{"id":19835,"date":"2018-07-23T11:10:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T11:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maisonvalentina.net\/blog\/?p=19835"},"modified":"2020-11-28T10:35:57","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T10:35:57","slug":"brhands-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maisonvalentina.net\/blog\/brhands-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Brhands Foundation Join Forces With Artisans and Designers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brhands Foundation Join Forces With Artisans and Designers<\/em> \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Launching of CULTURE project\u00a0\u21d2\u00a0Artisans and designers<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0side by side, with raw materials ready to be shaped by the creativity and energy created through more or less unusual collaborations. That\u2019s how CULTURE is born, a creative hub that grew from\u00a0Brhands Foundation<\/a><\/strong>, one of\u00a0Covet Group<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s projects, known for gathering\u00a0design and luxury brands<\/strong>\u00a0like\u00a0Boca do Lobo<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Delightfull<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Brabbu<\/a><\/strong>, and others. They all have the skills and know-how of arts in their DNA, they\u2019re brands that produce one-of-a-kind products with a history to tell.<\/p>\n

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See Also:\u00a0Best Destinations for Summer 2018<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Recently, we\u2019ve heard of Covet Group and their newly-inaugurated\u00a0Covet Town<\/a><\/strong>, or the \u201ccity of design\u201d, like it\u2019s called in the media. It\u2019s in the middle of Covet Group, near Porto, in Gondomar, that now exists this creative hub,\u00a0CULTURE<\/strong><\/em>, that wants to be the meeting point where thinkers and makers work in a studio of artist,\u00a0artisans and designers<\/strong><\/em>. All of this to promote and project the future of Portuguese applied arts and trades so that these don\u2019t come to an end and meet new chapters.<\/p>\n

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CULTURE<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0has the ambition to preserve as many national arts and trades as possible, and for that to become a reality, it has gathered government entities, universities, polytechnics, professional centers, artists,\u00a0artisans and designers<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0with the goal of joining forces and give visibility to the Portuguese arts in the international market.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCULTURE project\u2019s main mission is to be able to put, all in one place, the artists, artisans and designers and to create a synergy where there\u2019s an exchange of knowledge and know-how, and being able to project it onto pieces and elevate craftsmanship through design for the whole world\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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See Also:\u00a0The Hottest Bathroom Design Trends for Summer 2018<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Joaquim Paulo<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Jo\u00e3o Barros<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0are two of the designers that are part of\u00a0Brhands<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and that are the face of this challenge called\u00a0CULTURE<\/strong><\/em>. Joaquim Paulo tells us that\u00a0\u201cCULTURE project\u2019s main mission is to be able to put, all in one place, the artists,\u00a0artisans and designers<\/strong>\u00a0and to create a synergy where there\u2019s an exchange of\u00a0knowledge and know-how<\/strong>, and being able to project it onto pieces and\u00a0elevate craftsmanship<\/strong>\u00a0through design for the whole world\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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The designer explains that due to the\u00a0\u201cspeed and growth of the in-house brands and the business some of this expertise was lost in the creation of new pieces. This is the moment where we took a break, we were able to understand that these values from these craftsmen are a bit forgotten and we want to give them life again through their knowledge and being able to train people, being able to have some\u00a0artist residencies<\/strong>, always have an exchange of ideas and making these people the face of this project and not the designers or the brands that, usually, are the ones that have more visibility. We want to create this living space where they have all the tools and all the raw material available to be able to do what they feel like doing\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0When questioned about how the young designers that are part of his team have been facing this project, Joaquim Paulo says:\u00a0\u201cSince we are a rather young team they have been facing this in a very exciting way because this isn\u2019t something you learn in college, this isn\u2019t taught in class, you must be on the field, you must be close to these extremely valuable people, these cultural agents that can teach us how to do\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Cl\u00e1udia Nogueira<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>is one of those young designers that has had the chance to experiment and get to know some of the arts better, also counting on the guidance of professor Almiro Amorim, from ESAD (Higher School of Arts and Design). According to Cl\u00e1udia Nogueira, her and the other young designers started by\u00a0\u201cunderstanding and researching what were the several arts\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and which ones they would like to work with. She highlighted filigree and reminded us that there\u2019s a jewellery department in the company, where they have the chance to\u00a0\u201cgo from theory to practice, where we can not only see but be with the artisan, and be close to him and try to understand how it\u2019s done, understand the technique itself, and the components that surround the art\u201d<\/em>, she says.<\/p>\n

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We also had the chance to talk to some of the entities present at the launching of CULTURE.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe artisan also needs design to able to make the pieces that are valued nowadays\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Nuno Barra<\/strong><\/em>, Marketing and New Product Development Director at Vista Alegre Atlantis, believes that\u00a0\u201c<\/em>there are many points of contact, eventually there are even new types of products that can start from here\u201d<\/em>. When we talk about\u00a0artisanal techniques and design<\/strong><\/em>, applied to the\u00a0world of luxury goods<\/strong><\/em>, Nuno Barra clarifies:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s the combination of the two areas, not even design can do it, it will never be able to make its pieces without the collaboration of the artisan and the artisan also needs design to able to make the pieces that are valued nowadays. Because what is valued today won\u2019t be what is valued in twenty years, things change. But that joint collaboration, and I really believe in all of the areas, either there\u2019s a collaboration among the areas or there\u2019s always something missing. Just like the creation of the product\u00a0<\/em>and the billing of the company, if there isn\u2019t a combination of these several areas something will fail during the process, there has to be a collaboration\u201d<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cit\u2019s an extremely ambitious project, but it\u2019s extraordinary, and it\u2019s in line with\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>what\u2019s fought for at a national level and at a European level, for the development of our craftsmanship sector\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Lu\u00eds Rocha<\/strong><\/em>, Director of CEARTE \u2013 Centre for the Professional Training in Craftsmanship, believes\u00a0\u201cthat it\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>an extremely ambitious project, but it\u2019s extraordinary, and it\u2019s in line with what\u2019s fought for at a national level and at a European level, for the development of our\u00a0craftsmanship sector<\/strong>\u00a0and to sell Portugal out there and in here with what distinguishes us, what identifies us and what makes us different\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Lu\u00eds Rocha emphasizes that what makes the project different is its commercial nature because\u00a0\u201cwithout marketing,\u00a0<\/em>without selling, without money, none of us believe, none of us live and, therefore, this is also a great asset of the project\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Lu\u00eds Rocha also tells us about the possibility of the existence of artist residencies, through partnerships between\u00a0CULTURE project<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and CEARTE, even though he knows that\u00a0\u201cit isn\u2019t easy especially in Portugal, most of our artisans are still very closed off to these types of questions, fortunately, we have a group of new artisans, with a different training, with a different openness to the world and that already have, let\u2019s say, some availability, they already have a better understanding of the assets that they themselves can have from the openness to projects like this\u201d<\/em>, he concludes.<\/p>\n

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On the other hand,\u00a0Ricardo Tri\u00e3es<\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0Director of the Preservation and Restoration Laboratory, Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, says he believes that the\u00a0CULTURE project<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u201chas much of what is the DNA of our institution, the work of preservation and restoration<\/strong>\u00a0is essentially about those assets that in some way, either because of the materials, either because of the techniques, or even because of the artists and craftsman and artisans involved, are the objects of greater quality and greater importance<\/em>. (\u2026) In other words, it\u2019s those assets, let\u2019s say, that through the journey of our history allowed the creation of a strong identity with a more or less extended community, but with a strong cultural identity\u201d<\/em>. Regarding the possibility of the students participating in artist residencies, he says that\u00a0\u201cnamely the master\u2019s students, that can also dedicate themselves a bit more to the study of those techniques\u201d<\/em>. Ricardo Tri\u00e3es emphasizes that it\u2019s important to\u00a0\u201cleave that knowledge so that, nowadays, the\u00a0artisans and designers<\/strong>, the artists, can also have a foundation of work, in some way respecting that which were the traditional techniques and the traditional materials\u201d<\/em>. And he concludes:\u00a0\u201cThis experience\u00a0<\/em>of developing the\u00a0traditional techniques<\/strong>, that they\u2019ve learned in the program, allows them, let\u2019s say, to create here other alternatives in their professional journey\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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In this first gathering were represented the following entities:<\/p>\n