Joana Vasconcelos's 13-Meter Embroidered Tree at Vincennes Castle

Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos has installed 'Tree of Life', a 13-meter-tall embroidered tree, in the Sainte-Chapelle at the Château de Vincennes near Paris. The site-specific work, on view until September 3, 2023, pays homage to nature and women, drawing inspiration from the 3,000 elm trees planted by Queen Catherine de' Medici in the castle park. The tree's fabric roots incorporate biomorphic and zoomorphic forms, reflecting Magical Realism from Fernando Pessoa to Gabriel García Márquez. The textiles use traditional Portuguese embroidery techniques including canutilho from Viana do Castelo, roseta crochet, and trabalho louco from the Azores, evoking Portugal's global influences from Africa to Latin America and from Catholicism to shamanism. Vasconcelos also references Bernini's sculpture of Daphne at Villa Borghese, transforming into a tree to escape Apollo, as a metaphor for female independence and resistance against violence, particularly for women in Afghanistan, Iran, and Italy. Fifteen Portuguese embroiderers collaborated during the pandemic lockdown, with Vasconcelos stating the work is 'the affirmation of life over the Covid-19 pandemic'. The Sainte-Chapelle, a Gothic 'flamboyant' chapel built from 1379 to 1480, houses stained-glass windows by Nicolas Beaurain that were damaged during the French Revolution, World War II, and a 1999 storm, restored in 2018.