SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, December 5 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Cabildo of Tenerife and the Government of the Canary Islands have launched the XXXIX Canary Islands Craft Fair, an exhibition that will bring together 140 professionals from 53 artisan trades at the Tenerife Fairgrounds from December 5 to 10 and whose theme is weaving. . The Fair is free and can be visited from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The inauguration held today, Tuesday, was attended by the vice president and counselor of Economy, Industry, Commerce and the Self-Employed of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuel Domínguez; the vice president of the Cabildo, Lope Afonso; the Minister of Employment and Education of the Cabildo, Efraín Medina; and the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez.
Likewise, the event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Industry, Commerce and Consumption of the Government of the Canary Islands, Felipe Afonso El Jaber; the Deputy Minister of Economy and Internationalization, Gustavo González de Vega; the general director of Industry, Ana Zurita, and the general director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, David Millé, as well as the Councilor for Industry of the Cabildo, Manuel Fernández, and the Councilor for Commerce and Business Support of the Cabildo, Krysten Martín.
Manuel Domínguez highlighted that the Canary Islands Crafts Fair has become a reference and meeting center for the sector and thanked the work of the technicians from both the Tenerife Cabildo and the General Directorate of Industry and the members of the Crafts Commission for the organization of the event.
“With quotes like this one appreciates the commitment and work of a sector that preserves traditions and honors the past. Crafts must be seen as a cultural treasure that must be preserved. Artisans are making a great effort to adapt to innovation and, therefore, it is the objective of this Government to work to dignify this profession and maintain, reactivate and promote artisanal activity in the Archipelago,” said Domínguez.
In this sense, the Ministry, through the General Directorate of Industry, has launched an aid of 400,000 euros aimed at maintaining, reactivating and promoting craft activity on the Islands. The aid is aimed at both the training of artisans, the improvement of their workshops and the marketing of their products at fairs or other similar events that highlight the productive artisan activity on the Islands.
The vice president of the Government of the Canary Islands assured that this aid “demonstrates the firm commitment that this Government has to crafts and, at the same time, gives the sector a common strategy for its professionalization.” Domínguez insisted that the Government’s collaboration will go further with the implementation of programs linked to Vocational Training and under the criteria of innovation, digitalization and sustainability.”
For his part, Lope Afonso indicated that the word craft “in its etymology contains two original words: art and hands. Art and hands that, in the case of crafts, here in Tenerife and in the entire archipelago are also seen with another factor that drives them, which is the heart. The heart that our artisans put into it who have been able, with the passage of time and their activity, to forge a tradition and a cultural heritage that allows us to connect with all the effort they made in our ancestors in their day”.
“This collection arrives today in the form of articles, of products that largely contain that perfume, that smell, that nostalgia of what our land represented at the time and how it has evolved to reach the present day. Furthermore, these products They are accompanied by a complementary offer that also allows other areas of craftsmanship to gain value in this edition of the regional fair,” added Afonso.
Meanwhile, Efraín Medina highlighted the effort made by professionals “to show their best work in a fair that has once again recovered its splendor and shine with its own light. To energize it, there are different workshops and performances planned and an inaugural gala that will take place tonight , starting at 8:00 p.m., which will be performed by the Añate group, which will perform its show ‘Lana Lunera’ with which all those artisans who work with wool will be honored.”
The mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, highlighted the institutional collaboration to carry out an event of these characteristics, “which is a showcase of the talent that is produced in the world of Canarian crafts and its way of expressing it.” “Thanks to the collaboration of different administrations we can offer a craft fair that not only offers products, but is felt and seen by all who participate and visit it and that is extraordinary,” he added.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE FAIR.
Inside the institutional stand there is a space where a loom is installed so that the weaving artisans, both participants and guests, can work on site, making, among other things, traditional costumes.
In addition, a screen has been placed on which images and videos that have been contributed by all the Island Councils in relation to the subject matter will be projected. The exhibition space also includes artisanal pieces made with the weaving trade that have been awarded by the Government of the Canary Islands.
The graphic material will be accompanied by representative pieces of the craft for display at the stand, being reflected on each island with the following distribution: Lanzarote: Traditional pottery, La Palma: Weaving and silk preparation; El Hierro: Cane and wicker basketry, Tenerife: Rosetas; La Gomera; Fuerteventura: Draft and Reed Workshop; Gran Canaria: Pirgano basketry. The stands are labeled with the trade, name of the artisan or name of the workshop and the island of the artisan.
During the XXXIX Canary Islands Craft Fair, workshops will be held to energize the event, such as workshops, recreational activities and musical performances. The distribution of participating artisans by island is as follows. Tenerife 68, Gran Canaria 26, La Palma 26, Lanzarote 8, Fuerteventura 3, La Gomera 4, El Hierro 5. Of the 140 participants, 29 develop some traditional trade.
In this sense, it should be noted that in the Canary Islands there are 87 trades declared as artisans, according to the current repertoire of trades, approved by Autonomous Decree in 2011. Of these 87 trades, 43 are declared as traditional and 31 as trades at risk of disappearance.
The Government of the Canary Islands has registered the ‘Artesanía Canaria’ symbol brand for more than 10 years. The aim of this distinction is to provide Canarian craftsmanship with an image that allows its dissemination and recognition by consumers, to identify the products made by people registered in the Canary Islands Crafts Registry and to protect and maintain the prestige of Canarian artisans and craftsmen. his work. Currently there are more than 900 artisans attached to this brand.
