Patron/ise: Textile Production and Artistic Creation Converge in Prato

The group exhibition 'patron/ise' opens at Lottozero – Texile Laboratories in Prato on July 14, 2026, exploring parallels between textile manufacturing and artistic production. Curated by Ester Maria d'Avossa, the show features works by Lorena Bucur, Carmen Buonanno, Linda Ann Cipriani, and Nikola Filipović, all created during a six-month residency within the Textile Art Factory project. The project is promoted by Lottozero in partnership with Museo del Tessuto and Studio Corte 17, supported by PR FSE+ Toscana 2021–2027, and offers under-36 artists and curators training, research, production, and curatorial experience. The exhibition title references the patron figure, highlighting the ambivalence of systems that enable and constrain artistic creation. Works address vulnerability, resistance, migration, childhood, and memory, using textile as both medium and conceptual framework. Linda Ann Cipriani's 'Overprocessing the Net' treats textile as a network of tensions and errors; Nikola Filipović's 'First Time Being Alive' enlarges childhood toys into soft sculptures exploring trauma and inheritance; Lorena Bucur's 'White n.1' uses flock printing to render a family photograph nearly invisible; Carmen Buonanno's 'Radical Power' transforms a threshold into a barrier and membrane, with a performance scheduled for July 23 featuring Muiredach O'Riain. The exhibition runs through August 14, 2026.