Between July 17 and 29, the Design and Handcrafts Residency of the Azores Region leaves São Miguel for the first time since 2014 to occupy the neighboring island of Santa Maria.

Since July 17, the 9th edition of RARA - Design and Handcrafts Residency of the Azores Region, the first on the island of Santa Maria, occupies the space of the church of Nª Sra da Vitória in Vila do Porto. The residence brings together the artisans Aida Bairos and Marina Mendonça with the Portuguese designers Ivo Oliveira Rodrigues and Margarida Lopes Pereira under the mentorship of the curator Miguel Flor and with the support of the Municipality of Vila do Porto.

The Azores Region Crafts Residency is a project of Anda&Fala - Cultural Association that began in 2014, in the context of Walk&Talk. After eight editions (2014-2022), it became a brand - RARA, which encompasses two complementary aspects: annual artistic residencies, which propose the intersection between national/ international designers and Azorean artisans and the crossing of traditional techniques and endogenous materials with different conceptual models, enabling the transition to new media/ products and their commercialization.

Over the past two weeks, the particularities of the island of Santa Maria, its customs, and knowledge have become the starting point for ideas and sketches of new products, adapted to the different preparation techniques and ways of working clay, espadana, and wicker. Part of the prototypes produced in residence will be added to the RARA brand catalog, which currently includes 41 products.

This Saturday, July 29, from 18h00 to 20h00, the public presentation of the residency results takes place in the church of Nª Sra da Vitória in Vila do Porto, with free admission. At 10 pm, there will also be a closing party at Clube Asas do Atlântico, entitled A RARA party, with DJs Paco Piri Piri, Las Mákinas, and Milhafre.