MÉrtola, PORTUGAL

farm to textile residency

2021

Cooperativa Oficina de Tecelagem de Mértola

One of the oldest traditional arts in the region of Mértola is wool blanket weaving. In this living museum atelier of the Waving Cooperative, Helena and Fatima weave to keep this tradition alive. The patterns in the blankets resemble an ornamental grammar affiliated with ancient Berber traditions brought here with the Moors centuries ago. These patterns create a dialogue with the Mediterranean through ancient cultural passages.

These blankets are woven on looms that are over 300 years old. The process is 100% handmade. The wool is sourced from the local Campaniças sheep that are an integral part of the landscape that is protected from desertification by their presence, this type of sheep needs less water and is acclimated to the hot dry summers. This is a pure example of farm to textile and is part of a regenerative pastures project that is taking place in the area. 

The initiation of the blanket’s cycle is the plants in the pasture: the trifolium, ornithopus and biserrula being most important to keep the sheep content and the wool strong. By keeping the tradition of weaving alive, the sheep are protected and the shepherds and landscape are protected thus making this an art form that is preserving much more than heritage. 

By purchasing these blankets you are supporting an ecosystem.

The WEAVERS

Helena rosa

Helena Rosa, the master weaver in Mértola, has been dedicated to this art for 33 years, when the last master weaver, her teacher, retired 13 years ago, she handed the torch on to Helena. She is passionate about weaving these local traditional patterns that have been passed on from weaver to weaver through the centuries, she safeguards this knowledge and prays there will be a younger generation to carry on these traditions. Helena is also an advocate for a 100% handmade process. She believes that machines change the feeling of the wool, that there is a sensitivity when the cycle of wool is done by hand that she would like to preserve. 

FÁTIMA MESTRE

Fatima studied with Helena and has been weaving for 7 years. Both of her grandmothers spin yarn and her great grandmother was a weaver. She grew up watching the weavers in the village, fascinated as a child. She specializes in the Cobertor weaves, the recycled cotton fabric weaves called Mantas da Retalhos and weaving linen.

Powered BY People Residency

The residency with Passa Ao Futuro and Powered by People brought together two designers Annie Millican and Alison Phillips with the weavers creating designs based on the traditional patterns. The Manta de Riscas com Espiga e Fuzis pattern was magnified for the Logwood Manta blankets, the dimensions of the traditional Cobertor were altered for the Cobertor coverlet and the border coverlet uses the rarest of the local wool colors. Each one speaks to the origins in Mértola and has several modifications that can be made for customisation.  They are woven to last generations. 

Due to the pandemic the designers worked remotely through Passa Ao Futuro, an exchange that supported creativity across borders. Through images of the traditional patterns, local wool colors, details and finishing along with the studies from Prof. Claudio Torres that were published in the 1980’s, Annie and Alison came up with a proposal for several preliminary designs. Those proposals were then redesigned through this exchange, based on the technicalities of these specific looms, and which patterns could be woven together.

This project is part of a capsule collection initiative where PBP selected 4 maker groups from Mexico, Kenya and Portugal, to collaborate on original modern designs based on their traditional processes.

Link To PBP website

Pieces

LOGWOOD MANTA

The logwood blanket is a rendition of the traditional fuzil com quadradinho manta pattern, an ancient pattern that was brought to Portugal by the Moors. The Logwood Manta scales the patterns up into three larger sizes. This was an interesting exercise with Helena. The graphic impact is surprising once the full blanket is woven. We also worked with a gradient of the local wool colours transitioning throughout the piece. This is the most customisable piece we offer, between colours and stripe sequencing and variation.

COBERTOR

This piece is a rendition of the traditional Cobertor blankets, blending the two darker shades of wool. Handwoven by Fatima Mestre.

Border Blanket

This piece is a simple 2 color weave that celebrates the vega marlada color wool that is rarer in the local sheep.

Handwoven by both Helena Rosa and Fatima Mestre

THE DESIGNERS

Annie Millican

Annie Millican is a weaver, designer, and international development consultant who has spent 12 years working with global artisan communities and design brands to introduce craftwork to new audiences. In her practice, Annie strives to bring meaningful human connections and greater equity to the fashion and home goods sector through thoughtfully-designed products and systems. She is the founder of Peruvian fashion brand and artist residency Awamaki Lab, and is a founding member of numerous sustainable design ventures and non-profits including Voz, DARA Artisans, The Anou, Kollabora, Nest, and Bodkin. Collectively, her work has supported 550 artisan businesses and facilitated over $15 million dollars (USD) in purchase orders for small scale artisan enterprises in emerging economies. Her work has been recognized by the United Nations Creative Industries Grant, the Ethical Fashion Foundation Source Award, Vogue, WWD, and the New York Times. She holds a BA in International Development Studies and Art History from McGill University and is currently pursuing her MFA in Textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Alison Phillips

Alison Phillips is Founding Partner and Chief of Design at Powered by People, a social impact venture digitizing the Creative Manufacturing and Handmade (CMH) Sector to enable economic opportunity at scale. In addition to her own innovation consulting practice, Alison has built and led multi-disciplinary design and business teams. She served as Managing Director and Global Head of Industrial Design at BlackBerry, where she was responsible for all hardware products. Alison was the Head of Merchandising for fashion retailer Aritzia during a period of rapid expansion and a strategic US launch. As its founding member, Alison was instrumental in shaping the modern lifestyle brand Caban, Club Monaco’s then innovative home department store chain, which was acquired by Polo Ralph Lauren. Phillips holds over 100 patents. She is also an active speaker, executive advisor, and mentor to various tech incubators. Her work has been featured in many publications, and has been recognized globally with a Clio, Good Design, 3 iF Design, and 6 Red Dot Awards, "The Best of the Best" Award. She has a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Carleton University.

Powered by People

Powered by People is a technology platform that uses digital tools to connect the creative manufacturing and handmade (CMH) sector more directly to global supply chains, while driving economic growth at scale. The PBP platform offers access to markets, financing and digital production management tools. We believe in a more transparent and sustainable future for all. On PBP Market, international buyers can discover and easily buy distinct, diverse wholesale products that are responsibly made by skilled makers from around the world.

Many thanks for the generous SUPPORT OF

Município de Mértola

Powered by People

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Many thanks for the ride MINI Portugal!