Per filo e per segno. Percorsi di arte tessile in Italia

From January 15th, 2026 to January 7th, 2027, BUILDING BOX presents Per filo e per segno. Percorsi di arte tessile in Italia, an exhibition project curated by Alberto Fiz involving twelve Italian artists from different generations, invited to reflect on the theme of contemporary textiles. Throughout 2026, the project unfolds through twelve individual monthly chapters featuring tapestries, garments, installations, sculptures and site-specific works.

The last decade has been characterised by an increasing focus on textile art, which has established itself as one of the most vital languages of contemporary art. This renewed interest lies in its ability to restore a central role to matter and the body in an era dominated by digital technologies. Although the use of textiles is not new, what has emerged is an unbiased and experimental process that has engaged contemporary artists while re-evaluating historical figures long marginalised within art history.

The specificity of textiles resides in their capacity to generate an autonomous language, endowed with its own expressive matrix understood as a critical device capable of questioning all forms of hierarchy. This renewed awareness can be traced back to the 2017 Venice Biennale Viva Arte Viva, curated by Christine Macel.

The exhibition project developed by BUILDING BOX connects Italian artists from different generations through a fluid and open itinerary in which fibres, textures, knots and weaves become relational tools capable of redefining space and the relationships between individuals. Textile is not merely a technique but an innovative approach to reality and image, with particular attention to manual practice and the intimate, autobiographical dimension of artistic research.

First chapter

From January 15th to February 11th, 2026, BUILDING BOX presents the first installation of the project: Frontiera del mio amore (2025) by Numero Cromatico. Founded in Rome in 2011, the collective develops a synesthetic relationship with textiles, activating sensory and cognitive registers. The work is part of a series of 24 wool tapestries featuring a love poem generated by the artificial intelligence I.L.Y., trained on lyrical texts from different centuries. The text selected for BUILDING BOX, "Tu sei il segno, la vera frontiera del mio amore. Creazione del mio mondo, della mia poesia", emerges from a black and green background, inviting multiple readings on love, relationships and thresholds. Partly concealed by coloured curtains, the tapestry transforms the window into a theatrical street stage, requiring concentration and participation from the viewer.... read the rest of the article»