The importance of Brazilian craftsmanship: An identity heritage

The Wisdom of Brazilian Popular Making – a material good, an identity heritage. Connectarch explores some of this national gem: the Brazilian doing with all its artisanal wisdom, including clippings from the work of one of the most important names in the fashion scene in Brazil, the stylist Ronaldo Fraga. The rich creations that come out of the hands of Brazilians enchant while guaranteeing the livelihood of entire families and persistently perpetuating their collectives., from generation to generation. follow up!

Augusto Pessoa credit

By Jucelini Vilela

pottery, madeira, straw, fabrics of the most diverse, million, banana tree leaf, beeswax, vine, annatto ink, shells, leather, feathers, fish scales, coconut shell. These are some of the countless raw materials that turn into dolls, lampshades, cutlery, centerpieces, clothing in general, nets and lace that are part of the Brazilian artisanal culture. It is a very rich cultural manifestation that often goes beyond generations., perpetuating itself over the years. Introducing different techniques and peculiarities, this handicraft uses a good part of its raw material from the native fauna and flora of each region of the country.. The manufacturing processes are mostly rustic and are transformed into objects of desire from the skilled hands of artisans and artisans..

Augusto Pessoa credit

Augusto Pessoa credit

Stylist Ronaldo Fraga, more than an enthusiast, a promoter of Brazilian craftsmanship, develops a series of works with groups of 'artisan artists' throughout Brazil, as he counts. “My work with these communities is even intertwined with my own training. Since the beginning of my work as a stylist, this is where i would like to be, the place to function as a bridge between the different Brazils: the Brazil of handmade and the Brazil of industry. That's where I built my career. Obviously, it's a minutiae job, because it's not the designer's eye, It is a double way path: I learn, I teach and sometimes I learn much more than I teach. It's a little look, a little color, a small detail, a dimension that increases there, a finish that is done here, that makes products arouse desire in a; greater number of people, but, even so, mainly, preserving the culture of those who made it.”

Augusto Pessoa credit

It is worth mentioning the basis he uses in his collections., presented on the catwalks, as in the parade held in 2021, during the 51st SPFW – São Paulo Fashion Week. “Last year's work, the latest in that direction, was the 'Land of the Giants' in which I worked inspired by the great masters of Cariri Ceará. There is a very interesting project that are the Organic Museums, where museums are the homes of the masters and many of them have a work focused on leather, like Espedido Saddler. But, others, are intangible goods: is the music that is played, it's the way you dance, it's the work that is done, inclusive, with the herbs. So, thereby, it is possible to understand the breadth to understand what popular knowledge is and a 'giant land', as is the case of Cariri Ceará”, explains Fraga. “Land of Giants” took many embroideries in 100% linen and few prints, in an explosion of colors, representing the multicolored universe of Cariri Ceará.

Land of Giants Collection – Credits Augusto Pessoa

spread to preserve

Brazil's cultural wealth is as diverse and gigantic as its geographical and, according to Ronaldo, all this could be better disseminated and, consequently, preserved, through education, “so that Brazilians could understand the importance of valuing and preserving traditional knowledge and practices, such as the preservation and appreciation of their own history, the formation of the Brazilian people. In Ceará and Pernambuco, for example, we have a lot of a craft, result of a meeting of different cultures, like native peoples, Indians and Cariris with the enslaved of North Africa, of Muslim origin, who are the malês and the new christians, that the Jews fled at the time from the Iberian countries to the Brazilian northeast. So, much of the lace, a lot of leather art, much of the art of the plots comes precisely from the meeting of these three groups. Like this, it is possible to understand the dimension of the importance in which artisanal work is valued in Brazil, one of the countries in the world, even by your mixed-race face, that has such a rich and diverse handicraft. We have the art of wood, we have the art of basketry that cannot be left behind, we have lace work for each region and state of the country, which reveals much about the formation of these states. We have pottery work with clay, as in the case of Jequitinhonha or the Pernambuco agreste, remembering Alto do Moura there, in Caruaru.”

Augusto Pessoa credit

Graduated in Fashion Design from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and postgraduate from Parsons School of Design in New York and Central Saint Martins in London, Ronaldo Fraga had his creations presented in different countries, including Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Uruguay, Belgium, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Angola. Tireless, he says he is finishing a project in the Brumadinho region, one of the largest cities in Minas Gerais, southeast region of the country. “A place that was hit by an environmental crime with the dam that broke and is, also, an extremely diverse place. We have ceramics there, the embroidery, a vigorous gastronomy and musical work, well-closed and culturally preserved quilombos. The work developed there was a work of solidary tourism, was to create a product and create possible paths for people to go, since by normal means they would not go. So, we are now launching this project that we call 'Montanhas de Minas' and it is a project that is very cool and even exceeds my own limits as a stylist, that was always my wish: break up fashion, break the limit of clothing. And in this place she manages to do it.”, finishes Ronaldo. Like this, tourism continues its course bringing people from all over the world interested in natural beauties and their biodiversity, in your story, but also in its fighting and talented people, as you can only see here.

watch here the best moments from the lecture of Ronaldo Fraga during the o Connectarch Summit 2021.

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