Venue Exhibition
A Transformadora
Venues Residencies
A Transformadora
Burel Factory (Manteigas)
J Gomes
Kira Becker | BUREL
Mariana Santana | BUREL
João Xará | A Transformadora
Margarita Rozhkova | A Transformadora
Anna Resei | J Gomes
With the aim of promoting collaborative dynamics between contemporary designers, the local industry and the public, capable of boosting experimentation in textile and fashion design and the creation of value in the regional industry, five creative residencies with a strong technical slant were held in local factories that have consistent projects in line with the values promoted by the Triennial. Split between Burel Factory (Manteigas), A Transformadora and J Gomes (Covilhã), these five residencies aimed to use raw materials and manufacturing processes in an industrial context as part of a creative process where design is the driving discipline.
From the Burel Factory, Kira Becker (DE) shows us investigations into local weaving techniques or the preweaving process by local workers, while Mariana Santana (BR/PT) has created a 100% wool burel jacket that is inspired by traditional shepherds’ cloaks and the topographical lines of the Serra da Estrela.
In residence at A Transformadora, João Xará (PT) shows a project based on researching natural pigments and reusing dyeing water, with a focus on pigment extracted from Pau-Brasil, and Margarita Rozhkova (RU/DE) reveals the possibilities and limitations of felting, in a piece whose comfort and functionality is inspired by the shepherd costume from Serra da Estrela.
At J Gomes, Anna Resei (AT/DE) has created ‘jd.lounger’, an outdoor object designed for resting and whose structure invites multiple ways of sitting or reclining, created from the excesses of the factory specialising in textile recycling.
These fantastic creative works can now be seen at A Transformadora (R. do Pisão Novo 2, 6200 Covilhã, Portugal), from Tuesday to Saturday, between 10am and 6pm.
THE FACTORIES
Burel Factory
Located in Manteigas, the company is dedicated to recovering the region’s textile heritage and bringing it to contemporary products, with a particular focus on the work carried out on the traditional Burel fabric, which uses locally sourced wool, and where the introduction of colour and three-dimensional applications has brought it, through the company’s work, into the world of contemporary interior design, exploiting the acoustic and comfort qualities of this fabric. It also develops clothing and accessories with this fabric and others that it has recovered from patterns that are part of the region’s historical industrial heritage.
A Transformadora
It is located in Ribeira da Goldra, the cradle of Covilhã’s industrial history, and belongs to the same business group as Burel Factory. It is a company dedicated to dyeing processes (fabric, yarn and fabric) and finishing fabrics, including felting and other processes for finalising the group’s own products and those of other companies. It has a range of equipment and technical expertise that preserves in the city and the region an area that is essential to the quality of textile production.
J Gomes
It is a company with a history of recycling textile fibres, especially wool, and which has a contemporary and coherent approach to the circularity of materials in textile production processes. Its products, ecological recycled yarns, and its activity contribute to the sustainability of textile production by utilising waste from the industrial process of companies in the sector. It is also technically prepared for the challenge of post-consumer recycling, an essential factor for the sustainability of textiles and clothing in the very near future.
