Maíra Mafra
Bio
Rio de Janeiro, 1991. Portuguese-Brazilian, graduated in Social Sciences from UFRJ. Lives and works in Porto, and is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Fine Arts/Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto. Her artistic research focuses on human and non-human inhabitation practices, symbiosis, urbanism, hygiene and the issue of housing. She questions the boundaries between nature and culture, organism and environment, rural and urban, paradigms of the Anthropocene that she seeks to overcome through a sentient ecology. She has participated in several group exhibitions such as “Ensaios de uma Coleção” (Galeria Municipal do Porto), “Chão que Pega” (Junta de Freguesia do Bonfim), “The Midsummer Exhibition” (The Largo Concept Hotel). She is represented in The Largo Permanent Collection of Art and in the Porto Municipal Art Collection.
Imagine living in the bark of a tree, a cocoon, a nest, the skin, the fur, inside the walls of the building. And then discover if we really live together, forming symbiotic organisms, forming environments.
Curriculum Vitae
2024
Solo Exhibitions
Árvore das Virtudes Award
Árvore das Virtudes, Porto, Portugal • October/November, 2024
Ensaios de uma Coleção
Porto Municipal Gallery - Porto, Portugal • April/May, 2024
Chão que pega
Bonfim Parish Council - Porto, Portugal • January, 2024
Other projects
Artistic Residency at the Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France, through the Municipal Gallery of Porto. April 30 to June 29, 2024
2023
Group exhibitions
Exhibition of Master's Degree Students in Fine Arts
oMuseu FBAUP (Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto) • October, 2023
The Largo MidSummer Exhibition
The Largo Hotel - Porto, Portugal • July - December 2023
Between the XIV and the XV - From the Dream to the Body
Corpus Christi - Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal • June 2023
Veredas Exhibition - Terra do Lagarto Association
Vilar de Amargo, Portugal • February 2023
UmPontoDeSituação Exhibition - MAP/FBAUP Sculpture
oFBAUP Museum (Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto) • January 2023
Prémios
The Largo Open Call - The Largo, Home of Porto (concept Hotel)
Winner with the work "A Shelter"
Work acquired for The Largo's Permanent Art Collection (alongside Álvaro Siza, Rui Chafes, Mafalda Santos, Bela Silva and others)
Art-focused trip to Copenhagen
Other projects
Commissioned Work: Thoughts on Finite Matter • The Largo concept hotel
The small sculptures were given to people connected to The Largo project. November, 2024
Selected by Open Call - YES Project (Erasmus+)
Young European Sculpture
(7 days of workshops in Sculpture and Ecology at La Rabouilleuse, Loire River)
Tours, France • May 2023
Group exhibitions
Impregnations - The skin of the city
Caldeiraria Gallery - Porto, Portugal • September/October, 2024
Imprégnations
Octroi Gallery - Tours, France • June, 2024
2022
Group Exhibitions
Azul Petróleo
Túnel • Campanhã, Porto • abril, 2022
Pequenos Formatos
Porto ao Porto
FFAC - Fábrica Bhering (Porto do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil) • abril. 2022
Other projects
Actor/Performer Show “V”
University Theatre of Porto (TUP) • directed by Orlando Gilberto Castro
Ford Palace, Porto • July, 2022
Performer in Crossing Spaces/Living Bodies
MADEP/FBAUP and Balleteatro
Dance Days Festival • Porto • April 2022
Publication of work in Usina Magazine
Roughness I, II and III