In 2024, the artist residencies explored the theme “TOUCHING CONTEXTS” through the relationship between touch and the conditions of places, as well as the histories of people and communities. The resulting artworks were showcased as part of the Contextile 2024 – Contemporary Textile Art Biennial.
Artists Claire Amiot (France), Laura Besançon (Malta), and Flávia Vieira (Portugal) worked in situ in the territory of Guimarães for over a month. Their projects reflected on the plural meanings of “being in contact with” by engaging in collaborative work with various communities in Guimarães, using textiles as a reference.
Direct and profound engagement with contexts permeates many facets of existence, closely linked to tradition, territory, and community. Here, touch transcends sensory perception to encompass power, politics, ecosystems, and the full spectrum of our senses. Within these dimensions lies the subtlety of human history, intertwined with cultural and social relationships, traditions, and intrinsic heritage woven over time and passed through generations. This touch also carries the potential for innovation arising from these intersections.
Touch is more than physical contact; it is a link connecting the present to the past, enabling the future, shaping and defining cultures. In human interactions, it takes on great emotional resonance, becoming a universal language that bridges divides, fosters understanding, and creates deep connections. Touch, therefore, holds the power to build.
The works from these residencies, where the creative process was central, reflect a wealth of experiences, values, and identities. They sit at the intersection where stories are woven together by the intertwined threads of joint construction, forming narratives that transcend time.
“STITCHING MEMORIES IN A BURNING TIME”
Claire Amiot
Claire Amiot’s installation “Stitching Memories in a Burning Time” examines the relationships between textiles, colours, and their surrounding contexts – geographical, historical, and social.
Using textiles as a medium for memory, Amiot allows personal and intimate experiences to have their voice while also conveying collective and universal stories. Linen sheets donated by local communities were transformed into a new form, infused with time and physical presence. These sheets became an archive and a home-like cabin, housing the life story of Nicolau, a member of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia community. His narrative spans his childhood, war, family, and memories of regional fires experienced during the artist’s stay.
The smoke, burning smells, and stories of the communities blend into these fabrics, dyed with eucalyptus leaves, stained and marked forever. These are accompanied by sounds of crackling fires, faint voices, and the soft scent of mentholated ash, all serving as a poignant reminder of the present.
According to Claire, “Inside this cabin, a world seems to be burning. Everything leads us to believe it is doomed to extinction; however, a persistent light offers a glimpse of hope for an imperishable existence.”
“WHITENESS”
Flávia Vieira
The project developed by Flávia Vieira, titled “Whiteness”, examines the intricate relationship between the history of plants and textile production in northern Portugal, highlighting how these histories reflect overlapping cultural, geographical, and historical layers. This region, celebrated for its strong textile traditions, has been profoundly shaped by the convergence of local agricultural practices and global trade dynamics, including those with former colonies that supplied raw materials.
Vieira explores how plants in textile production embody both symbolic and material interactions, creating narratives that go beyond historical and technical traditions. Her research bridges past and future, imagining alternative realities where plants take on central roles, imbued with new values and meanings.
The installation includes linen fabric crafted by a local artisan, along with metal and ceramic elements. It symbolizes the slow, deliberate process of weaving linen, contrasting it with the rapid, industrialized production of cotton. While different in pace and scale, both processes rely on lye, an essential element for bleaching fibers. Lye, made from wood ash, also carries ritualistic significance, symbolizing cleansing and the removal of imperfections.
In the industrial and colonial context of regions like the Ave Valley, where production depended on raw materials from former African colonies, bleaching becomes a metaphor for the exploitative dynamics of domination and inequality that defined colonial histories. Vieira’s work interrogates these legacies, reflecting on how they shaped the textile industry and broader societal structures.
“SACRED VESSELS”
Laura Besançon
Laura Besançon’s work, “Sacred Vessels”, is presented in two parts: “Reliquaries – Textiles for All” and “Andarilho/Natividade Teixeira”. The project began with an exploration of the intimate relationship between fabrics and memory, encouraging communities to share personal textile objects that were transformed into vessels of memories and stories. These vessels act as connection points, exploring both individual and collective experiences.
The first part, “Community Textiles”, highlights the participation of local communities, particularly members of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Guimarães. Personal textile objects were collected, imbued with deeply personal stories, and displayed in the form of an altar. This arrangement underscores the symbolic value of textiles as carriers of memory. The exhibition is complemented by a sound piece recorded during community gatherings and visual documentation, emphasizing the dialogue between memory, textiles, and touch.
The second part, “Walking Frame/Natividade Teixeira”, was inspired by Besançon’s meeting with Natividade Teixeira, a member of the Santa Casa community, who shared an embroidery she had made at the age of 12 and still keeps with her. This interaction inspired a sculptural-textile installation based on a walking frame. The frame, covered with photographs of Natividade and her cherished objects, transforms into a mobile work of art. An enlarged photograph of her embroidery, positioned as a shield, becomes a symbol of resilience and creativity. Through both visual and tactile elements, the walking frame transcends its practical use to become an evocative piece connecting personal histories to shared narratives.
Curatorial text by Cláudia Melo