mariona cañadas & pedro murúa

Mariona (Barcelona, 1991) and Pedro (Santiago de Chile, 1991) met while studying Textile Art at the Massana School in Barcelona, and since then they have been working together as a collective in the field of contemporary visual arts. Pedro also studied Sculptural Techniques at the Massana and Mariona has a degree in Art History from the University of Barcelona.

As a collective, their artistic practice focuses on the construction of fabrics as a way to explore dialogues with environments and elements that make and make us a place to inhabit.

Thinking from the construction of the fabric and all the process it needs to conform; from the mutual cure with other species that are part of a fabric; the fact of thinking with the hand and activating other senses to relate; as well as interacting with other times as resistance to a system that drags us to a hyper speed and that loses sight of the affectations to our sensory media.

They are interested in addressing these relationships with different textile formats and installations that refer to the processes of weaving. Through this poetics, to be able to sensitize with landscapes that are in constant tension, the same tension that helps the threads on the loom to create a structure. In this way, they seek alternatives to blur the boundaries of the dichotomies established to approach, from a holistic vision, the ecosystem of which they are part.

In recent years, most of the projects they have developed are framed or have their starting point in artistic residencies. Highlights include the residency in collaboration with the Hørvævmuseet Linen and Textile Museum (on the Danish Island of Fyn, 2019); the V edition of the Ondo Bizi residency, promoted by the Mutur Beltz cultural association (Euskadi, 2021); the IV edition of In-ruins (Calabria, 2023); and the V edition of Una Boccata d’Arte (Friuli Venezia-Giulia, 2024).

They have participated in festivals such as Hilari(um), festival of Land Art and ephemeral installations (Cardedeu, 2022); the biennial Nous Pallers, in the village of La Guardia Pilosa (Lleida, 2022); l'Embarrat (Tàrrega, 2023); and the Saó festival, promoted by the Art and Nature Center of Farrera (Pallars Sobirà, 2024).

Their work has also been shown in solo and group exhibitions, such as the project Mieses (2022), exhibited at the Textile Museum and Documentation Center of Terrassa, and produced with the support of Casa Aymat and the city council of Sant Cugat del Vallès; the Biennial Art Exhibition of the Tarragona Provincial Council (MAMT, 2023), and the exhibition Tejidos y no Tejidos, curated by the Espacio Intermedio gallery (Madrid 2023), among others.

In parallel, they have also participated in projects such as Espai C, at the Miralletes School (2019-20) and Creadores en Residència, working with a group of 4th ESO of the El Molí School Institute, with the guidance of A Bao a Qu (2023-24); as well as they have been part of the convoy that has given life to the pilot test of the cultural project La Viral. Radical School of Arts and Sciences, working on the problem of water scarcity and management in Pallars Sobirà, Priorat and the Llobregat river basin (2024).

From 2022 to 2024, they have enjoyed an artistic residency at Casa Aymat in Sant Cugat del Vallès, where they have also participated in the mediation service, dynamizing different visits and proposals to the exhibition spaces of the municipal art centers, as well as in public schools in the city.