Culture For All in Vinhais - Arts and Crafts

One of the projects we're very pleased to be working on this year is Culture for All in Vinhais, which will develop workshops and themed workshops in the areas of Arts and Crafts, Theater and Performing Arts, Music and Dance, all areas with a rich cultural heritage in Vinhais.

The area we will be responsible for, as you can imagine, will be Arts and Crafts.
For this intervention we have chosen to focus on the areas of wool and weaving, a raw material and a technique not only of historical and cultural importance, but also with potential for future development in the region.

O Diogo, a Ester e o Tiago são exemplos da renovação geracional constante que existe nas tradições culturais em Vinhais, neste caso na Festa dos Rapazes (que já não é exclusiva dos rapazes!)

Culture for All's priority target audiences are children and young people, the elderly, people with disabilities and the unemployed. Our approach to this project will largely involve training people who live and work in the municipality of Vinhais and who, on receiving the training, will in future be able to promote all kinds of initiatives and activities on these themes with local communities. To this end, we are primarily looking to train facilitators/disseminators in the municipality, people who, by the nature of their occupation, are in close contact with the project's target audiences. These include teachers and educators of all levels, cultural animators, social workers, local authority technicians, local associations and also people (unemployed or not) who are interested in exploring these areas as an economic activity.

Within the scope of these activities and training courses, we will cover the entire value chain, from the raw material to the end product, starting with the production of Churra wool from the four indigenous breeds of Trás-os-Montes, processing it into yarn and ending with weaving. With this approach, we want to emphasize the importance of producing quality raw materials for the existence of Arts and Crafts in the future and also to educate people about the potential of the region's wool.

In the initial phase of the project, a mapping of the craftspeople who still exist in the municipality was carried out. We found that there are no longer any weavers or wool processors in the municipality, nor the technical knowledge associated with these trades. However, it is interesting to see how there are some cultural traditions, such as the well-known Boys' Festival, whose continuity depends, to a certain extent, on the existence of the region's typical fabrics. Traditionally, the Caretos' costumes were made by reusing old blankets. As the production of blankets has been non-existent for many years, the possibility of producing new costumes from the region's typical textiles is disappearing, which contrasts with the festival's increasing popularity and the generational renewal associated with it.

In order to ensure the continuity of this cultural heritage, we believe it is necessary to reintroduce the technical knowledge associated with the practice of weaving, so that it is possible to once again weave the typical fabrics of the region. So, one of the first steps in this project was to survey old textiles, not only Careto costumes, but also the blankets that give rise to them, in order to gain an insight into what is the traditional textile expression of the municipality of Vinhais.
This survey is being followed by analysis work that will result in technical datasheets for each of the main fabrics and their derivatives. These records will then form part of the Technical Manuals that will accompany this year's Weaving training in the fall.

In addition to the textile survey and in anticipation of training courses covering the entire value chain, we also collected raw materials, in this case wool from the indigenous Churro breeds in Trás-os-Montes: White and Black Churra Galega Bragançana, Churra Badana and Churra Mirandesa.

Thus, the training courses related to the valorization of the raw material and also the processing of wool will be developed using only local wool. To accompany these trainings, Technical Manuals are also being developed dedicated to the 5 native breeds of Trás-os-Montes, their characterization and the specificities of each of their types of wool.

The training courses in the area of Arts and Crafts are due to take place in the fall of 2022 and are aimed at people who live or work in the municipality of Vinhais and are in contact with the target public, the exception being sheep producers of any of the 5 indigenous breeds of Trás-os-Montes who may be located outside the municipality.
If you are interested in these topics and think you meet the requirements, you can pre-register via the Culture for All in Vinhais project website. The training courses planned are as follows:

Course #01 - Knowing and valuing raw materials

This workshop will allow us to learn about the wool value chain, the native breeds of Trás-os-Montes and the specific characteristics and creative potential of their wool. We will also learn about good practices in wool production for creative and commercial development.
Pre-register >>

Course #02 - New markets for handicraft work in the wool sector

Creative workshops which will focus on identifying the creative potential of wool and traditional weaving in Vinhais, analyzing and defining international commercial channels and redefining traditional products more oriented towards the contemporary market. This activity will be conducted in conjunction with consultants from the production, marketing and market areas.
Pre-register >>

Practical workshop #03 - Working with wool - from sheep to yarn

In this practical workshop we will learn in detail about the entire processing of wool fiber, from raw fleece to yarn. This training will allow you to learn about good practices in the production and selection of wool for textile use, as well as all the processing stages up to yarn: washing, carding, combing and spinning.
Pre-register >>

Practical workshop #04 - Introduction to weaving

This workshop will give you a solid foundation in the craft of weaving. The following contents will be covered: the loom, its components and operation; fabric structures; making a weaving project; warp and weft calculations; assembling the warp on the loom; weaving.
Pre-register >>

*Important notes:

- A big thank you to Sandrina Fernandes for helping us gather such beautiful blankets and costumes, as well as to Ester, Diogo and Tiago for being great Careto costume models!

- You can visit the project's official website here: Culture For All in Vinhais