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knit the walls – the final exhibition
2022-11-11 10:00 to 2022-12-04 16:00
11th November 2022
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This Winter, much-loved community project ‘knit the walls’ comes to God’s House Tower for its spectacular final exhibition.
From Friday 11th November until Sunday 4th December, God’s House Tower will become a hub for creativity and community as we celebrate the lasting legacy of this popular project conceived and led by artist sarah filmer. Across four weekends, visitors will have the opportunity to connect, collaborate and create their own interpretations of the city’s history and identity through collaborative sessions, knitting activities and events.
Exhibition – knit the walls by sarah filmer
In the Main Gallery, visitors can immerse themselves in a mesmerising knitted installation which manifests the domestic and the everyday. Drawing on Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own’ and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, the exhibition brings together a collection of co-created knitted objects and keepsakes to form a fully knitted room. From books to furniture and ceramics, many of the objects featured in the exhibition hold personal histories and are a vessel of the participants stories.
In the Project Space, visitors are invited to enjoy a series of photo reels that document and share the many memories created through the project over the years seen through the eyes of the participants.
You can also enjoy a collection of short films by young filmmaker Imogen Dunlop, as part of Southampton Film Week. Back in 2018, SFW: Shorts, Southampton Film Week’s own short film competition, received a submission from its youngest ever filmmaker, 13 year old Imogen Dunlop. The film was a short documentary about the knit the walls community project, and saw Imogen win the Audience Award at the SFW: Shorts Screening and Awards Ceremony. Four years on, as knit the walls comes to an end, Imogen has created a new film exploring the project’s conclusion. You can watch both films which will be on display in the Project Space for the duration of the exhibition.
On display from Friday 11th November until Sunday 4th December and free to visit.
You can download a large print exhibition guide as a PDF – knit the walls – Large Print Exhibition Guide
In Conversation – Q&A with sarah filmer and Imogen Dunlop
Project founder and artist sarah filmer and young filmmaker Imogen Dunlop will come together at GHT for an in conversation event about the project and the films. Through informal discussion and the sharing of stories, they will reflect on how knit the walls has inspired and empowered the local community. You’re invited to join the discussion and find out more about the how the project has positively impacted on the city and it’s creative community.
Sunday 13th November 12pm – 1pm. Free event/No booking required.
Exhibition Launch Event
As we launch the spectacular finale exhibition of popular co-created project ‘knit the walls’, you’re invited to join us for an evening of sharing stories and celebrating community. At the launch event, you can hear from project founder sarah filmer and many participants who’ve taken part in ‘knit the walls’ over the years, as they discuss their memories and share their stories of the project and its lasting legacy.
At the launch, the ‘knit the walls’ group will also be taking custom orders for items created from the works produced in the knitting sessions with proceeds going towards Southampton charities Yellow Door and the Society of St James.
Friday 11th November 6pm – 8pm at GHT. You can get your free ticket for the launch event here
Free workshop – Reimagining Knitting: A Community Prospective
The Digital Scholarship Team from University of Southampton are hosting ‘Reimagining Knitting: A Community Prospective’, a free AHRC funded workshop facilitated by ‘knit the walls’ founder sarah filmer and oral historian Padmini Broomfield which will explore how interactive 3d models and 3d printer replicas of selected items from the Knitting Reference Library (KRL) hosted at the University of Southampton Library can make collections more accessible and support the creation of new narratives.
Saturday 19th November from 12pm – 4pm. The session is free and open to all knitting abilities. Find out more about the workshop and book your free place here
FLARB (Free, Lazy, Arty, Radical Book Club)
Join ZEST Arts Collective for FLARB (Free, Lazy, Arty, Radical Book Club), a free reading session in response to the knit the walls project.
Facilitated by artist sarah filmer and ZEST’s Ellen Gillett, participants will read through short extracts of essays written for the ‘knit the walls’ exhibition and have a casual, fun discussion about them sharing ideas and thoughts.
Sunday 20th November 2pm – 4pm. The session is free to attend and no booking is required.
Free workshop – GHT Creative Writing Group #5
Join the GHT Creative Writing Group for a special workshop which will explore the knit the walls exhibition and invite participants to share their own stories of Southampton.
Saturday 26th November from 1.30pm – 3.30pm. The session is free and spaces are limited. Sign-up for the Writing Group here
About knit the walls
Having first launched in 2016, ’knit the walls’ is a public art co-creation project involving many of Southampton’s residents and visitors in the co-production of a knitted, woollen version of the city’s medieval walls. Led by artist sarah filmer, the project invites participants and audiences to reconnect with stories, memories and alternative histories that are lost over time and unrecorded in books and archives, through creative practice.