Marta Barros interviewed by Aveiro Mag

She was born in Porto, but the Ria de Aveiro has always occupied a special place in her life. She says that when she was a baby, she came straight from the hospital to Torreira, in Murtosa, where her family had a holiday home – they did and they still do; the only thing that has changed is that the house has been upgraded to permanent housing. She studied social communication, worked in Lisbon and, in 2016, ended up awakening to a great passion: macramé. At 38, Marta Barros is proud to see her handicraft brand becoming increasingly recognised. Inside and outside the country, given that TEX MB has already made a name for itself across borders. A Portuguese brand that, this year, has become strongly linked to the Ria de Aveiro. Marta has moved her atelier to Torreira and now relies on the lagoon’s landscapes as a source of inspiration.

Her passion for macrame came about almost by chance, after she left television, where she worked as a producer. ‘At the time I had time to experiment with other things,’ she says, before telling us that it was at a dinner party with friends that she heard about macrame. Almost ten years ago, this art was still little known in Portugal, but Marta Barros, who has always loved decorating – she says she’s one of those people who more easily buys something for her home than for herself – had a flea behind her ear. ‘I spotted it straight away and went to a workshop. I was immediately in tune with the ropes,’ she recalls, admitting that her connection to boats may have helped. ‘It came naturally to me, perhaps because I’d been around the ropes on my father’s boat and making knots since I was little,’ says the artist, who is also helping out with the nautical tourism project (Livin Barca) that her family is exploring in Torreira.

The connection to macrame was so natural that, after finishing the workshop, Marta continued making art with her fingertips. ‘At the time it was difficult to find rope, there was no fashion for macrame and I had to spend a lot of time looking for it,’ she says. Her first creations were a pot holder and a wall piece, which she still keeps religiously to this day. ‘I’ve never sold them, I keep them with me,’ she says. They must be a rare occurrence, since she started selling her first pieces in those first few months of dedication to macramé.
It’s been eight years of making a living out of this art of interlacing threads through knots. ‘I thought it would be a temporary thing, but the mark is there,’ says the artist, who has already had the opportunity to see her work exhibited in Florence and, more recently, in Venice. This summer was also marked by her second exhibition in the region that is now home to TEX MB. Marta Barros presented her art in Torreira and says she would like to continue exhibiting her work in the ria. Aveiro, who knows?

Creating unique pieces by hand

In addition to wall tapestries and vase holders, Marta Barros has already made handrails, bunk bed protectors, stair protectors, lamps and curtains in macrame. One of the most demanding pieces he has had to make to date was a lamp measuring 1.5 metres in diameter and 3.5 metres high. ‘From the client’s expectations to the final product. When clients ask for a bespoke piece, they always come with an expectation, with something they’ve seen somewhere and I have to, on the one hand, meet their expectations and, on the other hand, not copy what has already been done, because I don’t think that brings any value,’ says the artist, who says she finds inspiration in nature and in the experiences that life brings her.

‘Each piece is unique and bears the marks of work done entirely by hand. It involves a lot of involvement, which is why the brand couldn’t have a name other than mine,’ she says in the welcome text on her website. MB is good to see that it comes from Marta Barros. And TEX? ‘It comes from Martex, which is how my friends used to call me at school and then it evolved into Tex,’ says the mentor of TEX MB.