Largest industry festival in Latin America, DW! Design Week, traditionally held in São Paulo (SP), arrives this week in yet another Brazilian city. Recife has hosted since this Wednesday (5th) the first edition of the festival in the Northeast, which runs until the 16th of July in the capital of Pernambuco.
The DW! Pernambuco Design Week takes place in a preview format and is part of the Fenearte Circuit, a parallel program to the traditional National Handicraft Business Fair with activities in around 50 cultural spaces and restaurants in Recife and Olinda.
“The integration and circularity between design and craftsmanship, this meeting of worlds, is the future. This is the first of several cycles and also the recognition of the strategic importance of the state as a creative and business hub. DW’s offer! Pernambuco is to encourage the creative economy, integrate production chains and join forces with movements and actions that already exist in the region, adding to the appreciation of handicrafts and Brazilian popular art”, explains Lauro Andrade, creator of DW! Design Week, in note. He further adds that this year’s preview lays the groundwork for realizing the full version of DW! in 2024.
The Pernambuco Festival
During the 23rd edition of Fenearte, DW! Pernambuco Design Week will share a stand with Circuito Fenearte, at the Pernambuco Convention Center, the fair’s “host space”. In an area of 80 m², it will hold meetings, customer service, interventions by the artist Túlio Augusto and the exhibition of a copy of the Manta Negra armchair, signed by the designer Sérgio J. Matos and originally produced in aluminum and nautical rope.
Black Manta armchair, by Sergio J Matos.
Developed by the designer in partnership with Dona Flor Mobília, the piece references the Manta Ray, one of the largest on the Brazilian coast, and will receive three new versions during the DW preview!, each one reinterpreted by a craftsman. The exhibition of these pieces will be held in the historic Pernambuco Building, one of the spaces that make up the programming of the first Fenearte Circuit.
Pernambuco Building will receive exhibitions from Circuito Fenearte
In the building, the DW! Pernambuco Design Week occupies the fifth floor with the exhibition “Plural: Mãos e Almas – The meeting of handicrafts, art, design and Brazilian industry in Pernambuco”. The official opening will be held on July 12th, for invited guests. On the 13th and 14th, visitation will be open to the public with free access. Creations by artisans and artisans, designers, architects, stylists and artists from the region will also be presented. Among them are Biam Dhifá, Caio Lobo, Eduardo Costa Cavalcanti, Estúdio Galho, Kleber Alves/Design AK, Lama Bioconstrução, Luís Benicio, Studio Alfaia and Wilma de Fátima da Silva.
Fenearate
Fenearte is one of the biggest showcases for crafts, innovation, creativity and popular culture in Pernambuco. This year, the exhibition’s theme is “Loiceiros de Pernambuco – Art from the land, poetry from the hands”, in homage to art made with clay by indigenous peoples.
In all, there are more than 5,000 artisans from Pernambuco, other states of Brazil and foreigners presenting their work. The program also includes exhibitions, sales and free workshops for those who want to learn or improve techniques, practices and processes. This year, classes are offered on techniques in ceramics, textiles and the reuse of materials.
