Artesanía de Galicia - POTSFINK

Foreword - issue 03Through this new issue we intend to turn the magazine Obradoiro de Artesanía [Craft Workshop]into a dual tool for communication, cohesion, development and the promoting of the Galician craftsector. On the one hand – and just as we have proven in two previous issues – this publication functionsas an internal means of communication between the sector and the initiatives that are beingset up from the Economics and Industry Council through the General Directorate of Trade and theGalician Craft and Design Centre Foundation. It is also a swift communication tool within the sector,so that the craftsmen themselves can get to know the work that is being carried out in the country,can have a platform for exhibiting both the contemporary craftwork that is being made in Galiciaand also the relations that this sector holds with other areas such as design, photography, architecture,fashion and art. Indeed, in this third issue we are including an example of the link betweenarts and crafts through the gaze of the director of the Luís Seoane Foundation on the engravings bythe craftswoman Anne Heyvaert.On the other hand it is also a manner of divulging the sector abroad, a way of opening up craftworkthrough different distribution channels. The main one, as it grants greater access, is throughthe web page for Galician Crafts, which up to now allowed one to make a free of charge PDFdownload. In this issue we are introducing the novelty of the possibility of consulting each of thesections of the magazines through a web space of its own, which can be reached through the pagewww.artesaniadegalicia.org so that access may be made available to all those interested in thecontents included in each issue.The other methods of distributing the magazine, which will start from this third issue, will bring itto the tourist establishments throughout Galicia, to the international fairs which have institutionalcraft stands, to the schools and training centres related to craftwork, and, of course, to the shopsthat have adhered to the Galician Crafts brands. In this manner we hope to increase the presenceof our sector both in society and on the markets, and at the same time manage to show the greatpossibilities that craftwork has a sector with a future.As for the contents, we would like to highlight the central role played by the first edition of the GalicianHandicraft Exhibition (MOA), held in February of this year, as well as the strong presenceof the traditional craft techniques that, as has become habitual, occupy an important place in thismagazine. In this sense we should highlight the reportages on two areas of Galicia that are greatlyconnected to tourism: one the one hand Ribeira Sacra, where the weaver Anna Champeney works,and, on the other, Ancares, where the basket-maker Carlos González is carrying out an importanttask of research and recuperation. The work of the clog-maker Alberto Geada, that of the Taxuslathe workshop, the Códice bookbinders and the craft application by Luthiers to current Galicianmusic, are a good example of the combination between innovation and design on traditional craftworkthat is taking place nowadays in Galicia.Finally, this issue also stands out because it binds together two activities that are not usually relatedwith craftwork, such as scenography – which we will know through the hands of the characters andthe sets from the Kukas workshop – and then the making of nets, through a report on the O FeitalNet-makers Association from Malpica. The intention is thus to offer an overview of the heterogeneityof the Galician crafts sector and to stimulate its great possibilities of development in the future.