Sydney Opera House Coburn Curtains

Titled respectively The Curtain of the Sun and The Curtain of the Moon these giant 16 metre tapestries were designed by John Coburn (1925-2006) and woven at the Pinton Freres workshops outside Paris. It was Coburn’s most important commission to date, and largely established his career as well as a lifelong affair with tapestries.

The tapestries eventually fell out of favour, and were placed in storage in the late 1980s, making only occasional appearances.  Their key role in the overall Opera House aesthetic was recognised during the Sydney Opera House renewal project in the late 2010s.

ICS was commissioned initially to assess the condition and clean the tapestries.  We then worked with the Opera House to arrange their temporary installation in the Concert Hall in 2018, and in their original locations in the Joan Sutherland Opera Theatre and the Drama Theatre in 2019.  ICS is privileged to be part of the ongoing journey making these highly significant Australian artworks safe and accessible to the public