CACAU
Interior Textile Design for Droog
Work: interior Textile Design
Client: Droog Design
Location: CACAU, São Tomé
Date: 2016
Collaborators: Eliza Mante | Camilo Oliveira | Paolo Daio | Dário Pequeno Paraiso | Weavers from São Tomé | Uê Tela
Pictures by: Dário Pequeno Paraiso
Droog was commissioned to redesign the CACAU cultural centre in São Tomé. The aim is to contribute to sustainable socio-economic infrastructure. Therefore 25 local women and men were trained for four weeks to weave and dye banana fibre under my guidance
Together they are making the textile for the interior. After completion, they can use their newly learned skills for their economic activities and other projects.
workshop
During an intensive one-month weaving course, a community of around 25 men and women living on the island were trained to weave the substantial textile. The newly learned skills and techniques hope to inject new economic activities into the community, as well as support the existing island-artisan activities.
Materials
The curtain is made mainly out of banana tree fibre, coloured with locally sourced dyes by the organization Uê Tela, who also handled the indigo dyeing of the warp yarn.
concept
The curtain offers CACAU the possibility to divide and open the space according to the needs of the centre. It will ultimately represent the collective identity of the community through the stitch of each individual. The artwork is rich in personality and individuality. It combines visual references of São Tomé's flora and fauna. The curtain exists out of local, non-toxic dyes and materials found on the island (such as banana fibre and pigments from plants and minerals). The poem 'Agua grande' dear to São Tomé, written by Alda Espírito Santo, will lace the bottom edge of the artwork, uniting the piece. The fundamental idea of the collaboration was to recycle and use as many local materials and waste items as possible to realize the project.