At first glance, the spread looks like a feast from a rustic Italian trattoria: layers of lasagna oozing bolognese, cannoli dusted with icing sugar, and a tiramisu so airy it seems to beckon. But at Kate Jenkins' latest exhibition, 'Knitalian', every dish is a handcrafted work of fiber art. None of it is edible.
The London-based artist has spent a year knitting, crocheting, embroidering, and sewing more than a thousand replicas of Italian food and drink, now on display at the Air Contemporary gallery in Soho. The space has been transformed into a faux restaurant, complete with gingham tablecloths, rustic wall art, and a gelato fridge. If not for the absence of baking aromas, visitors could easily mistake it for a charming deli.
Jenkins, who began her career as a knitwear designer in the late 1990s, working with brands like Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs, has long explored food as a subject. Her previous exhibitions have recreated fishmongers, bakeries, and supermarkets in yarn. But 'Knitalian' is deeply personal, inspired by frequent trips to Italy with her Italian partner.
“I always feel inspired [in Italy] because there's so much culture there in terms of food,” Jenkins told Euronews Culture. “There are all these amazing different parts of Italy and they're famous for different things. So, looking at the food culture in Venice, you've got cicchetti, which is like the equivalent of the tapas. And then there's Crotone, which is famous for its red onions.”
The project celebrates Italy's regional culinary diversity, from Venetian cicchetti to Calabrian onions, and includes slices of salami, wheels of cheese, bottles of Chianti, and hundreds of individual pasta pieces. Jenkins approaches each piece with the precision of a chef, deconstructing recipes and rebuilding them in yarn.
“I was knitting the sheets of pasta, then making the Ragú, so that's crocheted, and then layering it all up, as you would when you're making your own cooked lasagna,” she explains. “It requires really looking at how things are constructed and then breaking it down and then rebuilding it, but knitted.”
Getting the colors and textures right demanded endless experimentation. “Making things like ravioli, it has to have a certain puffiness to it, and then it's got the little serrated edge and that has to be a certain stitch,” Jenkins said. “Or when I'm making an ice cream cone that's a 3D waffle structure, there's some things I use a crochet technique for and then others I'll use a knitting machine to get it to look right.”
The exhibition opens at a time when traditional crafts like knitting are enjoying a resurgence among younger generations. A survey by Mintel Group Ltd found that 86% of Gen Z now identify as “crafters” or “makers.” Jenkins attributes this to the accessibility of online learning: “The internet has opened the world up to people being able to learn online. It's amazing and I can see why there's such a massive interest because it's more accessible and it's not too taxing. You don't need massive amount of tools or money to make something.”
Jenkins has also made her exhibitions interactive, encouraging visitors to knit their own cakes at her 2022 'Cafe Kate' show in the Netherlands. At 'Knitalian', guests can visit a build-your-own-pizza station—no knitting skills required. But they'll need plenty of self-restraint not to take a bite out of the exhibits.
'Kate's Knitalian' runs at Air Contemporary in London until [end date]. For those inspired by Italy's culinary culture, the exhibition offers a unique, tactile celebration of the country's gastronomic heritage.
