Azorean artisans promote craft know-how at FIA Lisboa
Lisbon
Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego
More than a dozen Azorean artisans are taking part this week in the International Craft Fair - FIA Lisboa, the largest craft fair on the Iberian Peninsula where 31 countries are represented.
The Azorean delegation includes Sofia Afonso, Marina Mendonça, João Arruda, Eduardo Medeiros and Conceição Medeiros, Vanda Melo, Aida Faria and João Neves.
Isabel Silva Melo, winner of the Entrepreneurship and New Talents category of the 2019 National Crafts Prize; Adolfo Mendonça, winner of the 1st Contemporary Crafts Prize with the piece "Worlds" in 2023; and David Posch, who received the Honourable Mention in Traditional Crafts in 2023 with "Corvo's Locks," are also part of the Azorean delegation at FIA.
The Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment visited the Azores Crafts Exhibition, where she praised the participation of artisans in FIA, stressing that "initiatives like this are always an excellent opportunity to disseminate and market "Azorean Handicrafts."
Maria João Carreiro considered that "Azorean Handicrafts" "are going through one of their best periods," listing achievements such as the increase in the number of artisans and Craft Production Units or the implementation of an incentive system that is unique in the country for the possibilities it creates.
The Azores Crafts Exhibition fair cycle, where artisans' participation is funded through the SIDART measure, kicks off with the Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres Festivities, followed by the archipelago's main summer festivities.
The annual Azores Crafts Exhibition season is an opportunity to bring local and regional artisans closer to the local and visiting public. It ends with the Christmas edition, which takes place in December in Ponta Delgada.
The Azores stand at FIA-Lisboa can be visited until next Sunday, July 7, at the Lisbon Exhibition and Congress Centre( FIL) in Parque das Nações.
