ArtFio Artisan Association

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Artfio is an association of artisans from a small town in São Goncalo do Amarante in northeastern Brazil.

Currently composed of 42 women crochet artisans, the group was formed at the end of 2001, and was formalized in April 2004 in order to strengthen a culture that already had centennial roots in the locality. Here, knowledge is passed down from generation to generation by the women of the families that are part of the association through observing the crochet technique.

Our work was seen on national television programs and in newspaper articles when the artisans began to decorate trees in the community with their crochet for Christmas festivities. According to Dona Maria da Conceição Juvencio de Souza, president and co-founder of the association, this is also a way of focusing attention on the ecological issue of preservation of trees and the environment.

The art of these Ceara artisans has crossed the borders of this small city of under a thousand people and has traveled to other Brazilian cities. "The community is very small and lives on subsistence agriculture. There was a lack of jobs, and handicrafts appeared as a source of income," she explains. She strongly believes that working with Novica will give continuity and worldwide visibility to the art and craftsmanship of these talented women who have seen their self esteem increase as they generate income for their families and their own community.

Dona Conceição is very proud of their achievements so far and highlights the case of Dona Luidina who, with only two years of schooling, has a daughter graduating from the Federal University of Ceara with a degree in administration.

One of Dona Conceição greatest dreams is to have a definite place for the association, since the current one is provisional, and it is important to encourage and promote the development of the youth of the community and thus perpetuate for the next generations the identity of this craft so representative of this small Brazilian town.