WOMEN'S WORK EXHIBITION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 45, 16 November 1907, Page 11

WOMEN'S WORK EXHIBITION.

. ITS INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER, On going round the galleries of the Exhibition (writes our Melbourne correspondent, under dato November 7), ono cannot help

being struck by the'-thoroughly-international character of the display. There are representations of the work of the women of practically every country-in the world, and what is even better, these representations are truly representative of the countries concerned.

• Tliero is, however, one regrettable aspect of the work to which a brief roforence may 1)0 made, and that is that some of it undoubtedly represents* "sweated industry" o. the very worst kind., From Madeira and China —particularly the latter—there come all sorts of pieces of embroidery and drawn-thrond work that must have taken weeks to do, and yet are priced at only a . few shillings. Qf course, a high duty has to bo added to this price, so that Australians do not get the articles at the marked prices, but tho point is that the marked prices cannot give to the producer more than a few pence per day for her labour. The Japaneso exhibit, which might have boon one of the most artistic. with a very little trouble, is one of the most disappointing. It is small and insignificant, and not at all characteristic of the best work of tho land of flowers and romance. China, on , the other hand, is very fairly represented in' different ways by carving, embroidery and white'work of various kinds. ' '■ ■■ "' : The work from Mexico and Spain is in some ways similar, and in others remarkably dis-similar.-From Mexico como a pair of silk embroidered timbrels, quaint and beautiful enough for the daughter of Herndias to dance with. From the sunny island of Madeira comes some of the most beautiful lace work in the Exhibition—"sweated labour" again, to judge !>y th<i prices. But Spain and Portugal both sond laces as fino as cobwebs—white as the sea foam or black as tho heart of tho night; dainty trifles representing. weeks of patient industry, and yet they might easily be pushed into a-walnut shell. Somo of the fans sent from theso countries are also very beautiful—so beautifully ombroidered, indeed, that ono needs to look closely to sec that they arc yiiot painted. This seems to bo ono great aim with the needlewoman: to make her work look liko painting. Why ? Surely this proves that painting must be tho proper medium for tho representation of theso particular ideas: In many cases it undoubtedly is. ltight under the dome of the Exhibition, for example, there is a magnificently worked ami very handsome three-panel screen, which has beeii awarded the first prize. The design is a most elaborate poacock, with a still more elaborate tail. It is exquisite work, and the feathers really do "look as though they were painted." Hut why were they not painted ? Why put in millions and millions of stitches ono by one, pationtly matching the colours, to effect what the paint-brush would accomplish with ono titlio of the labour? Near this screen is another. It is made of strong and durable" loather, coloured a bronzc-olivo-green, and toiled into it is a design of red pomegranates. The leather is fastened to a strong dark wood stand with large round-headed nails. That is' utility; that is art; that is a proper use of materials to attain a given end; that, in one word, is appropriateness. From India conies a very good and representative collection of work—lace, embroidery, elaborate tapestries, rugs, tablecloths, gay with the quaint and gaudy colour-schemes of the Orient; belts and'fans and robes by

the score, dear to the heart of frivolous fomininity. And :i curiously printed little notice informs the visitor that "the silver and gold used for all embroidery work is real, and will not tarnish, and that orders will be thankfully received." '

From Burma comes the oddest bespangled and bejewelled embroidery that one could conceive, somotimos worked' on loather and decorated with queer shaped pieces of gold and silver—also "real." And still and more the worder grows how these little brown womon can blend their extraordinarily vivid shades of blue and greon and orange and red into one huimonious whole. But they do it. ■There is a quaint and almost" uncanny resemblance in some of the designs and colourscnenies of the Hungarian work with that of tie Oriental. Is this mere coyping, or does the influence of the Groat Mongolian Invasion still linger in this turbulent little country right in the heart of Europe? There is a largo Torontal carpet, Oriental in design and colouring, woven by the Hungarian peasant woninn. . How did they come to do it? And there are leather motor capes (so-called), embroidered in Eastern style and lined with fur. surely these should most appropriately be made by tho inhabitants of lower Siberia. And yet running through all the lighter kinds or Hungarian work there is the design of the tuhp-the■ national flower of the land; nothing Oriental about that, surely! Belgium has also a very good displav of work, ana here subdued tones prevail--na)e blues anc fawns and primrose, neutral tones worked with colours that shade gently into rather than contrast violently with them; smooth rivers of colour-melody, and not roaring cataracts of rainbow-combina-tions. South Africa also sends a quiet and subdued oxhibit from the colour point of view, the' quaint and solid work of the Boer farmers wives one would imagine for the most part, for there is a decided Dutch flavour about some of tho designs. Sweden's exhibit, again, is startling, ■ but Orientally, so;. In its midst there is a piece of ha-id-made tapestry; you can't look at anything else till you have examined that, iiltho-igh you know quite well that if is crude and biibanc. It is an illustration of the journey of the Gods to Valhalla. The tone is a v;vid opalescent bluc-grce:i, with a brilliant rainbow arching across the centre; the sea below,- with the Viking ships, tho green " t,lO r!,inbow, an<l > surmounting all. Valhalla.' Another weird piece of work is a linen wall hanging, supposed to represent the chnos of fire and water before the Creation. Perhaps it does.. Sweden also sends a fine cillection of. carved N wooden drinking cups. One looks at these and wonders: Is this Ai stralia and the 20th century, or aro wo all back again to the days of the Sagas? But v.ith so many things in this wonderful exhibition one has only to look and live, not here and now, but far away in other climes and even'in other ages. - ■■■■■■