StudioTako

zine, science & technology, urban, to draw, comics/cartoons, social, cooperation, residency, public space, Publication, process, performance, environment, nature, mobility, Body, international, History, Figurative,Experimental, Ecology, Documentary, D.I.Y, Diversity, Diaspora, Design, crossover, Communication, Community, collage, Artistic research, Archives

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Tânia A. Cardoso, illustrator and urbanist, has completed her doctoral research at the University of Amsterdam. Her research, a product of this distinct blend of fields, focuses on the potential of illustration as a form of urban communication. This work is the culmination of her ground-based experience as an illustrator-researcher, exploring the poetics of everyday life and reportage art, and using illustration to co-produce and challenge the urban environment. The results of her research led her to open StudioTako, a studio for creating visual storytelling, urban chronicles, collective mapping and comics, and independent study. She is also the co-creator of the WARP (Walking as Research Practice) research group with Prof Alice Twemlow.

Tânia's illustrations have been featured in several international exhibitions, including “Boerenzij” by Wapke Feenstra at TENT Rotterdam 2020 and “A Castle in England” in London 2017. Her work has been recognized with prestigious awards, such as the “Worldwide Picture Book Illustration Competition” in 2015 in the Netherlands, the “Gorsedh Kernow Creativity Award” in 2017 in Cornwall, UK, and a finalist position at the “Women Cartoonists International Award” in 2019 in Normandy, France. In 2024, she was Stadtekenares for the city of Rotterdam. The results of this work were exhibited in “Drawn Rotterdam: May I Exist?” at Kunsthal Rotterdam from 18 October 2024 to 16 February 2025.

**hirundinidae** - Self-portrait for In Your Face 2.0, made with watercolor and colored pencil.

**Stronger Through Struggle (City Artist 2024)** - It all started with a feeling. Rotterdam's official motto, “Stronger Through Struggle,” reflects the sense of gaining strength through adversity. “Stronger through struggle” is a sentiment frequently evoked in Rotterdam's everyday life. The recent housing shortage and the growing gap between the inhabitants' needs and the city hall's vision for the city have once again brought this feeling to the forefront of discussion. Inhabitants are fighting for their right to the city, invoking the positive outlook that a destructive event left on their collective memories. In exhibition at the Kunsthal Rotterdam from 18 October 2024 to 16 February 2025.

**How We Stopped and Listened to the Birds** - This comic journalism piece was created during the COVID-19 pandemic and published online by the platform Drawing the Times. Many images of empty cities worldwide were circulated, including Amsterdam. But how truthful were these images? This multi-chapter story challenges the narrative of the empty city in Amsterdam. It wonders about the connection of mass tourism to the disappearance of people on the streets through a historical overview and by collecting inhabitants' urban stories during this period.

**Strong** - Wandering around the word 'strong' and its spatial presence in Rotterdam. It is an experimental artist's book that plays with its shape and content, creating a reading path that differs from the traditional reading comic experience.

**A tale of a (sustainable) city** - This series of comics focuses on the incredible and innovative ideas spanning the city of Rotterdam through a more than human lens. Some still exist today; others will stay in our imaginations and memories. The first part focuses on the fantastic aspects of an existing circular economy and how mushrooms gave that first impulse. The second part reflects on the role of water in the city and how the many floating projects allow us, the residents, to dream about a more sustainable future. The third and final part reflects on how agriculture and nature, in general, would move into the city and be integrated into its concrete jungle. Published online by SOLRAD, the Online Literary Magazine for Comics.

**Gulbekian Gardens** - Ink and charcoal pencil on paper, and digital finishing. Public Buildings illustrations, personal project.

**Leaving Prints** - Ink on paper and digital finishing. Submission for the Women Cartoonists Award 2019.

**If the House Fits** - Mix media collage on paper. Submission for the Worldwide Picturebook Competition 2015.

**Dancing Turtles** - Watercolor and colored pencil, and digital finishing. Collaboration with Mintystock.

**Lisbon, girl and lady** - Watercolor and ink on paper. Personal project.

**Aqui, Ali e Acolá/ Here, There and Everywhere** - Pencil on transparent paper and digital painting. Illustrations for the children's picturebook Aqui, Ali e Acolá.

**Tania Alexandra Esteves Fernandes Cardoso** - Charcoal pencil on paper. Competition Submission for an illustration picture book.

Stadstekenaar 010 - Sterker Door Strijd

Date: 18-10-2024 t/m 16-02-2025

Location: Kunsthal Rotterdam

In association with: CBK Rotterdam, Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Kunsthal Rotterdam

It all started with a walk and a feeling. Stronger Door Strijd can be seen today under Rotterdam's coat of arms and it's intrinsically connected to the city's image. It exemplifies the resilience and strength of the city's inhabitants in rebuilding their city. Stronger Door Strijd has become a central aspect of the city's development, particularly in its architecture and urban planning. It represents a shift in the city's memory from pain to pride and hope for the future.

https://www.studiotako.net/

This artist has no awards yet.