Textile
Material as memory. Textile as language. The body as the first archive.
Embodied. Where life
and loss meet.
Embodied brings together performance, voice, and textile works in an ongoing dialogue. The textile pieces, compositionally arranged throughout the space, are rooted in voices: the voices of people who shared their experiences of grief. Their stories, intertwined with my own, are condensed into material form and carried further through the integration of performance within the exhibition space.
Emerging from the resonance of these encounters, the textile works embody a process of shared reflection. The project begins with collective introspection: individual experiences of grief that intersect, overlap, and touch one another through dialogue.
These shared emotional landscapes become a generative force, shaping the project's artistic language and guiding its creative process. Emotion is embedded within the textile, the performance, and the space itself — held, expressed, and made tangible.
When my father was dying, I spent every day and night by his side. I sat beside his hospital bed while he remained in a medically induced coma. He had been living with Hepatitis C, and although the long-awaited organ transplant finally came, it arrived too late. His body was already too weak, and following the surgery, he suffered irreversible brain hemorrhages.
Although he could no longer respond, I continued to speak to him and lay beside him, held in his arms. Each day, I gently placed a new drawing on his chest. Through this quiet ritual, drawing became a way of processing my grief — a means of staying connected, of expressing what words could no longer hold.
Memory, Territory,
and Heritage.
This project emerged from the need to document and preserve territorial and affective experiences that, due to their ephemeral nature, are at risk of being excluded from collective memory. It is situated in the Department Magdalena of Colombia — specifically in the municipalities of Santa Marta, Ciénaga, Fundación, and Aracataca — where forms of knowledge, stories, and cultural practices continue to exist but are rarely represented within dominant historical and cultural narratives.
From a practice-based research perspective, the project brings together elements of visual ethnography, affect theory, and cultural memory to create a visual archive that preserves these forms of knowledge. Through a combination of participant observation, informal interviews, photographic documentation, and illustrated field journals, the project establishes a dialogue between art, territory, and memory.
Rather than positioning myself as an external observer, I adopt a stance of situated engagement, acknowledging the influence of my own experience as a European exchange student in a Latin American context. This requires a critical ethical approach to representing others, avoiding both exoticization and romanticized narratives of otherness.
The project takes shape through two main outcomes: an illustrated book and a textile installation. Together, they form part of an interactive exhibition that invites visitors on a sensory journey through the memories, emotions, and landscapes of the region Magdalena. Rather than merely preserving knowledge, the exhibition seeks to foster intercultural understanding through a sensitive and immersive approach.
Situated within the thematic framework of Memory, Territory, and Heritage, this project aims to contribute to new forms of knowledge production that integrate sensitivity, situated experience, and critical artistic practice.
- Discipline
- Textile Art
Installation
Immersive Exhibition
Sound Design - Projects
- Embodied
Un viaje sensorial - Location
- Hildesheim, Germany
Colombia - Year
- 2025 – 2026