MURATS’ CHRONICLES: A Nest at the Biennale
Nido is an environmental installation made by Daniela e Francesca Manca for INVENTARIO 20, Sardegna Fibre Art Biennial at MURATS, Samugheo Sardinian Textile Art Museum, curated by Baingio Cuccu and Anna Rita Punzo. (Read the interview)
The installation, 2.40 meters high, weighs 22 kg. It is egg-shaped, with the lower end open to accommodate people inside.
Daniela e Francesca Manca , NIDO (work in progress), INVENTARIO 20, MURATS Museo Arte Tessile Sarda di Samugheo
It is constructed around a welded iron structure, covered in black fabric shaped like a hat and a skirt, sewn directly onto the metal skeleton. 4000 small bags of 7×9 cm are sewn on its surface. These are handmade in canvas, organza and black velvet, and each one of them is different from the others. Time, the slowness of handmade processes, is the proper matter that makes up the work of art. Each gesture becomes a unique visual sign, marked by the silent practice of weaving and sewing. Repetition refers to an ancestral ritual, an almost mystical dimension, to the time of nature.
Daniela e Francesca Manca , NIDO (work in progress), INVENTARIO 20, MURATS Museo Arte Tessile Sarda di Samugheo
Manca’s sisters say that “the bags represent a message and a silent prayer for a father and a mother. Some contain Daucus Carrot flowers whose white inflorescence recalls the grace of lace embroidery and evokes a sense of care. When the carrot seeds form, the umbel closes to form a kind of nest that protects the growth, as a caring and apprehensive mother. Inside these “nests”, various species of insects find refuge. The artists position the flowers filled bags in the highest and symbolically safest part of the nest.
The nest is a metaphor for the house, where the home becomes synonymous with care.
“From the blanket hut at the foot of the bed to the treehouse, from a bed of leaves and flowers to the reeds’ precarious shelter by the sea, from the shell to the toughest carapace, from the protective skin of the cocoon to a flower’s corolla, from the den to the embrace of a father and a mother, the house has a thousand shapes. “
So, the nest/home is an idea, the thought of an undefined place, deeply linked to the identity that holds the memory of us, of our history, of our affections and bonds. And it doesn’t matter if it is always different or always the same. It can be itinerant or rooted, unique and clearly recognizable or the sum of the many places we have inhabited, crystallized in an instant or diluted in the memory of the daily flow of life.
The house/nest has the loving face of presences and absences, holds the trace of our human experience, preserves the space between interiority and intimacy, protecting it from the dangers and noise of the world. We symbolically return to where we belong, where we feel loved and protected by entering the nest. From the womb to the motherly embrace of the earth on which we first walked. Thus, the artwork becomes a destination and metaphor of a “nostos”: an inner spiritual and emotional need.
Daniela e Francesca Manca , NIDO, INVENTARIO 20, MURATS Museo Arte Tessile Sarda di Samugheo
Sisters and artistic duo, Francesca e Daniela Manca were born in Oristano. Here they studied at the Istituto Statale d’Arte Carlo Contini. They studied at the Brera Academy of Fine art and at the Polytechnic University in Milano where they developed an interest in the relationship between visual arts and design, a pivotal point in their art practice. Their works harmoniously weave art and design in a continuous dialogue, expressing their poetic view through multifaceted research.
Their works are displayed in several group exhibitions. They have curated the Brera Academy of Fine Arts space at Salone Satellite during the Milan Design Week curated by Ugo la Pietra. They worked for the Olivetti exhibition at Torino World Design Capital. Their works have been published in Abitare International Design Magazine, and since 2012 they have collaborated with the quarterly magazine Inventario.
Daniela e Francesca Manca , NIDO, INVENTARIO 20, MURATS Museo Arte Tessile Sarda di Samugheo
They designed and created products for the Entratalibera exhibition space in Milan and HUB 30 DESIGNERS TO WATCH at the former Manifattura Tabacchi in Cagliari. They took part in the Master Class organized by Giuseppefraugallery. They participate in exhibitions, artist residencies and festivals such as the PERFORMING LAB e Contemporary – Festival Arte d’Avanguardia, curated by Maurizio Coccia and in Sardegna contemporanea – Spazi Archivi Produzioni, at MAN in Nuoro. In 2018 they took part in Wormhole #4 and Officinedellumbria at the Palazzo Lucarini Center for Contemporary Art, Trevi, and at KME ARTE (Karel Music Expo) at the former Manifattura Tabacchi in Cagliari. In 2019 they exhibited at the Diocesan Museum for OÌKOS. Between 2020 and 2021, they participated in several exhibitions and festivals, including the fourth edition of the Materia Independent Design Festival. Currently, their work is on display at the Biennale of Fiber Art at MURATS. In addition, they participated in the collateral event of the Milan Salone del mobile with the joint project DcomeDesign curated by Anty Pansera, sponsored by the Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte Foundation and the Plart Foundation.
