This project will facilitate in-depth research into the history of the Killybegs Carpet Factory. The research aims to highlight the cultural significance of the carpet factory within an art historical context and reinstate its artistic and cultural value amongst local communities.

At its peak, the Donegal Carpets industry employed up to 500 weavers, the majority of whom were women, in several factories around Donegal. Today, only one factory remains open and semi-active. This factory is located in Killybegs, where there are few remaining carpet weavers with the knowledge of traditional hand tufted knots in the community.

‘We, the Makers’ combines research, oral history, visual art, creative writing and other creative platforms together to create a lasting online resource which ultimately will inform the local community and encourage further collaboration and research.

The project will invite contemporary artists, writers and local historians to explore and respond to the history of the Killybegs Carpet Factory, and to the experiences of the surviving weavers, both as workers and as makers. The project will result in a website which compiles and shares the research and artistic responses to the Killybegs factory, and will launch locally in September 2020.
 

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.