News

RIP Avis Higgs

17/11/2016

Avis Higgs, 21 September 1918 - 14 October 2016

Avis passed away shortly after her 98th birthday. She had led a full and interesting life and has left behind a great legacy in her textile designs, paintings and drawings.

 

Te Papa: Remembering Avis Higgs: painter, designer, and ‘a truly awesome woman’

Stuff: Life Story - artist and textile pioneer Avis Higgs dies, 98

In Memory of Avis Higgs (1918 - 2016)

Architectural Centre 70th birthday

31/07/2016

Recently the Wellington Architectural Centre celebrated its 70th birthday.
At a function held at the Wellington Museum, some fun awards were presented on the night representing the 70 years
The award for interior design was named after Avis and won by Athfield Architects for the Wellington Library
Not that Avis had been an Interior designer apart from her own houses. However amoung the dress fabrics she designed, there was the occasional curtain fabric design.
Avis and her husband, Jock Beere were fairly early members of the Architectural Centre and active in the 1950s, 60s and 70s . Avis exhibited at the Centre Gallery and with Architectural Centre parties and slide evenings held at their house.

Godwits, Avis and Persephone Books

19/04/2016

Persephone Books is a delightful bookshop and publishing house based in London’s Bloomsbury district. It publishes neglected fiction and non-fiction by mid-20th century (mostly) women writers.

The books come with silver grey covers, the colour is in the endpapers. These are often wallpaper or textile designs from a similar period to the writing.

New Zealand writer, Robin Hyde’s The Godwits Fly has just been re-published by Persephone Books. The end papers are of an early textile design by Avis produced while she was working at Silk and Textile Printers (STP), Sydney

To know more about Persephone Books and their marvellous titles, click here.

You can buy Godwits direct from Persephone, or support New Zealand bookshops by ordering through Unity Books here.