La Orotava proposes the Association of Carpenters to the Canary Islands Award for Popular Culture

The mayor of villero, Francisco Linares (CC), highlights that this non-profit cultural entity “is worthy of this special award”, and recalls that it already received in 2015 the Gold Medal of the island of Tenerife, and in 2017 the Villa de La Orotava Handicraft and Heritage Award. It is also Gold Medal of the Villa de La Orotava; Gold Medal of the CIT of the Cross port; International Center for Heritage Conservation Award, and Friendly Tourism of the CIT of La Orotava, among other awards in recognition of its trajectory and struggle to preserve and spread our traditions and the value of this unique Ephemeral art.

The La Orotava Carpet Makers Association It was established on November 14, 1991, in order to preserve and promote the tradition of carpeting in the municipality, deeply rooted since the 19th century and with outstanding national and international projection. It is constituted by the carpenters, understanding as such the people who participate directly in the making of the flower carpets that are made in the streets of this northern town, as well as in the great tapestry of natural lands of the Teide National Park which takes place every year in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The purpose of this association is to attend to the organization, implementation, promotion, conservation, defense and dissemination of carpets, both in their flower side and in natural lands, which are carried out in honor of the Corpus Christi.

The association carries out other activities throughout the year, such as managing the Ephemeral Art Center (Museum of Carpets) and the Municipal School of Carpenters. He is also part of international congresses and is a founding member of the International Coordinator of Entities of Carpet Artists of Ephemeral Art. In addition, it has been in charge of organizing various trips to promote rugs beyond its borders: Madrid, Germany, Mexico, USA, Italy … so it has led to a great global projection of this villera tradition. And to the intense trajectory of 30 years in the organization of the carpet festival, there is also the realization of numerous cultural promotion activities such as publishing informative material, organizing conferences and calling competitions, among other things.

In this 2022, the villero collective celebrates the 175th anniversary of the production of the first carpet in the Villa, this milestone that marked an imprint that has remained strong until today and that the Association protects so that it also reaches future generations vigorously. The great acceptance that this ephemeral art practice has had in the Villa, pioneer on the island of Tenerife, made this town a focus for the expansion of carpets to other municipalities in the Canary Islands, being currently recognized internationally.

The Canary Awards They were created as an instrument to promote culture and at the same time as an expression of appreciation by the Autonomous Community for the efforts of those people or entities that have contributed with their work to the promotion and protection of Canarian culture and the values ​​that identity represents. regional. Thus, these awards are awarded in the modalities of Literature, Sports and Popular Culture. The latter will be awarded to those people or entities that have made a significant contribution to the Canarian identity and popular culture, understood as representing those activities that have arisen from the reality of the Canarian people, express their interests and are part of the process building your future. “And the Association of Carpenters of La Orotava, meets all these conditions”, highlights Linares.