Craft and Design in Local Development in Catalonia

Abstract

This paper explains some successful cases of craft-design collaborations in local and, in some cases, rural development. These are real government-sponsored projects that bring together designers, artists, artisans and schools and involve local authorities, residents and visitors. The first case is ‘Oficis Singulars’ (Unique Trades), a project by the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Artesania Catalunya organisation that recognises the identity of certain trades that have close ties to the area from which they originated. The unique trades are listed by regions, processes and products according to where the raw materials are found, transformed, and the final products made. Different projects are presented and analysed. Experiences have been collected from the workshops, where designers have been involved with rural artisans. The second project is the creation of the ‘Empremtes de Catalunya’ (Marks of Catalonia) brand, which was created to fill a need in the market: provide visitors to Catalonia with a true image of our country through crafts and design. ‘Empremtes de Catalunya’ offers a range of quality traditional and contemporary handmade souvenirs that represent Catalan landscape, customs, history, cuisine and art. A third project consists of the biennial conferences on ‘Joieria, Art i Natura a Serraduy’ (Jewellery, Art and Nature in Serraduy). Serraduy (Isavena valley) is a place of great geological and archaeological interest in the region of Aragon-Ribagorça. The conferences are a ‘must’ for jewellery teachers and students who want to practise their art in nature, use geological materials and experiment with creative ideas.