Costa Rican artists in biennial competition

Within world events related to textile art, biennial shows normally introduce new tendencies and techniques to this vanguard art and, thus, choosing participants is done by way of a strict qualifying jury. Although it is regrettable that many biennales have had to permanently shut their doors due to lack of funds and political apathy for artistic and cultural events, the second edition of CONTEXTILE in Guimarães, Portugal started this month with the city municipal promise to support all side activities surrounding the main international show.

Therefore, from 26 July through 11 October, Costa Rica will be one of the participating countries in CONTEXTILE 2014, with the presence of two great artists: Alessandra Sequeira and Silvia Piza-Tandlich. Sequeira is a visual artist and participates with her new passion: hand painted silk, representing a first success within fierce competition since she is one of the 50 artists who were chosen out of several hundred proposals.

Alessandra Sequeira. Caligrafía cuántica. 97X70 cm. Ink and embroidery over silk.

By contrast, Silvia Piza-Tandlich has ample biennale and exposition experience throughout the world, including the 14th Łódź Triennial of Tapestry in Poland last year.

CONTEXTILE stands out by its proposed interaction between artists, creators, industry, community, and the city of Guimarães, which intends to strengthen the economy through innovation, creativity and appreciation of the textile identities of participating territories. Within the frame of this biennale’s social character, Silvia Piza-Tandlich offers artwork that is interactive with the public: “Bastion of Wisdom” is a double-sided piece showing hand embroidered proverbs in nine languages. She explains that refrains and proverbs exist in all cultures and become popular wisdom, with homologous concepts from language to language. The piece also has metal from tee-light candles, representing the whimsical human culture of wishing, and knowing.