Flávia Vieira

The project develops from the Logwood tree (Haemotoxylin Campechianum), originally from Central America, whose dyeing properties traced a colonial history among pre-Hispanic cultures such as the Maya of southern Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula) and the Europe, in particular Spain.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the hematin dye resulting from the Logwood tree was used as the main source of black dyeing in textiles in Europe, thus becoming a product of great cultural, social and economic relevance.

Starting from the colonial commercial histories of Logwood (or palo campeche or palo de tinta) and its geographical scope, this project seeks to explore global geopolitics and the power relations established between the hegemonic colonial center and the periphery that the history of dyeing symbolically represents, establishing links with our contemporaneity.

The project proposes a critical look at the common narratives and collective memory that were generated from the history of this botanical element, as a way to understand cultural identities. It seeks to artistically reveal and work on the diaspora of the black color of the Logwood, exploring its double meaning: if, on the one hand, it represents alterity, exoticism, eccentricity, the unknown and desire, on the other hand, it represents power, authority and imperial sovereignty.

In short, it is a politically engaged project that seeks to address the notions of identity, memory, nationality, migration, appropriation and power.

BIO

Flávia Vieira (Braga - Portugal, 1983) lives and works between Oporto and São Paulo. She works with textiles and ceramics in an installation context. Her work develops from the cultural, historical and political narratives inherent to craft making, exploring notions of collective identity, representation and folklore.

She studied Fine Arts in Oporto, she took an MA in Communication and Arts at NOVA University of Lisbon, and she took an PhD in Visual Poetics and Creation Processes at Art Institute - UNICAMP in São Paulo.

Flávia has been showing his work in exhibitions such as Brasilina at KUBIKGallery (Oporto), Pandã at Auroras (São Paulo), Hopes and Fears at KUBIKGallery (Oporto), Obscura Luz at Luisa Strina Gallery (São Paulo), among others.

She has also taken part in the residency Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (São Paulo).

She is a beneficiary of the mobility residency for visual artists at the Matadero Madrid Centre for Artists in Residence in collaboration with ArtWorks, Oporto.