craft + design
The Aldeias do Xisto have promoted a collaborative culture between the region, design and artisanal know-how, through projects involving craft workshops, universities, designers and the local community.
memory and cultural identity
immersing yourself in the essence of places
artistic residencies
open map
planear visita bookinxisto
Drawing inspiration from places
The Craft+Design Aldeias do Xisto projects involve craft workshops, universities, design teams, the local community and experts in social areas, who are invited to immerse themselves in the real life of the villages and draw inspiration from them to create objects that are meaningful to memory and cultural identity, the values of the region and the Portuguese spirit. These artefacts illustrate a new way of living, of being, a more ecological philosophy, governed by ethical principles.
A creative destination
Tasked with bringing together sets of actors and frontiers of knowledge around nature and culture, in fields as diverse as history, ethnography, food and drink, craft, design, traditional arts and crafts, handiwork, digital production, ecology and audio-visual, in order to conceptualise and produce goods and services in the local context capable of fulfilling contemporary demand. Highlighting the importance of welcoming and stimulating in the territories the creativity, innovation and reinvention of culture that allow cultural heritage to stay alive.
Craft+Design+Identity Trilogy: Água Musa, L4Craft and Agricultura Lusitana
The Craft+Design+Identity trilogy, consisting of the projects Água Musa (2013), L4Craft (2014) and Lusitanian Agriculture (2015-18), called on various and different actors to immerse themselves in the reality of the villages. By stimulating a connection between handicrafts and know-how, these initiatives have provided an innovative direction and make this area a living laboratory, open to new thinking and people capable of establishing connections to transform the social fabric and give rise to new ways of doing, living and being. The rural and genuine spirit of communal memory and solidarity is called upon to dare to do things differently, experimenting with local resources and opening the door to new thinking and people.
World Craft Council
The Aldeias do Xisto aim to preserve, value and dignify the professions associated with craft, promoting innovation and expanding their areas of activity, in order to combat the stagnation of the sector and its imminent risk of disappearance. The overall objective is to make the Aldeias do Xisto Villages the "homeland" of Portuguese craft, a living and creative territory that contributes to attracting and generating new opportunities for a sustainable, dynamic revival. This made it possible for the Aldeias do Xisto to be admitted as Portugal's first representative in the World Craft Council.
The University in the Villages
Aldeias do Xisto’s mission is to generate interest in the region, which requires inviting and gathering new actors so that, together with the villages and their communities, we can find new ways of activating the capacities and competencies that remain in the villages. Essentially, we assume that the villages are a school, and we try to stimulate the relationship between this knowledge and scientific, technical and artistic knowledge. The collaboration between the Schist Villages and Portuguese Universities arose in this context. Started in 2014 with the Agricultura Lusitana project, it went on to thrive in a more explicit relationship with DeCA-UA - Department of Communication and Art of the University of Aveiro, with projects related to water, nature and the dark sky.
projects
Craft+Design+Identity Trilogy
- água musa
Water was the inspirational theme and the challenge set to 15 artisans/ateliers to develop projects around the new craft + design + nature relationship. Allowing a link between the crafts, the know-how and the culture of the project provided an innovative direction in the reasoning and narratives of the contemporary pieces and are the reflection of a concern with the recovery of identities and the renewal of communities in the service of humankind.
- l4craft
L4Craft’s aim was to perceive the essence of places through the five senses and observe the features that have outlined its character as a top priority for future works. Defining which ancestral experiences mark a place and establishing a counterpoint with reality, led to the conception of the idealised artefacts based on a working method that combines materials and technologies, in a process of interaction between creators living in these places and their guests.
- agricultura lusitana (lusitanian agriculture)
Developed on the theme of agricultural heritage, the Agricultura Lusitana project involved around 150 people from 9 national design colleges, 22 craft workshops and a design team. All were invited to immerse themselves in the real world of the villages and draw inspiration from their context in order to create objects that reflect the memory and identity of Portuguese culture, regional values and the Portuguese spirit. This project allowed us to broaden our horizons on future development and reflect on the relationships that design can create, building bridges between distinct, or apparently opposing, areas of knowledge.
