CYCLES - IN THE TEXTILE TERRITORY OF GUIMARÃES AND VALE DO AVE
Magic Carpets

1 august - 15 september 2025

Starting its third cycle, the European project Magic Carpets presented a programme dedicated to the theme ‘CYCLES — Flows that renew themselves, a landscape in motion’, focusing on the vitality, heritage and constant transformation of the textile territory of Guimarães and Vale do Ave.

Curated by Cláudia Melo, assisted by Luísa Abreu and Ana Leandro, artists Nicole Weniger (Austria), Rio Drop (Sweden) and Ludgero Almeida (Portugal) undertook residencies in which they developed collaborative proposals with different local communities.

These projects bring contemporary artistic practice into dialogue with traditional know-how, activating memories, experiences and gestures that span generations. Through sensitive and participatory approaches, the artists proposed new interpretations, with an emphasis on sustainable practices and the appreciation of the relationships between body, territory and textile production.

*Magic Carpets is a European platform that supports emerging artists through artistic residencies, promoting collaboration between creators and local communities, with the aim of fostering socially engaged and innovative artistic practices.

FLOWS THAT RENEW THEMSELVES, A LANDSCAPE IN MOTION

The territory of Vale do Ave and Guimarães, historically marked by the textile industry, is an organism in constant transformation. Here, the concept of cycle takes on a profound meaning, intertwining tradition and innovation, past and future, production and renewal.

The textile industry in this region is inscribed in a cyclical movement, where production is not merely a linear process but a sequence of transformations that reflect social, economic, and environmental dynamics. What was once a sector of exponential growth, driven by modernization and the global market, is now reconfiguring itself in the face of contemporary urgencies: sustainability, resource circularity, and the appreciation of local craftsmanship.

TERRITORY IN FLOW: BETWEEN MEMORY AND RENEWAL

Guimarães and Vale do Ave, as a landscape-organism, have been shaped by the productive cycles of textiles, where the relationship between human labor and the environment is reflected in the very configuration of space. The factories, the rivers that provide energy, the hands that weave, dye, and sew—everything is interconnected in a dynamic system in which each social and economic change reverberates across the landscape.

TEXTILE MATERIAL AS AN EXPRESSION OF LIVING CYCLES

Textile material, like the territory itself, follows cycles: from thread to weaving, from fabric to clothing, from use to reuse. Each fiber carries with it the history of those who worked on it, those who wore it, and those who transformed it. What is produced here is not just an object but a trace of a larger process, a testimony to the hands that created it and the context in which it emerged.

From artisanal linen to the cotton industry, from fast fashion to the pursuit of sustainable fashion, Guimarães and the Vale do Ave experience cycles of production and consumption that continuously reinvent themselves. New generations, heirs to centuries-old craftsmanship, face the challenge of balancing production and preservation, efficiency and environmental responsibility.

CYCLES THAT CREATE THE FUTURE

The urgency of the present compels us to rethink the territory not just as a space for exploitation but as an ecosystem of interdependence, where the relationship between nature, industry, and society needs to be redefined. The future of textile production cycles in Vale do Ave depends on their being reconsidered through the lens of a regenerative economy, where material circularity and environmental respect are priorities.

Artists: Ludgero Almeida, Nicole Weniger, Rio Drop

Curatorship Cláudia Melo

Co-financed Creative Europe

Support Munícipio de Guimarães, Têxteis Penedo, Lameirinho e Misericórdia de Guimarães