With this work, I want to reflect on the material ‘bead’. Considered to be one of the earliest forms of trade they had a significant implication in colonization, commerce, and slavery.

The bead embroidery is an organic fluid installation, which consists of different separate parts that can be combined in different ways, changing size and dynamic, each time creating a new composition that adapts to the space in which it is being shown.

The act of beading, the repetition, and the time are brought to protagonism with the performance. I bead and sing, one pearl at a time, one breath at a time. An atmosphere that balances between melancholy and hope. Reflecting on the stories of the past and imagining the ones from the future.

“¿Quien dijo que todo está perdido? Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazón” (1985) is the refrain and title of a famous song by the Argentinian musician Fito Paez, a song that sings about solidarity, a manifest against injustice, covered by many artists like Mercedez Sosa or Susana Baca, and reinterpreted by me.

As part of my solo exhibition “L’impiraresse” in the Malkasten e.V. in Düsseldorf, I reflected on the job of the women bead workers in Venice (main glass bead productor), a poorly paid, hard work, which was commonly made in groups.

For the Finissage of the exhibition, I offered all visitors an afternoon of beading together. This participative approach has continued evolving, organizing and hosting open beading gatherings, in my studio, at home, or exhibitions.

This is a work that sings, feels, threads, and attends for hope and freedom. I invite the audience to dive into a moment of pause and introspection, reflecting on the past and preparing space for change.