THE presents the artistic installation NOIR Mud Silk by Marcella Echavarria.
The windows of THE stores in Lisbon and Porto are transformed into visual interventions conceived by artist and researcher Marcella Echavarria, establishing a dialogue between art, materiality, textile heritage and contemporary fashion.
The artistic installation draw inspiration from the world of mud silk, one of the rarest fabrics in Chinese tradition, handcrafted for more than 2,500 years through ancestral techniques deeply connected to nature and the rhythm of the seasons.
Created in the Guangdong region of China, mud silk is distinguished by its singular production process: the silk is manually treated with natural elements, including iron-rich mud from the Pearl River Delta, resulting in a reversible, organic material profoundly linked to artisanal tradition. Through the NOIR Mud Silk project, Marcella Echavarria has been reinterpreting this textile heritage through a contemporary lens, bringing together sustainability, cultural heritage and design.
The installation will open in Lisbon at THE Rua Castilho 65C on May 25, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, with a vernissage integrated into the programme of Castilho Art Week and ARCO Lisbon Art Week, remaining on public view until June 28
In Porto, the installation will open on May 28, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, at THE Avenida Brasil 446, through a vernissage accompanied by a talk with Marcella Echavarria, also remaining on public view until June 28.
“There is something deeply special in Marcella’s work in the way she intertwines time, materiality and culture through textiles. It felt natural to bring this narrative to THE and present it simultaneously in Lisbon and Porto,” says Teresa Pimentel, founder of THE.
