VIANA DO ALENTEJO, PORTUGAL
TASCO VIANA DO ALENTEJO
4th to 9th of JULY, 2021
about the RESIDENCY
Four Portuguese illustrators under the artistic direction of Passa Ao Futuro and Vicara were invited to work in Viana do Alentejo with the Feliciano Agostinho family of potters. Using the traditional and local faience techniques on terracotta pottery. The characteristic local traditional motifs are the starting point for this immersive week long residency into this heart of the Alentejo culture.
Through the dialog of these traditional graphic languages with some of the recurring themes in the work of the illustrators, applied to typologies of traditional objects, such as alguidares, wall dishes, anthropomorphic pots and / or small utilitarian dishes, this residency seeks to celebrate exchange through creation. Inviting cross-generational and cultural investigation into forms of expression, material and techniques within Portugal itself. Some of these pieces will be edited in limited series, others in longer productions, appropriate to the capacities of the potters, thus ensuring a return from the work done. An illustrative catalog of processes, techniques, authors and partners will be produced along with documentation of the locals and their relationship now and in the past to pottery.
The Artisans
FELECIANO BRANCO AGOSTINHO
Son of potter, he has been in contact with this craft from an early age. In addition to pottery, Feliciano studied mural painting and drawing, in the industrial school he attended for three years. Pottery was his favorite course. He finished school in 1956, he then went to work with his father until he joined the army, after which, he returned to his homeland to continue his craft. In 1982 he opened his own workshop where he had 14 people working with him. They made alguidares, pots, barrels, vases, alcatruzes, etc. At that time, he also hired several women to do traditional decorative painting. Feliciano does not paint the pieces he does but, very proudly, says that it was he who draws the patterns they painted. Nowadays he works alone on the wheel and has a few women working with him decorating the pieces under his instruction.
FELICIANO AGOSTINHO and ROSA MIRA AGOSTINHO
Feliciano, worked in the father's workshop for almost 20 years. It was with him and his grandfather who learned to make traditional pottery at the age of 13. In 2004 he opened the Olaria Mira Augustine along with the woman, Rosa Mira Augustine, where they divide the tasks according to tradition: Feliciano is the potter and Rosa paints, she is an artist at heart and trains other ceramic painters in the region. Together they make a wide variety of utility and decorative pieces. They are both interested in experimenting with new techniques and designs.
THE DESIGNERS
BRUNO REIS SANTOS
Bruno Reis Santos, "Mantraste" was born in 1988, is a Portuguese author, illustrator and graphic designer trained at ESAD. He grew up in nature and is a lover of popular mysticism. It has more than a hundred covers designed for authors such as JG Ballard, Ali Smith and Michel Rio, among others, and several published publications such as "Sebenta do Diabo" and "The spiritual ascension of all the animals", among others. In addition to his regular work as an illustrator, he has already taught illustration and risography in Brazil, Spain and Portugal and has several individual and collective exhibitions. He sees his work as a way of reflecting on himself and others
MARIANA, A MISERÁVEL
Illustrator, graduated in Graphic Design at Escola Superior de Artes e Design in Caldas da Rainha and, in 2011, attended a master’s degree in Graphic Design and Editorial Projects at Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto. Since 2010 has been doing individual and collective illustration exhibitions, as other countless projects in this area: books, small publications, posters, murals, magazines and newspapers.
MARIANA MALHÃO
She studied communication design at the Faculty of Fine Arts do Porto and “Esteaou" in the Collective Workshop Arara. Currently she is working as a freelancer and makes some personal projects exploring, mainly, illustration, ceramics, independent publication and occasionally larger scale paintings. She published her first illustrated book in 2018, “a rose on the trunk of an elephant," with Editora Black Orpheus, a poetry book of the authentic Jose Strong. In 2019 she edited his second illustrated book, "Cyclone - Diary of a roller coaster", an adaptation of the piece of Inês Barahona and Miguel Fragata. She is a co-organizer of Sábado-Feira Fair and co-founder of galeria Senhora Presidenta Gallery in Porto.
JOSÉ TORRES
Graphic designer and independent art director, born and based in lisbon. With a work specialized in typography and iconography, always linked to associations and fascinated by the legacy of recreational centers. With the designer inextricably linked to his art, his work reflects all this and a desire for resistance.
Tasco by VICARA
Vicara is a Portuguese design brand that since 2011 edits exclusive products as well as working in the development of new pieces, collaborating with an enlarged community of designers, Makers and producers. All pieces are designed and produced in Portugal, created closely with the local communities and betting on a joint network growth. Having a focus on the export and conquest of new markets, the products are already on sale in more than 50 stores scattered in 15 countries.
In 2019, TASCO was created, a brand of tableware in red clay inspired by the vernacular of the Portuguese handmade pottery and in its gastronomic culture. The tasco platform.pt seeks to reintroduce these traditional dishes, involving pottery centers, local gastronomic cultures and illustrators.