Maíra Mafra (b. 1991) is a Portuguese-Brazilian multidisciplinary artist. She holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts/Sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP) and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Her master’s thesis “Body, thing, house, city – artistic processes between continuities within the urban environment” focused on her artistic practice around symbiosis and sympoiesis between (human and non-human) beings and things in the context of the city.

Maíra’s work cultivates a radical form of attention rooted in sensorial praxis, shifting scales of perception and reconfiguring dichotomies between nature and culture, human and non-human, nature and city, as ways to approach dwelling practices in urban environments in search of an ecology of life. She has also been developing and facilitating workshops on contemplation and experimentation on multispecies coexistence in urban spaces.

She has exhibited both individually and in group shows in Portugal, France and Brazil, including “Impregnations – The skin of the city” at Galeria Caldeiraria, and “Ensaios de uma Coleção” at Galeria Municipal do Porto. She participated in an artistic residency at Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré (Tours, France). Her work is included in the Largo Permanent Art Collection and the Municipal Art Collection of Porto.

Maíra is currently collaborating with LIDA as a research fellow on the project Future Rains – Propositions For a Multispecies Society.