This artwork has been conceived as a response to the The Largo Open Call,
within the context of the opening of the 5-star concept hotel, located at Largo São Domingos, Downtown of Porto, Portugal.

As the winner of the competition, A Shelter became part of The Largo's Permanent
Art Collection, among works of artists such as Álvaro Siza, Rui Chafes, Mafalda Santos, Maria Trabulo, and others.

The Jury, composed by Marta Moreira de Almeida (PT), Maria Trabulo (PT), Ditte Ejlerskov (DK), Gitte Beha Smed (DK), Steen Bock (DK), came up with the assessment:
[ENGLISH BELOW]

Esta obra foi concebida como uma resposta à chamada aberta feita
pelo The Largo, Hotel Conceito de 5 estrelas, localizado no Largo São Domingos, na Cidade do Porto, Portugal.

Vencedor do concurso, A Shelter passou a integrar a The Largo's Permanent
Art Collection, entre obras de artistas como Álvaro Siza, Rui Chafes,
Mafalda Santos, Maria Trabulo, e outros.

O Júri, composto por Marta Moreira de Almeida (PT), Maria Trabulo (PT), Ditte Ejlerskov (DK), Gitte Beha Smed (DK), Steen Bock (DK), divulgou a avaliação:“Maíra’s unique way of incorporating various materials and techniques appealed to all members of the jury. The tactility and craftsmanship interested us deeply. Through sensorial outputs and historical references, that aligned with ideas about her own body, the found material, and her relationship to the city she lives is, Maíra brought interesting concepts into a beautiful art piece”.

A tale: Wandering around the City’s old Downtown, I stop for a coffee and overhear an old man talk to the old lady that serves us. She asks if he’s been able to reminisce about his past, telling him that her memories have gone away. He tells her that it had happened to him, and continues: “some say memories ingrained in the surroundings built their home to nest present and future. It was only when I met the Shelter and looked into its darkness that I was able to recall my past and feel home again”.

João do Rio, Brazilian writer from the past century, said the streets have soul. I agree, and also think things around us are alive. In this world, humans and non-humans form organisms, and the environment is constituted by this coexistence. As Tim Ingold states in “Perception of the Environment - Essays in livelihood, dwelling and skill”, there is no separation between organism and environment. Which leads me to conclude: things are alive through their inhabitants. And that’s the main concept to address with this work, in a tribute to the act of inhabiting.

A Shelter is also an homage to the unseen. The back part of the panel that’s been hidden for a long time is now visible, as are the paths of bugs that once lived in it and the oxidized hand-forged nails (called “cravos” in Portugal, just as the flower, symbol of the revolution of 1974). It’s also a way of gratitude to this ceiling panel, a thing that helped take care of the humans and non-humans who inhabited the building. A thing that had been, before, a tree, house to many forms of life.

To adjust the scales of perception. To imagine inhabiting a tree bark, a cocoon, a nest, the skin, the furr, inside the walls of the building. And then to discover if we really inhabit one another, forming symbiotic organisms, making environments.