Continuous Threads. Weaves and intertwining of care at the border Final exhibition

Dance, silk and lace meet contemporary art in a project that transforms tradition into collective strength against gender-based violence

The final exhibition of the project "Fili continui. Trame e intrecci di cura al confine" (Continuous Threads. Wefts and Interweavings of Care at the Border), conceived by artist Giulia Iacolutti and produced by the ETRARTE cultural association, opens on Saturday, January 31st at 11:00 a.m. at the Galerija GONG in Nova Gorica.

The exhibition showcases the results of a relational art project in which folk dance, lace, and silk—traditions unique to this border region—intertwine with contemporary artistic research. It brings together sensibilities, shared timelines, and the joint efforts of a large number of people—mostly women—institutions, cultural, and social organizations, united by a single goal: to support the dissemination of a culture of combating gender violence. The project is part of the initiatives funded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region as part of GO!2025 Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture, is supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission of the Municipality of Udine, and boasts the cultural and operational collaboration of key partners.

Continuous Threads developed over the course of a year, involving a diverse group of approximately 40 women between Gorizia and Nova Gorica. In the initial workshop and discussion phase, conducted with several women victims of violence assisted by the SOS Rosa center in Gorizia and staff members of the same center, Iacolutti guided the group in identifying ten key words that describe what the women involved seek in a healthy, non-specifically romantic, relationship, such as space, justice, harmony, and voice. These words were then entrusted to the masters of the Gorizia Lace School, whose skilled hands created bobbin lace artworks representing these words.

Applied to silk scarves, they are displayed on a structure that has become an integral part of the artistic installation: an architecture, designed in collaboration with Antônio Frederico Lasalvia, becomes a metaphor for domestic space, which too often, from a safe place, becomes a theater of violence, and which engages the viewer in a movement of crossing and circular vision.

A series of black-and-white photographs taken by Iacolutti depicts some of these scarves worn by dancers from the Santa Gorizia folk group last October during a public performance held in Piazza Transalpina, on the symbolic border between Gorizia and Nova Gorica, representing the union between communities and the transcendence of boundaries. In it, a traditional courtship dance transformed into a movement of sharing and sisterhood that placed women at the center, giving them visibility and a voice. The performance is featured in the exhibition through video documentation by Claudio Cescutti.

On January 31st at 2:00 PM, artist Giulia Iacolutti and curator Rachele D'Osualdo will be in conversation with Radio Robida from the exhibition space, discussing the project live on the radio. The project will conclude with a final event: the presentation of the catalog, which will take place on March 20, 2026, at the IOTUNOIVOI Donneinsieme headquarters in Udine.

"Continuous Threads. Plots and Interweavings of Care at the Border" is a project by Giulia Iacolutti, curated by Rachele D'Osualdo. Produced by Etrarte, it is produced in partnership with SOS Rosa ODV, ERPAC / Gorizia Lace School, Galerija GONG, Robida, the Santa Gorizia Folklore Group, Arearea, and IOTUNOIVOI Donneinsieme. With the support of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Iosonofriuliveneziagiulia, and the Equal Opportunities Commission of the Municipality of Udine.