Contextile 2026 returns to Guimarães under the theme Hanging by a Thread, presenting a programme spread across several venues in the city and marked by a stronger focus on interventions in public spaces, the presence of artist Ai Weiwei and deeper collaboration with the Portuguese textile industry.
The theme proposes a reflection on the fragility of the world in the face of environmental, social, political and economic crises, challenging artists and industrial partners to develop projects centred on sustainability, material reuse and community engagement. «The planet and the world are hanging by a thread», said Joaquim Pinheiro, director of Contextile, during the presentation of the programme, held yesterday, 25 June, at the Fraterna Leather Tanks in Guimarães. Cláudia Melo, from the biennial’s artistic direction, added that the aim is «to consider how textiles can operate as a critical language» and act «as a warning and to raise awareness of a more sustainable revolution».
Joaquim Pinheiro revealed that this edition «will be on a considerably larger scale, whether because of our guest artist [Ai Weiwei], the international exhibition, where we received a new record number of entries worldwide», or «because of the challenge we set the European Green Capital to carry out interventions across the city and in public spaces». The International Exhibition, which will occupy Vila Flor Palace, received 1,604 applications from artists in 81 countries, who submitted 2,036 works. The jury selected 54 works by 51 artists from 27 countries for the biennial’s central exhibition.
Portuguese companies collaborate with Ai Weiwei
The Chinese artist will intervene in three locations across the city, namely the José de Guimarães International Arts Centre (CIAJG), the Platform of Arts and Creativity Square (PAC) and the Fraterna Leather Tanks. «Choosing Ai Weiwei was a natural decision. I would mention his famous phrase “Everything is art, everything is political”, and it was on that premise that inviting the artist to work on the biennial’s overarching theme seemed entirely natural to us», said Cláudia Melo.
The production process for one of the works is the result of more than a year of collaboration with Portuguese textile companies. Valérius 360 produced recycled yarn from military clothing, which will be used by Lameirinho to manufacture a fabric designed by the artist himself and transformed into bed linen for an installation at CIAJG. The same venue will also host the installation “Camouflage”, reusing textiles previously used in New York during the 80th UN General Assembly in September last year. «The camouflage fabric was going to be produced in China, and I told Ai Weiwei that, precisely in keeping with the biennial’s theme, I would like the fabric from New York to be reused», explained Joaquim Pinheiro.
Other participating companies include Têxteis Penedo, which is involved in the production of large-scale tapestries using, for example, cork yarn for works by Taiwanese artist Yen-Yu Tseng. JF Almeida produced fabric from recycled yarn for the event’s promotional bags and will supply yarn for a performance, while Bless Internacional will be responsible for manufacturing the bags and Contextile-themed t-shirts.
Full programme
In addition to the International Exhibition and Ai Weiwei’s interventions, the programme includes the exhibition “A Change in the Weather? Material Storytelling in an Age of Uncertainty”, curated by Janis Jefferies, bringing together invited artists from different countries, including Teresa Lanceta from Spain, Jakkai Siributr from Thailand, Simon Callery from England and Movana Chen from Hong Kong.
Contextile 2026 also includes the “Weaving Green” programme, developed in partnership with Guimarães – European Green Capital 2026, featuring artistic residencies and public art interventions in several parts of the city, linking contemporary textile art, sustainability, industry and territory.
The Textile Talks will take place on 6 and 7 September in the Small Auditorium of the Vila Flor Cultural Centre, organised around subthemes dedicated to narratives of power, climate change, textile waste as art and social transformation. According to Cláudia Melo, the call received around 75 applications, of which 18 were selected for presentation over the two days.
On the educational side, the Emergencies programme, to be shown at the Guimarães Design Institute, brings together works produced at António Arroio Art School, Soares dos Reis Art School, Porto School of Arts and Design, Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, University of Beira Interior, University of Minho and Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave.
