Concept visualization for “From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow,” reimagining and building upon “Ancestral Whispers” in a winter environment.
Last November, hundreds of visitors descended upon the Mleiha desert for the 2025 Tanweer Festival. There, amid the rolling dunes and golden sand, Milla Novo unveiled Ancestral Whispers, a large-scale installation composed of vibrant, natural fiber panels that gently swayed in the desert breeze. The work’s vibrancy perfectly complemented its surroundings; but, during a recent ski trip, the Dutch-Chilean artist wondered whether Ancestral Whispers could transcend its original setting.
It didn’t take long for Novo to explore this line of inquiry, creating From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow. The fiber art concept reimagines Ancestral Whispers for a winter landscape, swallowed by what the artist calls a “sea of white silence.” In this version, hand-woven textiles are suspended within a glass enclosure rather than freely hanging from a metal frame. Though different in its presentation, From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow retains a sense of immersion, encouraging guests to pass through an arched entrance and encounter each macramé panel up-close. The installation is further enhanced by its environment, whose minimalist severity offers a striking contrast to Novo’s bright, highly textured textiles.
“The result is a dialogue between extremes: heat and cold, color and white, ancient craft and architectural precision,” Novo explains in an artist statement.
When separated from the desert’s warmth and heat, the project gains more intrigue. At the heart of this intrigue, though, is Novo’s material sensibility, which is rooted in her own heritage. Born to Chilean parents with Mapuche Indigenous roots, the artist has long gravitated toward traditional weaving techniques passed down through her mother. She often reinterprets these frameworks through a contemporary lens, uniting Indigenous craft, storytelling, and memory across her work. In From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow, Novo plunges her craft into an unexpected context, expanding the scope of Mapuche traditions to encompass alpine aesthetics.
“The glass structure serves as both frame and metaphor, transparent, temporary, and entirely open to the landscape beyond,” Novo says, “while the fiber art inside remains grounded, tactile, and full of life.”
Based on Novo’s preliminary visualizations, it’s clear that From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow can spark dialogue about craft and its relationship with colder regions. Like Ancestral Whispers, the installation would also expand the artist’s practice. Novo is best known for her wall hangings, and Ancestral Whispers marked the first time she produced a site-specific project. This new alpine concept would continue in that vein, celebrating something spatial, sensory, and shared.
To learn more about the artist and From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow, visit Milla Novo’s website.
Milla Novo’s From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow fiber art concept cleverly juxtaposes vibrant macramé panels with the severity of winter landscapes.
Concept visualization for “From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow,” reimagining and building upon “Ancestral Whispers” in a winter environment.
Concept visualization for “From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow,” reimagining and building upon “Ancestral Whispers” in a winter environment.
Concept visualization for “From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow,” reimagining and building upon “Ancestral Whispers” in a winter environment.
Concept visualization for “From Desert Sand to Alpine Snow,” reimagining and building upon “Ancestral Whispers” in a winter environment.
The concept reimagines and builds upon the artist’s Ancestral Whispers installation, which debuted last November at the 2025 Tanweer Festival in the Mleiha Desert.
Installation view of “Ancestral Whispers” installation at the 2025 Tanweer Festival in the Mleiha Desert, Sharjah, UAE.
Installation view of “Ancestral Whispers” installation at the 2025 Tanweer Festival in the Mleiha Desert, Sharjah, UAE.
Installation view of “Ancestral Whispers” installation at the 2025 Tanweer Festival in the Mleiha Desert, Sharjah, UAE.
Installation view of “Ancestral Whispers” installation at the 2025 Tanweer Festival in the Mleiha Desert, Sharjah, UAE.
The artist with her “Ancestral Whispers” installation at the 2025 Tanweer Festival in the Mleiha Desert, Sharjah, UAE.
