Astrid Suzano: “The craftsman is being given a stage again”
Created in 2016, the Passa ao Futuro association completes ten years of activity, which it will celebrate with an exhibition at MUDE – Museu do Design next year.
Passa ao Futuro was born from a mapping that architects Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, the founders, began to carry out on artisans in Portugal. At this point, the association already has a database with more than two thousand artisans in Portugal. “We don’t know them all, however, we already know many of them. And, therefore, we have already mapped several problems of several artisans”, says Astrid Suzano to DN. The founders of Passa ao Futuro were the curators of the exhibition Um Cento de Cestos which was on display from September 2021 until recently at the Museu de Arte Popular, in Lisbon, about which a catalog will now be published.
What assessment do you make of the impact that Passa a Futuro has had in these ten years?
When we started, ten years ago, we went knocking on the doors of the Ministry of Culture, of Tourism, of all of them. And everyone told us, ‘we don’t care about crafts, crafts are dead, now the world is digital’. People thought a lot and the truth is that there are now many projects, lots of brands, there are lots of mini Passa ao Futuro, which is great, we can’t do everything alone, the more we are, and the more we come together, the better it is for everyone. Therefore, I think the balance is positive, there is indeed a difference, from when we started until now, even for us, at the project level.
You have now done your residency here in Viana do Alentejo, what other projects is Passa ao Futuro involved in?
We were invited to do an exhibition at MUDE, at the Design Museum, precisely to celebrate our ten years, which will only be in March next year. And as part of this exhibition we will also have different moments, we are negotiating two residences with MUDE. And also maybe have a series of workshops open to the public. The idea is to show a good selection of the collections that resulted from our initiatives, in dialogue with the museum’s collection. And also frame the role of the craftsman who is somewhat at the service of design. The focus was always on the designer, the architect, you never knew who the craftsman was. And then that started to change a little. We always talk about who made it, who produced it. There is always this information, which is very transparent. Show the role of the craftsman in the context of design. And we are once again giving the stage to the craftsman.
In these ten years, what type of crafts have you worked on?
We have already worked with basketry, weaving, copper, cork, wood – at the Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva Foundation – brass, leather and leather, ceramics, traditional construction (donkey bricks, hydraulic mosaic). We specifically focus on crafts that have utilitarian implications, which is different from the design, art or fashion market, that’s another thing. We really decided to focus on design, more of a product thing.
Are there areas yet to be explored?
We’ve never done anything with embroidery and lace yet. I really want to work with glass, in Marinha Grande, we have been trying. We are now going to apply for funding to build some residencies in Marinha Grande, in partnership with a university. It will be for 2029.
Which traditional crafts are most at risk in Portugal?
When they invited us to do the exhibition at the Museum of Popular Art, they gave us a theme to choose from and we ended up choosing basket weaving, because we had a list of crafts at risk of disappearing, and basket weaving is number one, because despite there being a large number of basket-making artisans, they are much older people. At the time, the average age of people making baskets was 72 years old.
And are there others threatened?
There are specific things, for example, the stone pottery in Nisa is at risk, the potter died recently. And then loose things, for example, wool weaving, there is only one lady who does it, D. Fátima, in Mirandela. The type of carpet she makes is unique in Portugal. Pastoral art, which is made with wood or cork. It’s a very romantic art, the shepherds went to the countryside, made many pieces for their girlfriends, to propose… This is also at risk, there are no more shepherds.
The journalist traveled at the invitation of Passa ao Futuro
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