DAY 1:
1. Casa do Trabalho Nordeste (founded 1954) is one of the most genuine examples of ancestral Azorean craftsmanship still in practice. The raw materials it uses and the techniques it preserves are a spontaneous example of a circular and ecological economy. It was founded by an artisan from Ilha das Flores. The workshop is dedicated to the wool cycle, where trainees can experiment with wool.
https://cmnordeste.pt/cultura/museus-do_nordeste/casa-do-trabalho/

2. ARRISCA (founded 2007) (https://arrisca.pt/) ARRISCA supports and cares for people with addictive behaviors and dependencies, individuals with mental illnesses, and people experiencing severe social exclusion. It also focuses on promoting health, preventing illness, and supporting healthy citizens, educating them to avoid risky behaviors that could lead to disease. It includes a component that engages participants through ceramics and the economy associated with this activity.

3. Artisans working with Fish scales create intricate, traditional handicrafts using fish scales—particularly from white fish—cleaned, dyed, and shaped into delicate flowers, jewelry, and brooches. Historically fish scales were used to create the decoration of religious panels, especially the 'presépios' (3D nativity scenes, sculpted and painted in a miniatural technique). This art form is often practiced in coastal communities like São Miguel and Pico. The scales are cleaned in several waters and transformed into delicate petals or leaves that, later are shaped with scissors, with great skill, composing flower clusters.( https://artesanato.azores.gov.pt/catalogodigital/pt/escama-de-peixe

DAY 2:
4. Cerâmica Vieira (founded 1862) is one of the few industrial and artistic heritage sites that have survived for five generations of families. Its production remains artisanal, and its decoration, in addition to traditional designs, is left to the discretion of the factory's artisans.
https://juntarosario.org/turismo/patrimonio-cultura-e-ciencia/ceramica-vieira/

5. Gorreana tea (founded 1883) is the oldest tea plantation in Europe, located in the Azores.It preserves ancestral Eastern traditions that have been maintained through five generations of the same family since 1883. This production retains the tea’s original qualities, combining Oriental traditions with Azorean heritage, in a region whose climate and soil offer ideal conditions for cultivating Camellia sinensis. Committed to environmental sustainability, Gorreana continues to produce tea using natural, chemical-free methods, ensuring the preservation of both the land and local traditions for future generations.
https://gorreana.pt/pt/

DAY 3:
6. Vanessa Melo (founder of the MUSAZ brand in 2025), artisan and Senior Technician at CADA – Azores Arts and Design Centre, works with banana fiber. The banana tree is a herbaceous plant of the genus MUSA, which bears fruit only once, becoming a bio-waste afterwards. As bananas are a significant agri-food product of the Azores, the artisan has sought to explore the various creative potentials of this raw material – from basketry to textiles and paper – within the framework of a circular, local and inclusive economy that she aims to promote. This artisanal work encompasses the entire production process, from the extraction and processing of the fiber to the design and creation of different pieces.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558090492677&ref=_xav_ig_profile_page_web#

7. Alcídio Andrade (b.1980), Wicker artist, creates traditional and contemporary art in wicker. Alcídio Andrade specializes in the art of wickerwork, having learned it as a child from his father, João Andrade. Artisans with a unique way of working (involving their feet and hands), they control the entire production chain from raw material to finished object. They plant, harvest and boil the wicker in the volcanic waters of Furnas, a unique process in Portugal.
As well as developing traditional, decorative and household objects, Alcídio gives training courses at national and international level, and has also developed numerous collaborations with architects and designers. He has been collaborating with the RARA project since 2017, with his father, João Andrade

8. Senhora da Paz (founded 1997)
The Senhora da Paz Handicrafts and Social Solidarity Cooperative was founded in 1997, developing artisanal work in various areas such as embroidery, fish scale crafts, and pottery. However, it is particularly in gold embroidery that this handicrafts cooperative stands out, due to the quality and mastery with which it produces devotional pieces, such as flags and Holy Spirit hearts, as well as the cloaks of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres and Bom Jesus da Pedra, venerated in Vila Franca do Campo.

Conference DAY 3:
RARA (founded 2015) is an intervention and artistic residence project based in Azores, and coordinated by photographer Mariana Lopes, that propose the intersection between designers and Azorean local artisans, crosspolinating traditional techniques and endogenous raw materials with different conceptual design models, thus enabling the transition to new media and products and the sustainability and the transmission of the local techniques.
https://www.rara-azores.com/

WALK AND TALK (founded 2011) is a pioneering arts festival held annually in the Azores, Portugal, since 2011, which has evolved into a major biennial event, fostering contemporary art deeply rooted in the archipelago's unique cultural and geographical context. Founded by Diana Sousa and Jesse James through the cultural association Anda&Fala, the festival was initially established to transform the island of São Miguel into an open-air museum and to connect the isolated Azores with international contemporary art scenes. https://2025.walktalkazores.org/en/about/

CADA (Centro de Arte e Design dos Açores)(founded 1998)
The Azores Crafts and Design Center (CADA) works to enhance the value of artisanal production by combining tradition with innovation and contemporary design. Focused on promoting local craftsmanship, it develops synergies with cultural institutions and national programs (such as the Saber Fazer Program), fostering memory, identity, and artistic creation across the islands. It is a service of the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing and Employment, responsible for implementing regional policy in the field of traditional crafts. It develops measures to improve artisans’ skills and qualifications and to further promote the development of Azorean craftsmanship, highlighting its importance in stimulating the local economy. Its activity is structured around four fundamental axes: Research/Certification, Training, Artisan Support, and Promotion.