This exhibition presents a selection of photographs taken between 2017 and 2026 by Mariana Lopes, who has promoted, supported, documented and developed various types of cultural programs with local artisans in the island of São Miguel (Azores) over the years.

Her work is the result of an in-depth preoccupation with the cultural history of these artisans and of local practices and of repeated fieldwork.

The selection of images presented here is focused on the material presence, the design and the circulation of the objects produced by the local artisans, and on the way in which historic techniques and aesthetics blend with contemporary utility and market expectations.

The four projections presented here group photographic documentations of four artisan ateliers.

The four projections presented here bring together photographic documentation of four artisans’ workshops. The projection 1 documents Vanessa Melo and her brand MUSAZ, founded in 2025, who works with banana fiber. As bananas are a significant agricultural product in the Azores, the artisan explores the various creative possibilities of this raw material—from basketry to more textile-based works and paper—within the framework of a circular, local, and inclusive economy, that she aims to promote. Projection 2 documents Alcídio Andrade, a wicker artist, specialized in the art of basketry, having learned it as a child from his father, João Andrade. These artisans, with a unique way of working (which involves both feet and hands), control the entire production chain, from raw material to final object. They plant, harvest, and boil the wicker in the volcanic waters of Furnas, in a process unique in Portugal. In the same projection channel, appears also Cerâmica Vieira (founded 1862), one of the few industrial and artistic heritage sites that have survived for five generations of families. Its production remains artisanal, and its decoration, in addition to traditional designs, is left to the discretion of the factory's artisans. The 3rd projection presents Casa do Trabalho do Nordeste (founded in 1954 by an artisan from Flores Island) is one of the most genuine examples of ancestral Azorean craftsmanship still in practice, dedicated to the wool cycle. The raw materials used and the techniques it preserves are a genuine example of a circular and ecological economy. The 4th projection presents the organisation ARRISCA (founded in 2007), that supports and treats people with addictive behaviors and dependencies, individuals with mental illness, and people in severe social exclusion through the involvement of participants with ceramics and their economic involvement resulting from this activity. The same projection presents also Sara Schanderl, an artisans working with fish scales shaped into delicate flowers, jewelry, and brooches which were historically used to create the decoration of religious panels. Another cooperative presented here, The Senhora da Paz Handicrafts and Social Solidarity in specialized in gold embroidery for devotional pieces.