Copper pieces decorating the kitchen, artisans making cardboard centerpieces, rugs, clothing items and lamps taking shape. The last few days have been very different for the designers and artisans at Loulé Criativo, but also for everyone who visited IKEA.
The thing is that, between the 2nd and the 5th of February, more than 150 products made by 20 local creators were on display in this furniture and decoration store, where there was still space for artisans to produce live and show their work to those who went there. passing.
The partnership between the IKEA Loulé store and the Creative Loulé it has already taken five years and is the result of a protocol signed with Loulé's City Council, for the transfer of knowledge.
«Training has already taken place with some regularity, in which IKEA professionals shared their knowledge with artisans from Loulé, in a kind of translation of what are the practices of a large production and how we can apply this knowledge in the small production, local and handmade. Even on a completely different scale, there are always things we can learn from those who have this experience», explains Henrique Ralheta, coordinator of the Loulé Design Lab. There is more and more room for «the two worlds», he guarantees.
Thus, with this initiative, IKEA intended, once again, to promote this interaction and give artisans the possibility of having contact with consumers in the store.
«For us, IKEA, it is very important to promote this type of action because we end up creating greater proximity to the local community. We believe that this helps us achieve our main objective as a company, which is to create the best day-to-day life for the majority of people», says Tiago Martins, sales team leader and one of those responsible for the developed event.
At first, Margarida Valente, one of the artists incubated at the Loulé Design Lab, confesses that she was «a little reticent» about the invitation, but, already on the last day, the balance could not be more positive.
"Oh feedback from the people passing by has been excellent. There have been a lot of people interested and wanting to keep in touch with me», tells our newspaper the artisan from Lisbon, who, together with Wesley Sacardi, had your job like entrance card for this initiative, which extended throughout the store for four days.
For Wesley, creator of wooden pieces, his presence at IKEA was important to «bring work closer to the community, creating value», as he believes that «it is good to understand the different processes, regardless of whether they are industrial or not».
Susana Mendez is one of the youngest participants, who found her great passion in the art of hand weaving.
«My training has nothing to do with it, I'm a communication designer, but now I've decided to dedicate myself full time to this job and it's going very well. This invitation from IKEA was spectacular because it allowed me to show my work to more people who are really interested in decoration pieces, which is what I most enjoy doing».
In another area, there is Jina Nebe, creator of the prints that she later put on for different pieces. From paintings to cloth napkins, the pieces mix with those from IKEA, giving the exhibition another shine.
In a room full of plants and decorative and utilitarian objects made of palm, there is Gonçalo Gama, who learned this technique during his master's degree in Product Design and has been creating for about three years. For the young man, this initiative «has been very important to publicize the work».
Who also captivated the attention of visitors were Gustavo Arguello and Carla Martins, which reuse material to make pieces of furniture.
«Here, at IKEA, we have paper and cardboard furniture. When we go out for a while, people immediately come to sit down and are curious to know if it is resistant and comfortable and it is really nice to see the expression when they realize it is», says Carla Martins to our newspaper.
During these days, many people passed by IKEA and got to know not only the project Creative Loulé, like the work of several of its artisans. But there were also those who traveled on purpose to discover this junction.
According to Henrique Ralheta, the initiative showed, essentially, that «dialogue is possible». «Many of our houses are like this and already have pieces from different origins, so we are very happy with this invitation». This is possibly a repeat event.
Photos: Mariana Sedge | Sul Informação
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