‘Misguided and foolish’ Knitting Map has stood the test of time

An artwork and community project 'The Knitting Map' made a space for older working-class Irish women to make meaning, writes Jools Gilson, Professor of Creative Practice at UCC

Artist Jools Gilson on 'The Knitting Map', a textile installation which combined hand-knitting with motion-sensing technologies, involving more than 2,000 people. Picture: Denis Scannell

It happens to me every time. The first time in Lancaster Pennsylvania in 2007, then at the Glucksman in Cork in 2015 and after a long gap again in Pennsylvania in 2021, Wisconsin in 2023, West Virginia in 2024 and a few weeks ago in Horgan’s Quay. 

When I first see it, it again overwhelms me. Often, I just stand there taking it in, and often I am close to tears. This afternoon I saw the same thing happen to Susan Sands, one of the managers of The Knitting Map from 2005, visiting for the first time.