ANDANDO VIA
Omaggio a Grazia Deledda
September 11th / October 11th, 2020
From September, 11 to October, 11 2020 the Mudec Museum will host Andando Via. Omaggio a Grazia Deledda, the first collective textile-artwork of Sardinia. With Maria Lai’s original design, Grazia Deledda’s literature and the hands of weavers from 25 textile workshops, the project has created what has been recognized as “the first project by the Sardinian textile production chain”.
The project was conceived by Giuditta Sireus and supported by Regione Sardegna, 23 towns and many private partners. For the first time in Sardinian history, Andando Via involves 25 textile workshops in a collective art performance. The main purpose of this action is to safeguard the latest work of public art made by Maria Lai in 2011, in tribute to Grazia Deledda.
The monument rises not far from the “Chiesa della Solitudine” in Nuoro, where the remains of the Nobel Prize writer rest. In a wide field, the artist has placed 11 concrete pillars where she designed the silhouettes of the feminine protagonists from Grazia Deledda’s books. The simple, strong black lines tell us about the characters’ values and history.
The original drawings for the monument, granted by the Maria Lai Archive and adapted by the designer Paulina Herrera Letelier, were translated into textile models. The weavers from 25 textile workshops contributed to produce 22 tapestries that recreate each one of the 11 original pillars. Each tapestry is unique, made with the materials, the style and the traditional technique of each textile workshop.
As Maria Lai used to say, “from an artwork, another is born” involving the community in a collective performance and enhancing a millenary tradition: the project unites people, weaves threads and stories, and dignifies the textile art tradition, together with those who keep its ancient secrets.
Andando Via aims to meet the widest audience possible, to keep the last public art monument from Maria Lai alive. Its versatile format allows the opera to be moved to different locations and artistic scenarios. The tapestries are also projected to be the scenography of a theatrical piece where Grazia Deledda’s characters come to life, with dance performances and an original soundtrack.
Andando Via has built a new network to share the precious Sardinian weaving and keep it alive, by combining visual arts, literature, design and tradition.
