The fabric of the world, once thought to be solid, is now revealed as vulnerable. The threads that compose it have been stretched to their limits by successive ecological, political, economic and social crises, appearing to be about to snap. We are approaching systemic breaking points as ecosystems collapse and livelihoods are threatened.

However, it is precisely in this thread – minimal unity, sensitive and open to transformation – that a regenerative power is inscribed. It is in this thread that possibilities for resistance, reparation, and reconfiguration of the future are intertwined.

This current edition of Contextile calls upon this ambivalence as a horizon: thread as a sign of urgency, but also as an instrument of invention, mediation, and proposal.

This is the thread that sews the Biennial in 2026, spanning artistic practices that problematize the devastating effects of the fashion industry, the accelerating consumption, and the extractive logic of textile production.

This reflection is not limited to merely denouncing: It acts as an affirmative gesture, proposing alternatives, designing possible trajectories, and summoning other materialities, whether they are ecological, sensitive or relational, repositioning the artistic creation at the centre of an ethic of care and sustainability.