Taking a major textile artwork, The Knitting Map, as a central case study, this book interrogates the social, philosophical and critical issues surrounding contemporary textile art today. It examines the multiple and often contradictory meanings within contemporary textile artworks, and the process of making them.

Created by more than 2,500 knitters from 22 different countries, who were mostly working-class women, The Knitting Map became the subject of national controversy in Ireland. Exploring the creation of this multi-modal artwork as a key moment in Irish art history, Textiles, Community and Controversy locates the work within a context of feminist arts practice, including the work of Judy Chicago, Faith Ringold and the Guerilla Girls.

Bringing together leading art critics and textile scholars, including Lucy Lippard, Jessica Hemmings and Joanne Turney, the collection explores key issues in textile practice from gender, class and nation to technology and performance.