The Carpets

Brisbane artist Judy Watson is the talent behind the mesmerizing carpets in the Thomas Dixon Centre adorning the foyers, boardrooms and theatre. These carpets boast iconic Queensland elements from nature, each chosen not only for its beauty, but for its importance to Aboriginal culture and to this place.

“I really wanted to convey a feeling of beauty – of hearts beating, movement and air, light, water and the environment charging up through the soles of visitor’s feet as they move across the space, so they feel energised.”

– Judy Watson

The carpets truly tell a story, featuring images of baler and pipi shells, casuarina branches and bunya leaves fused with ‘listening springs’ and seeds and local bird’s feathers, interwoven with tulle and fabricated feather from the Queensland Ballet costume department.  

Watson’s Aboriginal matrilineal family is from Waanyi country in north-west Queensland and says the baler shell is an important object carried along Aboriginal trade routes, while the bunya leaf is iconic to Queensland and is symbolic of the Bunya (Bonyi Bonyi) ceremonial gatherings.