the process, with a rich panel convened by the wonderful talking with Ivette, project mentor, Ben Richardson and Jane Bamford last night. The book and exhibition are a thing of beauty, make sure to get in to catch it by 31 May.

02/04/2026

MAKERS: the process - artist panel tonight!

There's still time to sign up for our artist panel tonight here at Design Tasmania.
From 5.30pm - 6.30pm the panel - convened by Dr Helen Norrie (UTAS) - will see the author Ivett Dodd in conversation with project mentor and architectural photographer Martin Mischkulnig (Sydney), and Tasmanian ceramicists Ben Richardson and Jane Bamford.

To find out more and register:
https://designtas.info/ivett-dodd-makers

MAKERS: the process runs 2 April – 31 May.

Image of Propeller Lamp by Duncan Meerding taken by Ivett Dodd.

Address

Corner Of Tamar And Brisbane Streets
Launceston, TAS
7250

Opening Hours

Wednesday	10am - 3pm
Thursday	10am - 3pm
Friday	10am - 3pm
Saturday	10am - 3pm
Sunday	10am - 2pm

Telephone

0363315506

Website

http://linktr.ee/designtasmania, https://bit.ly/examinerheartwood

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