ROOTED CRAFT explores rural crafts with a new approach to weaving techniques that were once a thriving economic activity for agricultural and transportation of goods, as well as for domestic use. With the scarcity of natural resources and environmental awareness, there is a resurgence of artisanal production, recovering ancestral technologies. The resulting products and researches answer the demand for more ecological consumption choices. With that in mind, this project looks to form new hybrid understandings of weaving and facilitating local and international exchange to open new possibilities for new applications and design strategies. In result of these rich archives, they will be integrated in the ‘Situated Practices’ exhibition.

Top: Judite do Vale a moer milho. Foto Cruz Azevedo, 1938, Alte Aqui.
Bottom: Empreita was used in agricultural and transportation of goods, as well as for domestic use.

Dwarf Palm Leaves / Palma
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Palm work consists of weaving braided strips of dwarf palm leaves into long “ribbons” called empreita, and is one of the most deeply rooted elements in the material culture of the Algarve. It was used in the making of rural everyday artefacts, in packaging and transport of goods and food, in objects for domestic use, in agricultural work, in fishing and in some objects of personal use. The variety of artefacts is great but unfortunately has fallen into disuse, no longer being produced.

Intended also for demanding labor use such as working in salt pans and transporting heavy loads in agricultural work, palm labor was mainly produced by women. The term “empreita” was linked to this craft because, it was, in times paid according to the quantity produced per day—paid to the “empreitada” (Brando, Simão, 1997).¹

Loulé local weaving archetypes of dwarf palm leaves.

Casa da Empreita
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Traditionally, Loulé is a land of palm weavers—women who dedicate themselves to the technique of weaving the leaves from the dwarf palm tree, abundant in the region. In the past, the work was necessary to pack dried fruits for export and where they appeared, in the second half of the century, the first wholesalers for the resale of handcrafted items.² Nowadays this is no longer the case and this extraordinary craft is disappearing. To counter the situation, the Loulé Municipal Council set up a palm weaving shop (Casa da Empreita) in 2017. Made up of a collective of 12 craftswomen who work and sell what they produce, the shop is part of the workshops of the Loulé Criativo project, which aims to promote and support arts and crafts on the verge of extinction. Casa da Empreita recreates, in modern times, what, about a century ago, were the palm weaving shops, which existed throughout the Algarve, and where Loulé stood out for its importance.³

During the residency, together with the weavers of Casa da Empreita, we archived the palm weaving archetypes, which was an important move to document and preserve the local techniques. 

A woven miniature basket from Museu Regional do Algarve.

* Note: Traditionally, the best fibres are subjected to a treatment process with smoke from the burning of sulphur, being placed in damp in a closed place, where a stone of sulphur is burned. The use of sulphur smoke serves to remove the top layer of the leaf, allowing, on the one hand, the surface to become whiter, but also porous, to receive dyeing. This treatment also imparts flexibility to the fibres. Alternatively, there are more sustainable way for whitening the fibres by drying them under the shade.

The interweaving knowledge between East and West
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In many (sub)tropical continents in the world, and tropical cultures I explored – Borneo, palm leaves of different lengths and widths define different techniques. If one may make a distinction with dwarf palm leaves due to its leaf length, the technique of dwarf palm leaves can be seen as limiting, but often overlooked and under scrutinized.

In the tropical context, palm leaves of local species are woven as one piece as a whole artifact, whereas with dwarf palm leaves, techniques have already been thought through with creating a continuous weave (empreita) to compensate the short leaf length.

However, this does not mean dwarf palm has less disadvantage than the other. Weaving with empreita means understanding the weaving engineering; the flow from A to B. This so-called limitation could be interesting because stitching and many other unheard of techniques could be incorporated.

For example, it could be interesting to look into non-traditional forms other than oval, rounded, and horizontally stitched forms. My proposal investigates and intervenes with the traditional forms and techniques with exploring new ways of folding, ending and joining the elements.

The proposal and results
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Adjacent to the problematic value of the material, a solution is proposed for a research and cooperative work between weavers and designers over time, as well as important initiatives and policy makers, whose role could facilitate research projects on sustainable strategies to rethink the material use.

Continuity in creation for the material would mean looking into big picture of things by reimagining new needs and potential ways to look into interdisciplinary and bioregional practices. From construction materials to fabrics, and from plant-based shoes to molded components, all of the experimental objects resulting from investigation and extensive collaboration.

A design collaboration with Loulé weavers.