Since the summer we have decided to focus our efforts on extending a hand towards our partners, designers, artisans, and makers in order to better understand their needs and prepare them for a steady recovery. Our channel has been a collaboration with Ensamble Artesano, to produce a collaborative collection and secure the sustainability of long standing Mexican traditions. 

What is Ensamble Artesano?

A non-profit initiative, created by Fundación Haciendas del Mundo Maya and Taller Maya, developed in partnership with México Territorio Creativo, Design Week México, Caralarga and Estafeta. With the advice of Igeneris and the United Nations Development Program in Mexico (UNDP).

It was created with the aim of promoting the productive activity of artisans in Mexico who have been affected by the uncertainty caused by social distancing measures due to the pandemic, through formal value chains.

Ensamble Artesano guarantees fair income to families and communities that preserve the heritage and cultural identity of our country. The objective is to contribute to the perpetuation of the artisanal activity through the making of a collection of limited edition pieces, under the curatorship and creative direction of México Territorio Creativo and Design Week México. 

How are we making it?

Thanks to the generosity of foundations and organizations that have joined the program with donations, we have been able to support the work of more than two thousand seven hundred artisans to produce the Ensamble Artesano collection. Discover the collection here: https://www.ensambleartesano.org/

Who are the allied organizations?

Faced with the urgency of dealing with the uncertainty that we are currently experiencing, Ensamble Artesano convoked organizations with previous experience in collaborative and horizontal work with artisanal groups to participate.

It is important to mention that Ensamble Artesano is a watershed in the collaborative processes with artisanal groups nationwide. The scope of our convocation has resulted in a collaborative design model in which the artisans are part of the entire creative process and the production of the pieces, in conjunction with the teams of the allied organizations and designers who joined in voluntarily to the initiative. We were able to consolidate a community of more than two hundred and twenty artisanal groups that are experts in more than sixteen representative artisanal techniques from eighteen states in Mexico.

How can I access the limited edition collection?

The collection will be made up of pieces of various artisanal techniques such as waist loom, natural fibers, lacquers, wood, pedal loom, metalwork, pottery and ceramics, stone and lapidary, paper, seeds, beads, weaving and hammock embroidery.

The pieces, part of the Design Week Mexico 2020 October edition, are part of the Design House setup in taking place in Mexico City during the month. This is also the time for the launch of the online store to the general public on the Ensamble Artesano official website: https://www.ensambleartesano.org/

The initiative restates its social commitment by bringing customers closer to producers without any intermediary to market the pieces of the collection. Ensamble Artesano does not seek to profit from the result of the artisanal work, since the sale of the collection will be destined entirely to a program of development of artisanal groups and the strengthening of the sector.

Adversity invites us to identify opportunities to build together a more just, conscious, respectful and vital country in its interculturality. Great social changes occur when we all follow a direction that leads us to be the Mexico we want and can be. Ensamble Artesano is one of those paths to positive change.

We invite the public to join the program through early purchases and follow our social networks where we document the participation and collaboration processes that make this project a reality.

TO SHOP THE COLLECTION INTERNATIONALLY - SIMPLY SEND YOUR SELECTION TO PAULINA.GUICHARD@ENSAMBLEARTESANO.ORG AND SHE WILL GET BACK TO YOU WITH SHIPPING RATES. °° We can also take orders as partners of Ensamble Artesano we can be the relay for you. Some of the pieces will be part of our Casa Hormiga in La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. °°

 

Somos Ensamble Artesano from Yon Belausteguigoitia on Vimeo.