Collective Heart

Collective Heart, an assemblage of over 1,000 recycled laces containing more than 1,000 stories, currently spanning 50 square meters at the Baroque altar of the beautiful Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Dresden (February 18 – April 3), invites us to reflect, introspect, and ponder: does a collective heart truly exist?

Eva Petrič: Collective Heart (2016), introduced to the beautiful Dresdner Cathedral with Safety Blankets installation at the cathedral entrance area.

“Collective Heart” — reawakened from its sleep and reappearing once again, hopeful in its wish to embrace and protect the world like a safety blanket — this time with its epicenter at the beautiful and mystical Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Dresden.

Come and be part of it

February 18 – April 3

@dompfarreiderkathedraledresden @bistum_ddmei

After serving as the Fastentuch at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna in 2016, appearing at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York in 2019, and at the Marienkirche in Berlin in 2021, it is a great honor for me that Collective Heart is now in Dresden — a city whose history, marked by the devastating bombing of February 13, 1945, still resonates today.

Spanning 55 square meters, Collective Heart is composed of more than 1,000 found, donated, and recycled handmade laces from around the world. Each carries traces of lives lived — touch, rupture, fears, wishes, hope… collective emotions.

During Lent, this monumental work covers the high altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity as a Fastentuch, inviting reflection and introspection — and daring to ask whether such a phenomenon as a “collective heart” might truly exist.

You are warmly invited to share your emotions and merge with it — joining countless other hearts and strengthening the humane within us, so it may endure whatever future tests may come.

the start of the installation, I was surprised and honored by a visit from Cardinal Schönborn, who inaugurated my Collective Heart ten years ago at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna in 2016.

My heartfelt thanks to Cathedral Priest Norbert Buechner and the entire Dresden Cathedral team for their generous invitation, dedication, and support in bringing Collective Heart here.My thanks also to all who joined us yesterday at the:

Artist Talk / Kunstgespräch zur Altarverhüllung

Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 7:30 pm

Haus der Kathedrale, Schloßstraße 24, Dresden

In conversation with theologian Dr. Samuel-Kim Schwope.

An accompanying open call has invited members of the local community to donate lace and crocheted textiles, extending the work’s participatory dimension.

The open call for lace donations has already gathered more than 1,000 pieces — 1,000 stories, memories, generations, and emotions.The lace-making tradition (Klöppeln) of the Erzgebirge, dating back to the 16th century, is deeply embedded in the cultural identity of this region — and its presence can truly be felt here.

Kindly invited to donate any lace or doilies you may no longer need and allow them to continue their lives within upcoming installations.

Collective Heart has no borders. It embraces everyone.

My sincere thanks to Norbert Büchner for the wonderful accompanying article about Collective Heart in the flyer, and for the extensive visual documentation.

Copyright © Eva Petric, 2026, Bildrecht Vienna, All rights reserved.