The Regional Secretariat for Youth, Professional Qualification and Employment, through the Center for Crafts and Design of the Azores (CADA), promotes the Arts and Crafts Forum – Pensar o Fazer, which will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of June, at the Public Library and Regional Archive ofPonta Delgada.
The benefits of the centrality of artisanal know-how in cultural and economic activities is the motto for reflection and debate with national and international guests, including Martín Azúa (Spain), Renato Imbroisi (Brazil), Guida Fonseca (Portugal), Helena Loermans (Portugal) and Josiane Masson from Artesol (Brazil), based on a vast and interdisciplinary panorama of experiences around handicrafts ranging from Research and Education to Tourism.
The Artes e Ofícios Forum is curated by Álbio Nascimento and Kathi Stertzig, for whom the Azores “have one of the most organized and complete censuses of artisans and Artisanal Production Units (UPAs) in the national territory, with a governmental organization exclusively dedicated to supporting and boost the sector” which, they underline, constitutes one of the “ideal conditions to hold a sharing and debate meeting”.
This event will be open to the public, namely artisans, designers and agents from the creative industries, professionals and researchers linked to the arts and crafts and fashion sector and entities, institutions and technicians in the areas of culture, heritage and tourism.
The Arts and Crafts Forum takes place within the scope of the 1st edition of Hands on Azores, a project developed through CADA to contribute to the promotion and improvement of the export and marketing capacity of companies in the region’s artisanal sector.
Registration runs until May 28th through an online form.
The program and other information can be consulted at artesanato.azores.gov.pt, at handsonazores.pt and on the social networks of CADA (@cadartesanato) and Hands On Azores (@handsonazores).
Also within the scope of Hands on Azores, the Business Mission took place from 16 to 25 April, coordinated by designer Joana Duarte, creator of the Portuguese brand Béhen.
Through this Mission, the brands Colville (Italy), Shrimps (United Kingdom) and Casa MariCruz (Spain) learned about the ancestral techniques and products of the Handcrafted Production Units (UPA) with products certified by the brand Artesanato dos Açores, having developed a closer work with the Senhora da Encarnação Handicraft Cooperative in Ribeira do Nabo (São Jorge), the João Pereira e Filhos Embroidery Factory (Terceira) and the Work House of Nordeste (São Miguel).
Generating dialogue on structuring issues that cut across all traditional arts and crafts and a deep reflection on sustainable proposals to give continuity to this common good is one of the main objectives of Hands on Azores, promoted through CADA, as an executive service of the Government dos Açores responsible for implementing regional policies for the development and enhancement of handicrafts in the Azores.
Hands on Azores is developed in the context of Modamac, a project co-financed by the ERDF under the INTERREG MAC 2014-2020 program of the European Commission.