Matera welcomes Trama doppia, the exhibition featuring works by Maria Lai and Antonio Marras

From December 8, 2019 to March 8, 2020, Matera at the National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata in Palazzo Lanfranchi will host the exhibition Trama doppia. Maria Lai, Antonio Marras, co-produced, organized and coordinated by the Regional Museum Pole of Basilicata, and the Matera-Basilicata 2019 Foundation, as part of the cultural program of the European Capital of Culture.

More than three hundred works by Maria Lai (Ulassai, 1919 - Cardedu, 2013) and Antonio Marras (Alghero, 1961) will follow one another in an exhibition itinerary strongly desired by Marras, who has always seen in Maria Lai “a traveling companion, a muse, a brilliant friend”: unpublished works by the great Sardinian artist, selected fromAntonio Marras’ personal archives and theMaria Lai Archive, which will dialogue with works and installations by Antonio Marras, but also with works created by both of them by four hands.

The exhibition aims to recount Maria Lai’s encounter with Antonio Marras, retracing the stages of an intimate dialogue based on lightness, the freedom to go beyond organized systems, and the ability to unite thoughts, places, and people.
The bond between Maria Lai and Antonio Marras dates back to when the Sardinian artist herself saw Antonio’s works and was the first person to support him. Both are able to give new life to scraps and fragments, to discarded objects; “The thing that I am most passionate about and interested in is giving voice to elements that are apparently mute and perhaps only affect me, but then working on them I try to create a language so that this inspiration becomes a real thing and translates into the ’objects’ that I show...” said Marras himself.

For this occasion, the first room of Palazzo Lanfranchi will host frayed books, embroidered pages, drawings, watercolors and a large sheet with stitched sheets, works made over the years by Maria Lai that Antonio Marras makes dialogue with his Orfanelle, luminous creatures that occupy the exhibition space and lead to the Fililailai dress, made by Antonio for Maria.

Nine large tapestries by Marras, woven in Afghanistan and embroidered in Sardinia with the application of pieces of old jackets, will occupy the entrance corridor, while the second floor will display 120 drawings depicting the inhabitants of the village of La Martella, executed on several occasions by Marras during 2019.

The next rooms will feature 88 pillowcases painted by Maria Lai, which Marras will make dialogue with one of her large black-and-white tapestries and a ceramic sculpture made in homage to Maria Lai. Also, White Nights, an installation with a Sardinian carpet in Pibiones and plush toys, a fabric heart by Maria Lai, 73 portraits with old frames and two looms made by Marras.

On the second and last floor of the building, the visitor will be greeted by 14 ceramic arms, fabric works, an old drawn door, 20 glass bells arranged on iron tables that hold notebooks of Marras’ notes, surrounded by thirty preparatory sketches by Maria Lai for the creation of the work on the large wall of Marras’ house, Tra fili e pensieri (2004).

Finally, the Sala delle Arcate will feature many works created by the two artists. Closing the exhibition will be the large installation Llencols de aigua: on a large white sheet, a four-handed work by Antonio Marras and Maria Lai, old petticoats are sewn that serve as a background for 200 Janas (the small fairies of Sardinian mythology), small dresses, suspended in front of the sheet.

Hours: Daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Image: Maria Lai and Antonio Marras, Alghero, 2003 ©daniela zedda

Matera welcomes Trama doppia, the exhibition featuring works by Maria Lai and Antonio Marras

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