Craftsmen's
We promote the work of eight emblematic artisans from Minho, some more contemporary, others still dream of a new oven and lots of firewood to cook their artistic creations. They took master's degrees at the University of Life, they have doctorates in the harshness of everyday life. Common to all, is the concern with the continuity of this art of the people. The new generations, they say, do not see the treasure that is so close to them.
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Artesãos do Minho, Portugal.
Alfredo Machado
Alfredo Machado was born in Braga on April 30, 1960. Raised within a family of masters, he acquired throughout his childhood a taste for the manufacture of stringed musical instruments. Encouraged by his father, master Domingos Machado and by Professor Sculptor Jorge Ulisses, at the age of 15 he took his first steps in the construction of musical instruments. Over time, Alfredo Machado manages with wisdom and mastery to achieve perfection in the production of these instruments. Currently, he works in his father's workshop, developing innovative projects for musical instruments at the request of musicians and collectors. He also collaborates with his father in making visits to the Museum of Cordophones and the workshop for the manufacture of handmade instruments.
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Artisan Alfredo Machado has an artisan card and his name is projected at national and international level.
António Ramalho
António Ramalho was born in 1969 in the municipality of Barcelos. Son of artisan Júlia Ramalho and great-grandson of the famous ceramist Rosa Ramalho, soon began to live with clay. Created in the midst of one of the most recognized families of artisans in Barcelos, he started in 2004 to dedicate himself exclusively to the family tradition. However, his artistic work detaches itself from the ancestral line not only due to the glaze in green tones, but, above all, due to the genius way in which he inserts several elements extracted from pieces by his mother and great-grandmother, in a new context dominated by unusual figures from the maritime world.
The artisan António Ramalho joined the process of certification of the Figurado de Barcelos, and his work is seen as a possible way of evolution of the figurative of the region.
Carlos Dias
Carlos Dias was born in the municipality of Barcelos, in the midst of a humble and large family. The father's early death led to his leaving school and entering one of the ceramic factories that, at that time, proliferated in the region. With the passing of the millennium, the ceramic industry declines and Carlos Dias falls into unemployment. He improvises a small workshop in his house and dedicates himself to what he likes to do. He started by creating porcelain paintings with floral motifs, but it was in the representations of Nativity scenes, Last Supper and figures of Christ that the artisan formed his artistic work. Despite the themes common to the traditional artisans of the figurative of Barcelona, ​​Carlos Dias is distinguished by minimalist pieces, undefined faces and peculiar nativity scenes. The idea of ​​mixing clay that has no paint but has color is his and that was how it came to be, preserving the traditional and, simultaneously, innovating. With his own style and way of doing things, he did not yield to the pre-defined rules of traditional figuration. The artisan emerges as the new figure of Barcelean handicrafts, with pieces in stoneware. It has an artisan card and a handcrafted production unit, and is already a reference among collectors and stores, where there is no lack of his work in the collection of Nativity scenes by Maria Cavaco Silva. At the 29th Mostra de Artesanato e Cerâmica de Barcelos, Carlos Dias obtains recognition distinction for his miniatures.
Conceição Sapateiro
Conceição Sapateiro was born on March 2, 1952 in the parish of Galegos Santa Maria. The daughter of a shoemaker and a barrista, she is 23 years old and emigrates to Galicia, where she worked for two decades in ceramics and porcelain factories. At the age of 43, he returned to Portugal and began to create robust pieces of glazed figurines that quickly attracted the attention of connoisseurs and collectors, reaching a rapid rise in the heart of Popular Art. Their representations pass through popular saints, suppers, nativity scenes and professions in the most varied shapes and color combinations. Her husband, Joaquim Vitor Oliveira, born in the midst of a barrista family, is his partner in the production and together they combine the glazes of Areias S. Vicente with the garridos painted in Galicia, in a unique and particular way of making their creations as original and differentiating.
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The artisan Conceição Sapateiro joined the process of certification of the Figurado de Barcelos, and her work has already won numerous national and international awards and distinctions, highlighting the distinction of “Ambassador of Portuguese Handicrafts” obtained in Tenerife, and the National Prize of Handicrafts IEFP, obtained with the Cross that is exposed in the building of the Paços do Concelho de Barcelos.
Domingos Machado
Domingos Machado was born on April 7, 1936 in Aveleda. He learned the art of making musical instruments with his father, Domingos Manuel Machado. After his marriage, Domingos Machado decides to work on his own. In order to improve the knowledge obtained so far, the artisan received lessons in the city of Invicta from a master at Casa Duarte. Later, through the Ethnologist Doctor Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira, the artisan extended his knowledge about the diversity of existing musical instruments, given that the Ethnologist was dedicated to the collection of old instruments for the Lisbon Ethnological Museum, entrusting the restoration of these to the Craftsman. Currently, Domingos Machado manufactures for several national and international collectors, professional musicians and popular music bands. George Harrison, one of the ex-Beatles, has a guitar made by the artisan. He gave Oliver Serrano, the Beatles' first producer, some musical instruments from his collection. As a thank you, your name is on two CDs. The first in 1993 and the second in 1994. It is entitled «Vida para Vida» and has the dedication "Very special thanks to Domingos Martins Machado". Domingos Machado has a letter of craftsman and unit productive artisan, and was the first artisan in the North to execute Violas Campaniças, Beiroas and Toeiras, considered a craftsman of the century by the Institute of Employment and Professional Training, Domingos Machado is today a renowned master with merit recognized at national and international
Irmãos Mistério
The brothers Misterio, Francisco Esteves Lima and Manuel Joaquim Esteves Lima, were born on 11/04/1964 and 03/10/1961, respectively, in the parish of Galegos Santa Maria. These are the direct heirs of the scathing figure of Domingos Gonçalves Lima, aka Mystery.
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This is a family that, with great effort, continues the color, joy and feelings of their artistic creations, many of them mocking and cursing that so characterizes them in the heart of the figurative of Barcelos - from the caricatural to the traditional folk of the Minhota region. The Misterio children thus perpetuate the legacy of their father, who was a great master of the figurative barcelense, expanding the work of the family of eight decades with new creations, such as the pieces “Supper of the Devils” and the “Santo Antónios” walking around bike.
The Misterio brothers have an artisan card and a handcrafted productive unit, and the Misterio family's artistic work is spread across the four corners of the world, from Europe, through the American continent to Asia.
Júlia Côta
Júlia Côta was born on December 26, 1935 in the parish of Galegos Santa Maria. Daughter of the legendary artisan Rosa Côta and granddaughter of João Domingues Côta da Rocha, father of Galo de Barcelos, from an early age that artisan Júlia Côta started working in clay.
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His artistic works are born from the popular imagery of Minho, such as Galo de Barcelos, Peasants, Musicians and other traditional motifs of the region. However, Júlia Côta gives wings to creativity by modeling burlesque figures in the light of her imagination, as is the case with the famous Devils. "These Devils of mine are so beautiful, they are so ugly", says the smiling artisan.
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The artisan Júlia Côta joined the process of certification of the Figurado de Barcelos, and her work is widely recognized, both for the shapes of the figures presented and for the richness of their colors.
Júlia Ramalho
Júlia Ramalho was born on May 3, 1946, in Galegos S. Martinho. Although her father was a ceramist, it was her grandmother, the master artisan Rosa Ramalho, who was her great source of inspiration and with whom Júlia soon learned to mold clay.
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At first, she was just the granddaughter of the well-known ceramist Rosa Ramalho. However, his artistic genes and his resilience would end up giving him due notoriety. Good examples of this are her works “Padre Inácio” and “Os seven mortal sins”, which placed her on the list of the best artisans in Barcelos. His artistic creations are identified by the glaze in honey tones, which he uses in most of his representations, such as jellyfish, christs, heads, among others.
The artisan Júlia Ramalho joined the process of certification of the Figurado de Barcelos and, in 2012, obtained the Carreira prize in the 2nd edition of the Barcelos Handicraft Gala.