Morus
Morus is an international silk community, practicing home-sericulture - meaning the breeding of silk worms in a small scale in one’s home - in order to engage local communities in historical processes regarding future silk production. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of the intertwined relationships between silkworms, mulberry trees and humans, as well as to ask questions about these relationships from artistic, social, ecological and ethical perspectives.
The Morus Project was founded in Athens in the summer of 2022 by the artists Hanna Norrna, Irini Gonou and Kleopatra Tsali. At this time, Irini was already breeding silk worms for several years in her home in Naxos. Hanna was making research about the history of silk production in Gotland where she grew up. Kleopatra’s studio, situated in the neighbourhood of Metaxourgeio - an area of historical silk factories in Athens - was the place for the artists first encounter.
Plantations of mulberry trees from 1840, Slottsbetningen, Visby 2023The first chapter of the project was to bring bombyx mori eggs from Irini’s production on Naxos to Gotland and Athens for breeding during the next season. On Gotland, Hanna fed the worms with leaves from the old mulberry trees that were planted in Visby for the cause of silk production in the 19th century. In Athens, where mulberry trees are frequently seen, Kleopatra picked leaves from the Metaxourgeio area. The artists practiced parallell breeding in their homes, and worked individually on artworks reflecting on the themes of metamorphose, moulting, silk mythology and ceremonies of change.
In the summer of 2023, the first Morus exhibition were shown at Galleri Apoteket in Roma on Gotland. In close connection to the exhibition, thread workshops were held at Roma Kungsgård, the Botanical garden in Visby, and an historical farm on Fårö, where
Elisabeth Kahl, who worked as a teacher in sericulture in Visby, was born in the end of the 18th century. One day before the opening of the Morus exhibition in Roma, the new eggs of the first Gotlandic butterflies unexpectedly hatched instead of going into hibernation. A group of people who had participated in the recent thread workshops took care of a couple of baby silkworms each to breed, and kept in contact during the process. This happening led the project in a direction of including more people in the practice of home-sericulture – private persons, family, artists and researchers.
Installation view of the exhibition Morus at Gallery Apoteket, Roma 2023Since then, the Morus Project has been active through exhibitions, workshops, research and lectures in multiple locations and countries. Most recently, Morus Project in cooperation with the curator Elli Leventaki created the artwork “Soothing as Shelter”, which was presented at the Contemporary Art Gallery Bunkier Sztuki in Krakow, as part of Greece’s partnership in the Three Seas Initiative.
Further collaborations includes the Silk Museum of Soufli (PIOP) in northern Greece (2024), Cabane Art Space in Athens (2023), Craft Days biennal for contemporary craft in Gothenburg (2024) and Biblioteksvännerna at Biskopsgårdens Bibliotek (2025).
“Soothing as Shelter” presented at the Contemporary Art Gallery Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow PL 2025
“Silk moth stuck in metamorphosis” installed on the wall in the permanent exhibition of the Silk Museum of Soufli (PIOP), Soufli GR 2024Visit the Morus webpage for more reading and documentation: www.morusproject.com