Maria Madeira

On the occasion of the 60th International Venice Biennale, a new installation and performance video by the internationally renowned visual artist.

This volume accompanies the exhibition Kiss and Don't Tell with Maria Madeira's works, curated by Natalie King. Maria Madeira's work represents Timor-Leste in its inaugural pavilion at the 60th International Venice Biennale, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the independence of Timor-Leste.

Maria Madeira is one of Timor-Leste's most significant contemporary visual artists working internationally, yet her practice is deeply embedded in local traditions, concerns and histories. For the first ever participation of Timor-Leste at the Venice Biennale, Madeira presents Kiss and Don't Tell, a new site-specific installation utilising local materials such as tais (traditional textile), betelnut, earth and pigments.

Her performative installation draws on the collective memories of her foremothers. Responding to the Venice Biennale's overarching theme Stranieri Ovunque-Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Madeira imbues her work with her lived experience of displacement, having grown up in a refugee camp in Portugal with her mother.

Maria Madeira was born in Timor-Leste, lived as a refugee in Portugal, studied art, and achieved a Doctor of Philosophy in Australia. Her artistic practice is a bridge between our past and our future. She uses our traditional cloth "tais", betel nut, and the red earth of her village to tell a story that speaks to the world today. Her work has been exhibited in Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Macau, Portugal and Timor-Leste. Her recent exhibition at Fundacão Oriente in Dili, Flowery Talk, celebrated her belief that art and culture are the spirit and soul of a nation.