Ei! Marionetas / Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora

Ei! Marionetas - Encontro Internacional de Marionetas de Gondomar 2026

Vânia Kosta Puppets [ EXHIBITION ]

• Vânia Kosta < Braga
• all audiences . free access


• xxhibition opening on 4 July at 11.30 am

Vânia Kosta Puppets

what the festival has to say

Vânia Kosta is an artist who blends art and craftsmanship into a single whole. Over the years, her work has been characterized by her exploration of textiles as a fundamental form of expression—like a second skin that has gradually taken shape, upon which the artist continually poses new challenges and creates new worlds. For several years, the artist has collaborated with the Mandrágora Puppet Theater on various productions, imbuing them with a fascinating visual vision that suggests the material she works with is malleable: it can transform into a stage space, a story or narrative, a tale, a costume, or a puppet. These come to life through space, and little by little, these countless objects populate the entire imagination with the stories and tales she works on—not only through the concrete definition of the stories, but also by introducing ideas and positively disrupting public space. Through the interplay of her countless objects, figures, and little creatures, she creates and breathes life into the inanimate object, which, once constructed, automatically invites an interpretation of its form, almost as if it were on the verge of coming to life.

Vânia Kosta

She graduated with a degree in Art Education from the School of Education in Viana do Castelo in 2004, and it was through the Socrates/Erasmus programme that she first had the opportunity to travel and discover more about herself and the world, having attended the Art & Craft course (ceramics module) at Bergen University College in Norway.

It was in 2015, with her first invitation to collaborate with the Mandrágora Puppet Theatre Company, that she explored and discovered the potential of textiles applied to set design, creating immersive worlds that invite the audience to enter and discover. She enjoys filling spaces with her sculptures and observing the connection and interaction the public establishes with them. Her most recent works have, in fact, come to incorporate elements created by the public, thus integrating other identities, memories, stories and impressions, in a search for greater meaning and a sense of community.

In the visual arts circuit, her work was first presented at the Cerveira International Biennial in 2017, followed by other editions (2018 / 2022) and biennials, such as the Arcos de Valdevez Biennial (2025), the Espinho Biennial 2023 and the Alentejo International Biennial, where she was named the winning artist of the 2023 edition. Invitations to participate in group exhibitions continue, notably the invitation to take part in the “Perspetiva 24” exhibition at the invitation of Helena Mendes Pereira and João Ribas in 2024 at the Vila Nova de Cerveira Forum.

Her career is marked by diverse collaborations and experimentation, notably the creation of the set design for the show based on Ruído Roído’s album “Êxtase do silêncio”, premiered at the GNRation black box in Braga, as well as the artistic creation of imagery and the design of CD and vinyl covers for bands and poetic projects, such as António Durães’ “Cavalgada de mil Ámperes” project.

art

download