MADE IN - Design with Vegetable Fibers

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MADE IN – Design with Vegetable Fibers

Designers challenged to create contemporary pieces with traditional artisan techniques

Within the scope of the Made In Platform for Crafts and Contemporary Design, Passa ao Futuro organized a series of individual residencies between Designers and Basket Weavers where Designers were challenged to create new contemporary pieces using the traditional techniques of artisans in an innovative way. Two of them took place in Loulé between April and August 2024.

After an immersion in art, raw material, complete process (when in the right season, the residency begins with the harvest of the raw material), constraints and possibilities, the Designer thought of some options that were later discussed with the artisan. Together, they decided which options to test and develop. Each residence resulted in a collection of 3 pieces.

RESIDENCE IN CESTARA DE PALMA

Designer: Joana Astolfi
Artisans: Sónia Mendez and Susana Mendez

“Ó la ri Loulé, ó la ri Loulé” is a collection of bags created in the south of Portugal, where nature vibrates and time passes slowly. Inspired by the traditional elliptical or round shapes used in the palm empreita, this collection starts from the simple gesture of folding them in half, creating a space to carry or store objects. The results are: a pouch, a ‘bag’ with handles and a magazine or newspaper holder for the home.

Playful elements were also introduced, not only through embroidery, which was formerly widely used to decorate this type of pieces made with palm, but also with handles, in vibrant colors of blue and red, made with cotton thread on the ‘inkle’ loom. Attention to every detail celebrates this collection of handmade and contemporary bags, handmade with love, uniting an artisan mother with her daughter.

Ó la ri Loulé, ó la ri Loulé

Fanny pack 20 x 40 cm

Ó la ri Loulé, ó la ri Loulé

Tote bag 61 x 42 cm

Ó la ri Loulé, ó la ri Loulé

Magazine / Newspaper Holder 40 x 39 x 8cm

RESIDENCE IN ESPARTO BASKETRY

Designer: Henrique Ralheta
Esparto Artisan: Isidoro Ramos
Wooden structure produced by: De La Espada

The “Espartanos” armchair and bench are based on the traditional esparto wheels, used to attenuate the weight of pitchers carried on the head, but also as floor seats in moments of rest. These ancestral pieces are recontextualized here, with a minimal change in forms and production methods, and articulated in a discreet wooden structure, revealing new possibilities of comfort and adaptation to new uses.

In its execution, the doormat stitch is used, one of the unique techniques of Esparto work – an art recently rehabilitated with the opening of the Loulé Criativo workshop in the village of Sarnadas, where there was an important production center in the mid-century. XX.