From 1 to 28 November 2021, a giant knitted work by the “Collectif au Carré” has been exhibited at the museum of the old cloth factory. It is an XXL knitted copy of an emblematic painting from the collection of the Museums of the City of Luxembourg, “La Petite Histoire” by the Luxembourg painter Corneille Lentz (1879-1937).

On 1 October 2020, the non-profit organisation Mamie et Moi launched a new intergenerational project in Luxembourg, called “Collectif au Carré”. The idea was to make a giant copy of a painting, with the aim of “doing it together”, despite the health crisis.

From thousands of squares knitted by individuals, initiated or beginners, from their homes, this reproduction was assembled in the manner of a puzzle, from January 2021, during participative workshops open to all. The final size of the work is 1.50 by 2 metres and required 1,218 squares of 5 by 5 cm.

More than 600 people of 17 different nationalities participated and handed in a total of 30,000 squares. Apart from Luxembourg, squares were sent from France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Turkey, Tunisia, Russia and Brazil. The squares that were not included in the reproduction will be used in the workshops organised around the exhibition.

This exhibition is an opportunity to learn more about an adventure that lasted 8 months, the challenges taken up by the Collective during the pandemic and especially the link between generations and cultures that it generated.

The “Collectif au Carré” project has received the support of the Ministry of Family, Integration and the Greater Region. Project partners: The 2 Museums of the City of Luxembourg, the French association Citémômes (project “Tricote un sourire”). For more information about the project: www.collectifaucarre.lu, www.mamieetmoi.com

Photo: Aurélie Grolleron
Painting: Corneille Lentz (1879 – 1937), La petite histoire, 1921, huile sur toile, © Collection les 2 Musées de la Ville de Luxembourg