A Waulking Set:
Mediations on the fabric of life

Tara Baoth Mooney, Mice Hell and Emily Waszak with Niamh Moriarty

Waulking is an expression given to the traditional working of woollen fabric, done communally while singing a traditional Gaelic refrain and verse. An almost obsolete practice, there is an intense intimacy involved, with the sharing of voices and handling of textiles together. Pushed, pulled and sung around a group to be brought to life, waulking melodies are rhythmic to the work undertaken, demonstrating both the nature of skilled labour and knowledge of the land.

The artistic practices of Tara Baoth Mooney, Mice Hell and Emily Waszak continue this impetus, and consider the medium of textiles as a channel for communicating comradery, care, and the precariousness of human life. Collectively, they oppose today’s dominant culture of disconnection, exploitation and overconsumption, and propose a return to sharing meditative processes of making, and making-do.

Image: Benbo Banner, 2024, by ^ collective (Tara Baoth Mooney, Shane Finan, James Kelly, Laura McMorrow, and communities surrounding Manorhamilton, County Leitrim)