A community organisation uniting women across Cape Town saw knitters and crocheters join forces for a unique Knit & Natter day, where they transformed the famous Wire Woman statue into a work of wooly art—a symbol of different women from different cultures in the Cape creating beautiful things!
Cape Town, South Africa (06 August 2024) — For two years, Woman Zone CT (a community group bringing women from all parts of Cape Town together) has run a special Everywoman project dubbed Knit & Natter.
Here, women have come together every month to knit, crochet or learn how to do either. But the drawcard isn’t just the chance to knit your heart out—it’s the way wool, hooks and needles have united a rainbow of women from all walks of life, cultures and ages over a shared love of the creative outlet; one example of Woman Zone CT’s bigger mission.
Over the years, these women have used their skills to bond and work together for the betterment of several communities; producing everything from blankets to toys for a number of charities all whilst threading together friendships and connecting over both their shared and different experiences.
Recently, the Knit & Natter team (organised by Theresa Smith, Mel Lippert and Trudy Rushin) came together to dress up a 2-metre high wire statue with their creations as part of Artscape’s Women’s Humanity Festival. More than a ‘Wire Wooly Woman’ fit for a runway, she now stands as a symbol of unity; of women in Cape Town mobilising for each other.
Uniting women has always been at the heart of Woman Zone CT, which began as a small meeting of women at The Kitchen in Woodstock in 2012. Then, as women shared their stories and discussed different ways of bringing Cape Town’s women together, it was only a small inkling of what Woman Zone CT would become.
Today, they stand on a hill that has launched a Women’s Library, established Women’s Work in Progress with other organisations, published the ‘Being’ book and have ultimately acted as a beautiful bridge for Cape Town’s women.
The Wire Woman commemorative statue (created in 2016 and designed by Lovell Friedman and Sue Kramer) was made as an honour to all women of Cape Town and as call to the lack of statues honouring women in the City. We are beyond thrilled to see that her legacy is still very much alive, wooly and wonderful.
You can keep up with Woman Zone CT here.
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