Workshop: Sandra Muñoz Artesanias
Craft: Tejeduría
Trail: Atlantico Route
Location: Usiacurí, Atlántico
Calle 15c n 12a 48 avenida el campo
3012235025
sandramunozartesanias@gmail.com
@Sandrartesani
It was clear to her since she was a child: she wanted to become somebody. She admired her grandmother, her mother, and her aunts, all of whom weaved. She always looked up to them and started to learn the craft with them. Yet, she wanted something more: she wanted to invest the youthful energy that flowed through her veins into everything they did. She remembers that, since she was a little girl, she would go and sell what they made all over Usiacurí, winning everyone over with her charm. This is why everyone listened to her when, in the middle of the Usiacurí square, she demanded with all her might a place for young people within the craftswomen’s association, so they could begin the generational changeover.
According to tradition, only the most experienced craftswomen could be the standard-bearers of all issues related to weaving in the municipality. However, she wanted to learn more and contribute, so she earned her voice within the system. She started receiving training from designers who came to Usiacurí, such as Silvia Tcherassi or Mercedes Salazar, who taught her innovative techniques with the Iraca palm.
Somehow, she managed to sneak through and access all that knowledge about fashion and regional identity transmitted by the greatest of creators. Hence, she began finding new ways to use the Iraca palm’s fibers. For instance, she thought that, instead of the traditional Iraca baskets, they could craft furniture, ottomans, and other home products. Likewise, she came up with the idea to expand the accessories portfolio to produce handbags and earrings more in line with modern trends.
Thus, the innovative spirit that has always driven her came through. Likewise, she was able to pass said spirit on to a whole seedbed of young people who saw in her an example of the possibilities that devoting their lives to this trade, which is the backbone of the town’s economy, could bring. She witnessed how more and more people began to enroll in the courses and training programs offered by Artesanías de Colombia, many of whom were becoming entrepreneurs and starting to create brands and marketing strategies for their products.
This has allowed all of this weaving knowledge to be handed over to a group of the town’s youth, of which Sandra has become a spokesperson. She has had a meteoric career, which has been steadily improving since 2014. She has already hired all the members of her household and works remotely with more than 180 craftswomen. All of this has empowered her to manufacture more than a thousand placemats that now decorate tables in Colombia, the United States, and Germany.
She says she dreamed of the day when the 400-snail lamp she made with all her efforts would be placed in a house that valued its worth as a jewel and the fact that it was crafted by expert and sensitive hands. She smiles as she says that this dream came true.
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