PROJECT CO-FUNDED BY

CREATIVE
PRODUCTIONS

The project has recognized that since the crafts and traditional industrial practices are fundamentally representative of creative human enterprise, their ingrained artistic value becomes enduring, supplemented by historical and cultural significance. In its role as an active collaborator, Anti-Amnesia presents the practice communities with an additional possibility of engaging

with practitioners, researchers, professors and students of art and design. The creative outcomes of such dialogues have provided novel and unexpected mediums and pathways for re-inscribing and re-purposing the recovered material, narrative and processual heritage. 

ALMALAGUÊS FOOTWEAR SERIES

The batch of footwear prototypes made with genuine handwoven Almalaguês fabric was presented to the Associação Herança do Passado on 19 September 2020, at the Museu e Sede do Grupo Folclórico e Etnográfico in Almalaguês, where they were correspondingly on display for two weeks. A pair of shoes were presented afterwards to artisans from the weaving community who generously offered their time and fine craftsmanship in producing the fabrics that were used in developing the prototypes. The different styles were named after the respective artisans in acknowledgement of their contribution to the research project, and as a mark of respect for their crucial role in maintaining the rare and exemplary craft form.

AZULEJOS AO LUME SERIES

A series of workshops named “Azulejos ao Lume” was held at Gazete Azulejos involving the researchers associated with project Anti-Amnesia, with the aim of producing contemporary versions of traditional tile patterns. The exercise was also intended as a mode of reflection and interpretation for the researchers, most of whom are also active practitioners of contemporary art and design, towards appreciating the continued viability and the inherent meaning and mindfulness of engaging in a manual art form. A selection of the outcomes has been published in the project publication “Tilegeist”.

BINARY TILES

On the first part of the workshop, titled “Analogue coding”, the participants were encouraged to create their proprietary coding systems and utilise them towards creating a proprietary bitmap pattern that represented short information such as names. On part two, the participants manually transferred their bitmap patterns to ceramic tiles which were then glazed using the Majolica traditional tile making technique. The consequent set of Azulejos, which was named Binary Tiles, thus became an exercise in contemplating the semantic paradoxes between convention and contemporaneity pertaining to the term ‘media’.

ARCHEOLOGY OF THE DISCARDED EXHIBITION

A conceptualization workshop aimed at identifying new and culturally, economically, and environmentally sustainable product categories for the weaving craft of Almalaguês was organised with postgraduate students of Industrial Design at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, under the subject of Eco-design and sustainability The results were correspondingly shared with Herança do Passado, the representative organisation for Almalaguês weaving.

ANTICLOCKWISER

Anticlockwiser is a testimonial sound collage artwork that aims to broaden the conceptual, historical and geographical outlook of the research in order to recognise and substantiate potential patterns of use, production, life cycles, semantic attribution and repurposing pertaining to the notion of ‘dead media’. It is based on people’s testimonies regarding their earliest or fondest memories of the use of now archaic digital media, interlaced with some of the most iconic soundscapes pertaining to past digital experiences.

ALMALAGUÊS WORK SONGS

A printed series of Almalaguês work songs was developed in letterpress at Tipografia Damasceno, with a view to formally inscribe them as cultural artifacts that had previously only existed in tacit knowledge. This workshop was also intended to encourage correspondence between the two case study contexts, who are geographically proximate, towards furthering future opportunities of cultural co-production.

CREATIVE
PRODUCTIONS

The project has recognized that since the crafts and traditional industrial practices are fundamentally representative of creative human enterprise, their ingrained artistic value becomes enduring, supplemented by historical and cultural significance. In its role as an active collaborator, Anti-Amnesia presents the practice communities with an additional possibility of engaging with practitioners, researchers, professors and students of art and design. The creative outcomes of such dialogues have provided novel and unexpected mediums and pathways for re-inscribing and re-purposing the recovered material, narrative and processual heritage.

ALMALAGUÊS FOOTWEAR SERIES

The batch of footwear prototypes made with genuine handwoven Almalaguês fabric was presented to the Associação Herança do Passado on 19 September 2020, at the Museu e Sede do Grupo Folclórico e Etnográfico in Almalaguês, where they were correspondingly on display for two weeks. A pair of shoes were presented afterwards to artisans from the weaving community who generously offered their time and fine craftsmanship in producing the fabrics that were used in developing the prototypes. The different styles were named after the respective artisans in acknowledgement of their contribution to the research project, and as a mark of respect for their crucial role in maintaining the rare and exemplary craft form.

AZULEJOS AO LUME SERIES

A series of workshops named “Azulejos ao Lume” was held at Gazete Azulejos involving the researchers associated with project Anti-Amnesia, with the aim of producing contemporary versions of traditional tile patterns. The exercise was also intended as a mode of reflection and interpretation for the researchers, most of whom are also active practitioners of contemporary art and design, towards appreciating the continued viability and the inherent meaning and mindfulness of engaging in a manual art form. A selection of the outcomes has been published in the project publication “Tilegeist”.

BINARY TILES

On the first part of the workshop, titled “Analogue coding”, the participants were encouraged to create their proprietary coding systems and utilise them towards creating a proprietary bitmap pattern that represented short information such as names. On part two, the participants manually transferred their bitmap patterns to ceramic tiles which were then glazed using the Majolica traditional tile making technique. The consequent set of Azulejos, which was named Binary Tiles, thus became an exercise in contemplating the semantic paradoxes between convention and contemporaneity pertaining to the term ‘media’.

ARCHEOLOGY OF THE DISCARDED EXHIBITION

A conceptualization workshop aimed at identifying new and culturally, economically, and environmentally sustainable product categories for the weaving craft of Almalaguês was organised with postgraduate students of Industrial Design at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, under the subject of Eco-design and sustainability The results were correspondingly shared with Herança do Passado, the representative organisation for Almalaguês weaving.

ANTICLOCKWISER

Anticlockwiser is a testimonial sound collage artwork that aims to broaden the conceptual, historical and geographical outlook of the research in order to recognise and substantiate potential patterns of use, production, life cycles, semantic attribution and repurposing pertaining to the notion of ‘dead media’. It is based on people’s testimonies regarding their earliest or fondest memories of the use of now archaic digital media, interlaced with some of the most iconic soundscapes pertaining to past digital experiences.

ALMALAGUÊS WORK SONGS

A printed series of Almalaguês work songs was developed in letterpress at Tipografia Damasceno, with a view to formally inscribe them as cultural artifacts that had previously only existed in tacit knowledge. This workshop was also intended to encourage correspondence between the two case study contexts, who are geographically proximate, towards furthering future opportunities of cultural co-production.