The Temple
Performance · Video · Textile Installation · Collaborative OdeWhen reflecting on how to showcase this work, I knew I wanted to be as intentional as every other step taken to reach this present moment. I wanted to curate the context in which the viewer was introduced to the Pietà, inviting them into her world. Creating a space that softened the threshold between artwork and witness.
After trials and attempts with various formats, the temple arose. A living installation. Walls draped in inherited fabrics that carry generations memories, knowing and stories. Each cloth holds a lineage. Each one offers presence.
The Pietà evokes something specific and individual for each of us. These personal echoes resonate and come together in her temple, creating a collective rememberance.
Here, sorrow is sacred. The tender, the broken, the uncomfortable are given space to be, and to be seen. Not as flaws. They are held in love and compassion. They are experienced in their beauty.
In every context, the temple takes a new shape. Agency is given to each fabric, material, and location — allowing them to act and react with one another. My role is simply to listen, to translate and materializing the conversations happening beyond words.
Pietà of Sorrow Temple @ C3 Studios Rotterdam, NL 2025
Based between Netherlands and Portugal
Contact
email - veramachadodacosta@gmail.com
instagram - Vera da Costa
Contact
email - veramachadodacosta@gmail.com
instagram - Vera da Costa