Milla Novo places Ancestral Whispers in an Alpine landscape

Artist Milla Novo reimagines her immersive textile installation Ancestral Whispers within an Alpine snowfield, where vibrant hand-knotted macramé contrasts with the stark mountain landscape

Textile artist Milla Novo has created a concept visual of her immersive fibre installation Ancestral Whispers in a striking new imagining titled From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow, placing vibrant hand-knotted textiles within the stark landscape of the Alps.

The idea emerged shortly after Novo completed a large-scale installation in the Mleiha Desert in Sharjah for the Tanweer Festival in November 2025. Surrounded by the heat and golden dunes of the desert, the artist created a 10-by-10 metre immersive structure filled with cascading macramé panels that invited visitors to walk through layers of colour and texture.

The work explored the relationship between ancestral craft traditions and contemporary spatial design.

A Dialogue Between Extremes

Following the desert installation, Novo began imagining the work within an entirely different setting. Standing on a ski slope and looking out over a vast field of snow, she considered how the warmth and tactility of handcrafted textile might interact with a landscape defined by silence and minimalism.

The resulting concept envisions a transparent glass pavilion embedded within an Alpine snowfield, housing a dramatic interior of large-scale macramé panels suspended from ceiling to floor in a full spectrum of colour.

Within the imagined structure, visitors would enter through an arched passageway before moving through a corridor of woven fibres. The surrounding mountain landscape remains visible through the glass walls, creating a contrast between the softness of hand-knotted textiles and the harsh, frozen environment outside.

For Novo, the installation becomes a dialogue between extremes: heat and cold, colour and white, and ancient craft set against architectural precision.

Bridging Ancestral Craft and Contemporary Design

Born to Chilean parents and now based in the Netherlands, Novo’s practice often draws upon ancestral South American weaving traditions. Her large-scale macramé works are created using meticulous hand-knotting techniques developed over many years, bridging traditional craft with contemporary design tools.

In developing new installations, she frequently uses digital visualisation to explore how textile structures might interact with architecture and landscape before the physical work begins.

Today, Novo’s work has been commissioned for luxury hospitality environments, international art festivals and residential interiors around the world. Through projects such as Ancestral Whispers, she continues to explore how historic fibre techniques can be translated into immersive installations that connect material, memory and place.

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The Alpine concept expands the narrative of the original installation, demonstrating how handcrafted textile can transform even the most minimal environments. In doing so, Novo highlights the enduring relevance of traditional craft, reimagined for contemporary spaces and unexpected landscapes.

You can read about Milla Novo’s Ancestral Whispers at the Tanweer Festival in our recent issue, COVER 82.

Words by Libbi Kettle