In their large-scale tapestry The Map (2021), Alice Maher and Rachel Fallon propose a cartography of lived experience and emotions, inspired by medieval Mappa Mundi and the seventeen-century fictional Carte de Tendre. The work attempts a reckoning with harms done to women in historical and contemporary Ireland, from Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries to discriminatory laws in employment, marriage and reproductive healthcare. Humour runs through the work despite its serious themes. The artists map a republic of personhood, reclamation, and fighting on for more rights into the optimistic, evolving present.
Maher and Fallon created The Map during lockdown, working remotely. They sent each other pieces of fabric by post, and sewed, painted, crocheted and appliquéd this other world using a variety of materials. The method evokes histories of women’s labour in Ireland, from the home to confinement in religious institutions. It also acknowledges that many acts of testimony portrayed here are ongoing: their objectives are continuous, with more work to do. At once a document of witness and resistance, The Map is a vital artistic work of feminist history made manifest.
—Sinéad Gleeson
