Margarida Cortez was born in Loulé, on the street where Casa da Empreita now operates. At the age of 12 he learned the palm knit technique from his stepmother and began to contribute to the family budget. The palm mesh is a traditional technique of working the leaves of the dwarf palm, based on the baracinha — a small string of palm — which results in a kind of net. At that time, I mainly made bags and suitcases, ordered by a trader from Boliqueime who sent them to Venezuela.
At the age of 19 he married and emigrated to France, where he lived for 45 years, in the Paris region. He worked in a renowned record company and had the opportunity to see the world. Despite the distance, she never stopped keeping in touch with her roots: on vacation in Portugal, she liked to make some pieces so as not to forget what she had learned as a girl.
After retirement, he returned to his country and returned to palm work, as a way of occupying his time and, above all, not letting the trade die.
He has been part of Casa da Empreita since its opening, where he is dedicated to the creation of lamps, doormats, baskets, doilies and many other pieces that unite tradition and creativity. At the same time, she shares her knowledge through workshops, with the help and support of her husband, Jorge Ferreira, a master in the baracinha technique, with whom she shares a taste for handicrafts and the preservation of traditional Algarve knowledge.
