{"id":86905,"date":"2023-10-05T12:39:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T12:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emst.gr\/?p=86905"},"modified":"2023-10-12T14:34:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T14:34:25","slug":"maria-varela-rugs-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emst.gr\/en\/works-from-the-exhibitions\/symbiotics-en\/maria-varela-rugs-of-life","title":{"rendered":"Maria Varela. Rugs of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Maria Varela
\nRugs of Life<\/em>, 2020
\nInstallation, two handmade rugs (185 \u00d7 103 cm and 191 \u00d7 91 cm), black & white video, no sound, 5′ loop
\nProduced in collaboration with the Twanza Cooperative
\nCourtesy of the artist<\/p>\n

Maria Varela<\/b>\u2019s work Rugs of Life <\/i>(2020) has as a starting point the patterns woven into the traditional rugs of the Amazigh tribe of Morocco. The work attempts to reframe these elements by presenting a new typology of weaving patterns. A deconstruction of the archetypal symbols begins under the \u201cGame of Life\u201d algorithm proposed by the mathematician John Horton Conway, to subsequently evolve and transform following new generations of algorithms. Traditional symbols convert into organic entities, with each new generation encompassing the previous, just like tradition itself evolves from generation to generation; indeed, \u2018generative\u2019 algorithms and \u2018generation\u2019 share a common etymology. The new patterns are collected in a glossary distributed to the Tawnza Cooperative, a women\u2019s weaving art cooperative in Morocco\u2019s region of the Ait Hamza valley. The weavers were asked to draw on their long-term experience to intuitively create new compositions using the deconstructed patterns.<\/p>\n

The Tawnza Cooperative was founded to enable women to achieve a sustainable income and independence from the male intermediaries who trade in traditional rugs.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Biography<\/p>\n

Maria Varela lives and works in Athens and Florina, Greece. She is a visual artist and Assistant Professor at the Florina School of Fine Arts. Her work focuses on creative applications of new technologies, textile data visualisation, and collaborative production in women\u2019s communities. She is exploring different methods to transcribe the archival event from the digital environment to the physical world. Through the creation of various digital and physical artefacts, systems, and events, she delves into concepts such as identity, memory, tradition, and their construction. Group exhibitions (selected): Pl\u00e1smata II<\/i>, Onassis Stegi, Ioannina (2023); Circular Cultures<\/i>, Milano Design Week, Onassis Stegi \u2013 British Council, Milan (2023); \u0397andmade<\/i>, EM\u03a3\u03a4 \u2013 Schwarz Foundation \u2013 Art Space Pythagorion, Samos (2023); Statecraft<\/i>, EM\u03a3\u03a4, Athens (2022); The \u0395vent of a \u03a4hread<\/i>, Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki \u2013 M\u039f\u039cus, Thessaloniki (2022); 19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil, Sesc Pompeia, S\u00e3o Paulo (2015); 16th International Media Art Biennale WRO, Wroclaw (2015); No Country for Young Men<\/i>, Bozar Palais de Beaux Art, Brussels (2014); future past \u2013 past future<\/i>, transmediale, Berlin (2014); Afresh<\/i>, \u0395\u039c\u03a3\u03a4, Athens (2013); Visual Dialogues<\/i>, Onassis Stegi, Athens (2013). In 2021, she received the Selected Art Award from the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan.<\/p>\n

maria-varela.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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ALL WORKS<\/a><\/h3>\n