Mariëlle Videler created un libro, a unique textile book made with a special destination in her heart: a gift for a library in the coastal mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.

In 2016, she spent a year as artist in residence at Flora ars + natura in Bogotá. Through many enchanting walks into the Andes Mountains, she grew captivated by the culture of the local communities. There, she met Alicia Villafañe, an Arhuaco woman. Years later, while Mariëlle was working on 365 BIRDS, Alicia sent her a message: four local communities — the Arhuaco, Kogi, Wiwa and Kankuamo — were building a great library in remote Simunurwa. In that moment, Mariëlle knew at once: "I would love to make a book for this library."

In March 2025, she travelled to the Sierra Nevada and personally placed un libro into the hands of the spiritual leader of the Arhuaco at the library in Simunurwa. From this journey — book in hand, heart wide open — she wrote a story about the project and the intentions that carried it. That story now lives in a small edition, designed by Dee Vasilevskaia.

Link to the travel story > PDF