O bordado que se expande e vira Ponto de Cultura de Rio das Flores: questões entre o design e o artesanato e o processo de criação da Florart, no Sul Fluminense

Abstract

This PhD thesis in Design, developed at PPDESDI-UERJ, seeks to highlight how the actions between design and craft were perceived, as well as recovering the creation process of Florart (Association of Manuel Duarte and Porto das Flores), in Rio das Flores, the historic city of Vale do café, in the south of the state of Rio de Janeiro, between 2003-2018. And from the testimonials of the main agents involved in this process were combined several sources. At the end of 2003, a group of women is encouraged by the parish priest of Manuel Duarte (RJ) and Porto das Flores (MG) to direct the handicraft of embroidery, crochet and knitting for income generation. It happens that already at the second meeting, the roles of coordination (Cidinha Rechden), transmission of needle and thread techniques (D. Hosana and Aunt Gene), as well as the times and strategies of the weekly meetings are defined. Thus, in January 2004, the activities began. And in this same year, entrepreneurial actions are offered in this region with a view to local development, fostering historical tourism and handicrafts. This fact makes the embryonic process of this association count on several support and consultancy of design and management. Thus, even before its formalization, which happens in 2005, it establishes a partnership with SEBRAE RJ (2004-2016). It also has the support of FURNAS (2006-2008) and the Rio das Flores City Hall (2006-2018). In 2009, Florart becomes a Ponto de Cultura, whose seal is obtained through a notice from the MinC-State Department of Culture (2010-2014). It is pointed out that with the reduction of actions to promote handicrafts, by public policies, from 2016, this association participates in actions promoted by Rede Asta (2016-2018) and integrates the network of artisans created by this entity non-governmental. To help contextualization, we sought to recover the historiography and socioeconomic formation of Rio das Flores, a city in the territory of the Vale do Café, for which tourism and handicrafts emerge and are encouraged as economic alternatives for this region. In addition, the strategies, negotiations and disputes in the Florart process are mentioned, as well as how they fit into this context. Especially as embroidery, the technique with which the association begins its activities, it is configured as a feminine know-how, to the point of integrating as a school discipline the social formation of several generations of women, whose learning requires concentration, attention and body conditioning for mastery and precision of gestures. In addition, there are also some issues that cross the fields of design and crafts. Such as the values that are attributed to design and craftsmanship. And, as it is perceived the approximation between the two fields in the Brazilian context, which reverberate and contribute to the actions between design and craftsmanship occurred in the peculiar process of Florart.