Ponta Delgada, January 9, 2020
The Vice Presidency of the Government, through the Regional Center for Handicrafts (CRAA), opens Friday, January 10, at 6pm, the exhibition “Creative Residence 2019 – Ceramics and Vegetable Fibers”, at the polo de Vila do Porto from the Museum of Santa Maria.
The project ‘Creative Residence in Ceramics and Vegetable Fibers’ aims to develop experiences that reinforce interculturality and the creation of new products based on natural resources, combining innovation and tradition, focusing on the exchange of knowledge and techniques between Azorean and Cape Verdeans artisans.
This regional initiative, developed in partnership with GRATER, aims to contribute to the development of innovation projects based on the most emblematic traditional arts and crafts of the nine islands of the Azores.
The project aims to launch products in the market where the handicraft component is significant and, through the integration of products in the brand Artesanato dos Açores, create sustainability for the work of artisans and reach new markets beyond the traditional ones.
This was a residence where endogenous resources such as wicker, dragon tree leaf, bulrush, straw and the clay from Santa Maria were explored, with a view of enhancing local raw materials and their use in handicrafts.
Although it is unusual to bring together two areas as different as pottery and vegetable fibers, CRAA wanted to challenge artisans and guest mentors for innovation.
The seven artisans who were part of this Residence were Aida Bairos, Cristina Bairos and Marina Mendonça from Santa Maria, Bento Silva from São Miguel, Aurélia Rocha and Manuela Medeiros from Terceira, and Luis Lopes from the Island of Santo Antão, in Cape Verde.
Under the guidance of Kathi Stertzig and Álbio Nascimento, through The Home Project Design Studio, collaboration pieces with enormous economic potential emerged, made with materials and techniques typical of the Region and a renewed aesthetic.
The project ‘Craft & Art – Empowering by Innovation’ proposes a formative approach to artisanal activities, based on the development of entrepreneurship and innovation skills, enabling handicraft production units to further diversify and differentiate products.
The exhibition will be open to the public until February 10, and can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, from 09h30 to 17h00.
GaCS / CRAA