Your process, called Ancestral Design, involves rescuing and interpreting nearly forgotten manual techniques. Can you elaborate on a specific technique you revived and the steps you took to integrate it into a contemporary design project?
A specific ancestral technique that we revive is the millennial art of artisanal wool from the Brazilian Pampas and its rituals. This includes traditional spinning with a spinning wheel and hand felting using only olive soap and water.
Such processes involve several stages, from the responsible shearing of the sheep, washing, and carding to spinning, weaving, and felting the wool. We work directly with local artisans to ensure that these practices are kept alive. The integration with contemporary design is done through the respectful combination of traditional techniques with experimental styles that deconstruct repetitive patterns. It creates aesthetic possibilities and expands the approach to raw materials, resulting in pieces that are both authentic and innovative.
The AYANA Large Basket uses banana fibre from the Rio Grande Coast. What are the unique properties of banana fibre that make it suitable for sustainable craftsmanship, and how do you ensure the durability and functionality of the baskets while maintaining traditional techniques?
Banana fibre has unique properties, such as strength, flexibility, and durability, making it ideal for sustainable design.
Our “Serra do Mar” project by Oiamo rescues a raw material that is abundant in the region of Maquiné. This area, bathed by the ocean and framed by mountains, is home to about 7,400 people who primarily engage in family farming with a focus on banana cultivation. To ensure the durability and functionality of the baskets, all the raw material processing is done by the community, from natural treatments of the fibre, such as proper drying, to traditional weaving techniques, which are adapted to reinforce the structure of the baskets.
The Mandingo Necklaces rescue and interpret elements of cultural and religious syncretism. How do you choose the symbols and materials for these necklaces, and what message or story do you aim to convey through their design?
The “Oiamo Power Objects” encapsulate a cultural inventory that rescues elements of syncretism expressed in the southern way of life and the practices of a frontier territory formed over centuries of interaction between indigenous peoples, blacks, Iberians, Argentines, Uruguayans, and immigrants.
We can say that the manifestations of the Afro-Indigenous-Gaúcho faith are born from the cultural and religious syncretism of African, Indigenous, and Catholic matrices, where the necklaces and bead threads represent faith, spirituality, and devotion. This syncretism occurred through the union of knowledge from various enslaved and divided tribes, thus preventing them from practising their maternal religion.
For the Mandinga Necklaces, we chose symbolic materials that resonate with the history and culture of the communities involved. We use Cuias as beads, which are traditional cultural artefacts in the South for serving chimarrão (a hot and bitter green tea of indigenous origin). The wool threads are spun on the millennial spinning wheel and used in deconstructed crochet, freely crafted by the artisans to enhance the texture of time.
The Caraí Lampshade emphasises the visual and tactile texture inspired by coastal scenery. Can you describe the process of creating the unique textile skin using recycled cotton and traditional weaving techniques?
The creation process of the unique textile skin of the “Abajur Caraí” begins with the collection of recycled cotton, which is then spun and woven using traditional techniques on a manual loom. This ancestral weaving technique is used for the production of baixeiros, a type of blanket used by the gaúchos on horseback.
The textures are inspired by the coastal landscape and the sand of the southern beaches, and each piece reflects the beauty of the imperfection and the natural impermanence of these environments.
The CANDEIA ASA Pendant involved collaboration with black artisans over 50 years old. How did their experiences and knowledge influence the design, and what was the most surprising outcome of this collaboration?
The black artisans involved in the creation of the CANDEIA ASA Pendant brought a wealth of traditional knowledge and skills that influenced the final design. The most surprising result was the integration of macramé techniques with contemporary design elements, creating an interactive and fluid piece that can be installed in various ways and is both historical and innovative.
The Moorish Bank uses natural wool from responsibly sheared sheep. What are the specific techniques used to transform raw wool into the final product, and how do you ensure the process is both sustainable and respectful of the animals?
The techniques used to transform raw wool at Banco Achego begin with washing and carding the wool. The washing is done by local cooperatives with hot water, neutral soap, and many rinses.
At this stage, we seek to take advantage of rainwater and washing machine water. The water from the first wash returns to the pasture as fertiliser carrying all the nutrients that were in the sheep's wool. We also value the natural colour of the wool, avoiding dyeing and thus reducing water use and waste.
The wool is obtained from producers who shear the animals using the respectful Australian shearing method. The entire process is sustainable, respecting the animals' natural cycles.
What are your future plans for expanding the concept of Ancestral Design? Are there new communities or techniques you are particularly interested in exploring?
We plan to expand the concept of Ancestral Design by mapping other potential creative territories in the field, valuing local wisdom, and promoting the protagonism and visibility of Indigenous collectives throughout the creative process.
We are setting out on an artistic expedition in Marrakech where we will be able to experience and learn, through participant observation, millennial Moroccan artisanal techniques. The collection created collaboratively with the collectives should reflect this cultural encounter in a respectful manner, enriched by an emphasis on sustainability with the use of local raw materials, generating social, cultural, and environmental innovation for the local community.
Through an ethnographic dive, I will explore and transcend spatial and aesthetic reference points. This will involve examining the multiple scales of identity and the interplay between differentiation, hybridisation, and the diverse character of South American Pampa culture and Saharan Africa, as well as contemporary multi territoriality. Positive hybridism as a two-way street should guide this collective elaboration that can transform difference into equality.
Beyond the immediate financial and creative growth, how do you envision your work contributing to the long-term development and resilience of the communities you engage with? Can you share a success story that illustrates this impact?
Our work contributes to the development and resilience of communities through income generation, the valorisation, and updating of a vision of cultural traditions, and collective empowerment.
A successful example is the “FIO DAS ÁGUAS” project, where families from the fishing colony reported a significant increase in income and self-esteem, in addition to strengthening the production chain through the valorisation of local culture from the fisherman to the artisan involved in the project.
