Maria Madeira

Maria Madeira spent the early years of her life in Timor-Leste before fleeing with her family from the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. From 1976, she lived in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Lisbon. In 1983, Madeira’s family emigrated to Australia, and in 2000 she returned to the newly independent Timor-Leste for four years. Her biography is intimately tied up with the history of her country, and in her practice she often uses tais, Timorese weavings traditionally created by women. These hand-spun cotton fabrics are widespread in Timor-Leste, but differ in their design depending on the region, maker, and occasion. They are not only worn as clothing, but are also used in ceremonies such as weddings, as gifts for guests, and, in earlier times, as articles for bartering. It is possible to trace the history of the young nation through the changing appearances of woven tais, with influences ranging from Indigenous formal languages to Christian motifs imported during the era of Portuguese colonization. What all tais have in common is a close connection to Timor-Leste’s cultural identity—one that was never entirely lost, but actively reappropriated when the nation officially achieved independence in 2002. A number of Madeira’s works are shown as part of Musafiri: Of Travellers and Guests, which employ other materials found in Timor-Leste such as betel nuts and natural pigments, in addition to tais. Serving as connections between cultural tradition and contemporary art, these materials tell stories accessible to inhabitants of Timor-Leste and beyond.

Works in the exhibition: Loron Loron (Day by Day) (2022), sunlight, tais, and fabric protector, 186 × 293 cm; My Mother’s Fingerprints (Hau Nia Ama Nia Liman Fatin) (2022), sunlight, tais, and fabric protector, 147 × 192 cm; Grupo Coral Sol Nascente (Sunrise Choir) (2023), sunlight, tais, and fabric protector, 89 ×128 cm; Refugee Camp (2020), rock powder, red earth, betel nut, cotton, gauze, betadine, glue, shellac, ink and sealer on canvas, 70 × 115 cm; Kladalak Suli Mutuk (Where the Water Flow To Gather) (2019), mixed media on paper: acrylic, betel nut, red earth, betadine, glue, and sealer, 70 × 50 cm; Journey (Dalan Halao) (2006), mixed media on canvas: acrylic, pastel, impasto gel, gesso, glue, tais, sealer, 61 × 91 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery