In Barbora’s Palace, history can be read even without words—in surfaces, in the rhythm of the architecture, in the way light falls across the floor.
Portuguese artist Carla Rebelo builds on this with the site-specific installation Barborina niť (Barbora’s Thread), which gently weaves together material, space, and memory. Without grand gestures, it works through details that ask for careful attention.
Into the historic interior, Rebelo inserts fragments of the original wooden floor from the Merina textile factory—a material saturated with traces of labor, movement, and passing years. These are complemented by her characteristic lines of threads and fibers, where a textile language meets drawing in space. The work unfolds directly on the floor and responds sensitively to the site—as if the space itself were a co-author.
A dialogue with architecture
The installation enters into both tension and harmony with the ceiling from the second half of the 20th century (often described as “cubist”). Rebelo works with the rhythm of the architecture, lighting conditions, and subtle specifics of the hall: lines and fragments become a counterbalance to the ceiling’s geometry, transforming the room into a living, perceptible whole.
What the work is “woven” from
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wood bearing the patina of industrial memory (Merina)
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fibers and threads evoking the slow weaving of time
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shadows and subtle shifts of light that draw fleeting “lines” into space
Barborina niť composes a whole from fragments, creating a “time outside of time,” in which the present quietly intertwines with the past. It is an invitation to slow down and notice how great histories settle into the quietness of materials—into wood, fibers, and shadows.
The exhibition project creates a dialogue between contemporary artistic thinking and the cultural memory of Trenčín Castle. We recommend attending the guided tour on Sunday, February 15, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. for a deeper understanding of the works and their context.
Venue: Trenčín Castle – Barbora’s Palace (small hall)
Exhibition duration: February 7 – May 24, 2026
