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Let the stitches fall
They were called Les Tricoteuses, the
knitters who incited the crowd with
shouts and contributed to the feeling
of the public executions. Each time the
blade of the guillotine fell, the knitters
During the French Revolution, women sat and
knitted next to the scaffold while heads dropped.
For each head, they dropped a stitch.
46
•••
Labyrint E/11
– University of Tromsø
We often say that knitters include love in every stitch. A guillotine clothed in knitting underlines the sinister aspects of the death penalty, because the contrast between the harmless
knitting and the deadly tool is so great. Detail of the "Coup de Grace!" by Kjersti Andvig. Photo: © Bomuldsfabriken Arts Hall