DIALOGUES: PLANT BASED DESIGN AT GALERIA DE LA ESPADA
“We should not see a separation between tradition and design, but rather realise that the union of these two worlds can create new possibilities”
De La Espada opened the doors to our new gallery, Galeria De La Espada, earlier this month in Porto, Portugal; just an hour from the De La Espada workshop. We are proud to create a showcase for the best of contemporary craft in the heart of Porto’s art district, where galleries, cafes and restaurants invite people to slow down and enjoy the city at its best. The inaugural exhibition, Dialogues: Plant Based Design, curated by Passa Ao Futuro, is an excellent expression of our intention for the space, as it brings together collections created in residencies where contemporary designers worked closely with traditional Portuguese artisans, sharing knowledge to work toward innovative design solutions.
As a Portuguese company that creates furniture at the highest level of craft, engineering and design, we see Galeria De La Espada as a natural extension of our work, another expression of our values, where we can spotlight work by designers, artists, and craftspeople we admire. The “Dialogues” exhibition encapsulates the magic of encounters between design and craft, both through the end products and the experiences of the collaborators.
“Creating in the context of a creative residency is a very different experience from working in the office. There is total immersion in a limited environment and time, which shapes creativity. It is necessary to ‘be there’; it is like a kinship of time in everyday life, a moment of truth and awareness,” says designer Toni Grilo.
The exhibition showcases 5 product collections, shown together for the first time, that were created in five design residencies organised by Portuguese non-profit Passa Ao Futuro in the context of the Made In Platform for Contemporary Crafts & Design project this year. Contemporary designers were paired with artisans specialising in basket weaving, currently the most endangered craft in Portugal, with the aim of innovating and strengthening the future of the craft. The final product collections from these residencies reveal innovation and a wide range of possibilities for designing with natural fibres.
Encouraged by Passa Ao Futuro co-founder Astrid Suzano, the participating designers — Sam Baron, Toni Grilo, Joana Astolfi, Henrique Ralheta, and Christian Haas — arrived at the Plant Based Design Residencies with no preconceived notions of what they would design. They were open to a creative exchange with the skilled artisans with whom they were partnered: respectively, Nuno Henriques and Sónia Henriques of Toino Abel, specialising in soft rush; Abilio Pereira, specialising in basket willow; Sónia Mendez, specialising in palm; Isidoro Ramos, specialising in esparto weaving; and Domingos Vaz, specialising in cane.
“For these kinds of collaborations, we have to be on an even level; it’s a collaboration between a designer and an artisan with two kinds of know-how. We bring our backgrounds but the knowledge that an artisan brings, it’s really special,” says Henrique Ralheta.
The designers learned about the material and its craft, engaging in every part of the process, including harvesting: “It might seem obvious, but when you need to carry a bundle of dry rush to start the day, it kind of automatically puts you in a special mindset; it makes you look at things differently. Eventually, the material gently imposes itself on you; it almost wakes up all your human senses,” says Sam Baron.
The artisans’ knowledge and skills run deep, carried in their blood lines, passed down from generation to generation. Domingos Vaz explains: “Where I come from there was cane; the bases of the beds were made of cane and so were the roofs. I usually say that I was born on top of the reeds and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes were reeds. We are a family of artisans always eager to learn more. When I retired, I decided to do what my ancestors did, which is a tradition of my land.”
Others have also, like Domingos, left their careers after 20 or more years to pursue crafts full time. Isidoro Ramos began dedicating himself to his family craft after a career in communications. As a child, he was taught by his mother, who was in turn taught by her mother, the art of esparto weaving, and some of his earliest memories are wrapped up in these sensations: “When I was 10 years old, we went to my grandmother’s, and the first time I went to the house, I took scissors and I cut the small hairs that come from the material. That was my job. You don’t forget. That’s for life,” he says. At 55 years old, he decided to return to esparto weaving full time, reviving and extending his skills with his insatiable thirst for learning: “Isidoro knows more than anybody about esparto weaving because he’s into knowledge; he researches and systematises information. He’s an incredible artisan. He now knows more than his mother and grandmother did because of his research,” says Henrique Ralheta.
Isidoro is also teaching his craft through a series of workshops, helping to carry these skills into the future by educating new generations of craftspeople. It is the very spirit of what Passa Ao Futuro is trying to achieve: bringing people together with a shared goal of strengthening the future of craft, encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing across Portugal and across generations.
Astrid Suzano explains: “It’s really about connecting people. We don’t see the residencies as a one-moment thing.” She continues, “All designers are based in Portugal. That was important for us because if they are abroad it’s hard for them to continue working and developing with Portuguese artisans.”
The designers push the boundaries of what the artisans can achieve, and provide new ways of seeing and approaching things. In the case of the “Campo” collection, consisting of lamps and a wall tapestry, Sam Baron and Toino Abel created a new way of working with soft rush, using the usually-discarded flowers, building upon generations of craft wisdom. “It is incredible that besides all the inspiration we received, we expanded our technique; we now know more about our practice. I am immensely proud that we went a step further into a century-old craft. To bring innovation into a secular craft — without distorting it — is an incredible feeling,” says Nuno Henriques of Toino Abel.
Designer Henrique Ralheta believes in the power of “soft innovation”; something he feels he and Isidoro Ramos achieved in their residency. They took the idea of a ‘rodilha’, a woven cushion historically used as a seat on the floor, and “we just put it in a new context. It was already used as seating but we gave it a structure, ergonomics, big proportions, and we created a comfortable chair in the way that people use them now,” Henrique explains.
Another “soft innovation” can be seen in the series of baskets Christian Haas created with Domingos Vaz. A modern vision for the handle transforms the typology.
“The designers' vision brings the opportunity to give new life to these fibres, in my case cane, of what was previously made. To transform cane into other objects than those used in the past is enriching and satisfies me greatly,” says Domingos Vaz. “One of the conclusions of these collaborations is that people look at reeds in a different way; that you can do interesting things with them.”
Joana Astolfi modernised embroidered palm with playful imagery, scale, and colour. Artisan Sónia Mendez enjoyed Joana’s creative approach and admits to now, when crafting a new piece, thinking about how Joana would approach it, particularly in regard to colour.
Toni Grilo and Abilio Pereira created a modular seating system consisting of two rounded forms that can be ordered in any quantity and combined in a variety of ways. While the weave is traditional, the forms are distinctly modern.
“The role of Passa Ao Futuro is essential. We need to reinvent and preserve craftsmanship for the future. Bringing contemporary designers to collaborate with artisans is an excellent initiative to bring about change and encourage new ways of thinking. We should not see a separation between tradition and design, but rather realise that the union of these two worlds can create new possibilities,” says Toni Grilo.
Exploring the exhibition, visitors are drawn into the creative journey of the residencies through the presentation of the raw materials, photography and video of the creative process, and the final products. True to Passa Ao Futuro’s research-led approach, the mapping of the crafts is also on display: “We always do passports for all the pieces that result from the initiatives that we organise, and we always explain the material, how long the product took to make, all the phases, where it comes from, origin; so everything’s properly mapped,” says Astrid Suzano. The final products, including bags, baskets, seating, lighting, and wall tapestries, reveal innovative design solutions for age-old craft, and illustrate the power of collaboration.
“I have a deep respect for Astrid's work at Passa Ao Futuro and since our first collaboration a couple of years ago I started intensifying my work with craftsmen,” says Christian Haas.
“This project awakened in me the desire to develop more collaborations with artisans. We must value ‘hand intelligence’ and know-how. Unfortunately, modern society does not give due recognition to manual professions, which leads to the gradual disappearance of the arts. As a designer, I feel I have a responsibility to do something. I believe that, to preserve traditional crafts, we need to reinvent it,” says Toni Grilo.
De La Espada is a proud sponsor of Passa Ao Futuro’s work. With a shared goal of strengthening the future of crafts in our home country, we exchange research and knowledge while offering them financial and practical support. Their Dialogues: Plant Based Design exhibition is an excellent example of the impressive work they do, and could not be a more suitable way to welcome our gallery dedicated to contemporary craft.
Plan your visit to the Dialogues: Plant Based Design exhibition, open through 15th November
LEARN MORE
Joana Astolfi + Sónia Mendez residency
Sam Baron + Toino Abel residency
Photo credit: Jenna Duffy
All photography by Inês Silva Sá unless otherwise noted
