According to Portuguese custom, the best and most beautiful textiles should be hung from balconies on celebrations and festivities, thus inviting intimate objects into the public realm. Donzela and Varina are bedspreads crocheted in cotton thread. Conceived by Joana Vasconcelos and crocheted by women from Santa Maria da Feira, these works have been installed in the Castle of Santa Maria da Feira and on D.Luís Bridge, in Porto.

The artwork engages the community and encourages them to create and to take part. Establishing a relational dialogue linking territory, community, art and craftsmanship, Joana Vasconcelos' bedspreads exalt feminine skills and labour - which traditionally occur within the home's most intimate universe - by transforming it, monumentalising it and integrating it into public space architecture.

Through their reference to the tradition and history of a place, the bedspreads draw attention towards the danger of a future created by an acritical and historically divorced present.