Massa Mãe is a collaboration between interdisciplinary artist Asli Hatipoglu and textile artist Inês Queirós. The two artists started their journey together in October 2021 in Favaios, Portugal, where bread is an essential source of income and a cultural artisanal trade. In the post-pandemic reality of wheat scarcity, the two decided to dive into the socio-political issues around bread baking and work side by side with one of the local bakers named Rosario. The day would start at 4 am, preparing the dough needed to bake 600 loaves of bread a day while sharing stories and local wisdom. 

At PuntWG, Inês and Asli will present the beginning of their research into the relationship between bread making, cloth and its social economic impacts. Ines will showcase textile studies that imprint the surroundings of Favaios and its bread-making rituals, while reflecting upon cloth as a vessel, a shield and a carrier. Asli will share a work-in-progress video project that documents her participation in the daily routine of the bakery with Rosario. She focuses her concerns on the relationship between the body and food, bringing attention to the ways in which physical repetition in bread baking influences the embodiment of the baker. As opposed to the industrialization and mechanization of modernized bread making, Asli considers the manual kneading and baking  process as a space for reflection and meditation. Through their eyes, wheat becomes a broader subject than just bread, and functions as a vehicle to reflect on the future of our ecology, health and socio-economic stability.

Opening Times:
Thursday 13 Oct 16:00-19:00h
Friday 14th Oct 18:00-21:00h (Opening)
Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th Oct 14:00-18:00h 

Photography by Ilya Rabinovich