Topologia: Muralhas e Memória

TOPOLOGIES is a research project that spans across different countries and sites. It began in London, in 2024, with the exhibition TOPOLOGY.

For the second phase of the project, Topologia: Muralhas e Memória, _threadsafe went and worked to Portugal within the old part of the city of Faro, the Muralhas da Cidade Velha, the ancient city walls. Starting from a pile of discarded tiles they discovered on site, they cleaned, studied, and documented them, experimenting with rubbing techniques to capture their textures and preserve their stories. This hands-on exploration expanded into sound recording, collecting both the resonances of the tiles themselves and the ambient life around the walls. They layered these sonic textures into a site-specific soundscape, while also employing 2D and 3D scanning, experimental typography, and rubbing overlays to archive the walls’ surfaces and architectural details. UV light was used to reveal hidden traces, deepening their investigation into the walls’ materiality.

By the end of the residency, they had developed a refined rubbing method and an initial prototype for a large-scale installation that would bring together local communities, histories, and collective memories, continuing their research into topographic storytelling.

In July 2025, _threadsafe presented the outcome of this phase of Topologies to Goldsmiths University in the Manifold 2.0 exhibition.