EDUARDO CASSINA: AQUI BRILLAMOS (HERE WE SHINE)

Co-authors: Gallery 86 collaborators Juan Castillo, Nicolás González, and Javier Riojas; and Pleasant Grove community artists

June workshop artists: Ray Albarez, Laura Carrasco, Hermila Cuevas, Chris Curiel, Tamitha Curiel, Mike Dellinger, Leslie Lemus, Grady McGahan, Priscilla Rice, Alicia Serrato, and Jesus Serrato

Aquí Brillamos (Here We Shine) is a collaborative textile map developed with residents in Pleasant Grove, Dallas. Through drawing and embroidery, the project collects stories, places, and memories that rarely appear in official cartographic representations, but that make Pleasant Grove special for its residents. These contributions are translated into a large tapestry that combines a phosphorescent knitted base and hand-stitched interventions. The project treats mapping as a multi-authored and situated act, challenging fixed and authoritative representations of the neighborhood.

Eduardo Cassina is an artist and urban planner based in Giehtavuotna/Kvæfjord, Sápmi (Northern Norway), where his practice explores experimental cartography, collective storytelling, and territorial justice. Trained in architecture, urban heritage, and sociology in Glasgow, Amsterdam, Beijing, and London, his work operates across planning institutions, grassroots initiatives, and art spaces.

In 2014, he co-founded the urbanism collective METASITU, whose participatory research on degrowth and shrinking cities has been commissioned by institutions including Mystetskyi Arsenal (Kyiv), Alserkal Arts Foundation (Dubai), and SongEun Art Space (Seoul). His recent participatory textile cartography Gieda Dievva Ullut / A Handful of Wool was selected by Carlo Ratti for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025.

Cassina is currently a Ph.D. Research Fellow in Experimental Urban Planning in the Department of Global Development and Planning at the University of Agder, Norway.