1275 Minnesota St /
Minnesota Street Project Foundation | Gallery 106
Indira Allegra: TEXERE: The Shape of Loss Is a Tapestry
Opening Artist Reception | Saturday, March 19, 2022 | 4–6 pm
Minnesota Street Project Foundation (MSP Foundation) is pleased to present TEXERE: The Shape of Loss Is a Tapestry, by artist Indira Allegra. It is the fifth and final exhibition by the inaugural grantees of the MSP Foundation’s California Black Voices Project, which launched in 2020.
Allegra’s TEXERE: The Shape of Loss Is a Tapestry is a living, interactive memorial to losses of all sizes in our lives. A garden of hanging tapestries acts as the canvas for writing and images projected in the gallery space. The glowing weavings are bodies of light in the darkness, guiding the viewer through expressions of loss.
The tapestries are updated in real time from TEXERE (password: weave), a collaborative web platform developed in partnership with Sassafras Tech Collective. Visitors may contribute to the exhibition with their own experiences via the site. The result is an ever-evolving installation that changes with new entries from people around the world.
“Loss is a normal part of the human experience, yet so often we are urged to forget about it and move on quickly,” says Allegra. “We need new rituals and objects to support us in an era of compounded losses.”
Texere is a Latin word which means to weave, and is the root of words such as text and textile. The exhibition title nods to an age-old relationship between storytelling, patterns, and images woven in cloth. TEXERE: The Shape of Loss Is A Tapestry, is a contemplative, new kind of collaborative memorial experience. It changes as we change, heals as we heal, and illuminates the transformational magic of grief.