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 Cave paintings are on the ceramics produced by artisans from the city of Serra da Capivara, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Piauí. The railways and mountains of the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais inspire the furniture produced in Ubá, in Minas Gerais.
It is Brazil showing its face. Or better, its faces. Both initiatives, supported by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and private partnerships, are part of the Brazilian Face (Cara Brasileira) project, a strategy to add cultural identity to Brazilian services and products.
According to Christiano Braga, a Sebrae coordinator in the cultural area who is responsible for the project, this is a "adding culture to business".
"Brazil has a very rich cultural identity and companies may benefit economically from that by creating products with elements of the local culture," he said.
No stereotypes, no caricatures, it is a new view of cultural traces in products that can - and should - be global. Braga also calls the strategy "cultural economics".
In Brazil, the idea gained strength in 2002, after a study ordered by the Sebrae to the consultancy company belonging to Italian sociologist Domenico De Masi.
The objective was to know if, as is the case with Italy, connected to design, and Switzerland, connected to the precision of watches, Brazil also had its own face.
The result showed the Brazilian vocation for diversity: the country may be identified by its exuberant nature, hospitality and by the happiness of the people.
With the information collected in this study, sectors started moving. Handicraft took the lead.
"We worked on rescuing the cultural heritage with craftsmen from various states. They searched for their roots, visiting museums, studying and started generating a new face for their products," explained Durcelice Cândida Mascene, the national coordinator of the handicraft program at the Sebrae. Another point was the creation of a stamp to identify the origin.
Ceramics made at Serra da Capivara among the examples of success of this marriage between handicraft and cultural identity.
There the world demanded greater performance, as there was also the need for environmental preservation in the Capivara Mountain Range, one of the most important archaeological sites in the Americas.
With the support of the Foundation of the American Man Museum, the Sebrae trained former hunters and farmers to work as ceramists. A private company was established.
In mid 2002, Serra da Capivara ceramics found the characteristics it currently has: rustic and with reproductions of cave drawings.
"The ceramics are for use at high temperatures, and can be used in ovens, for example. They are decorative and useful," explained Gisleide Maria de Oliveira, the company manager.
Monthly production at Serra da Capivara ceramics is 5,000 products. They make plates, cups, soup bowls, etc. Most of the products are traded in Brazil, at important chains of decorative product stores.
"Exports began this year, we sold products to companies in Italy twice and are also prospecting the French market," she said. To Italy, exports have already totalled 6,000 products, all with characteristically Brazilian prints.
Face of Minas
In Ubá, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, it was the furniture industries that invested in the Brazilian Face strategy. In 2003, the factories noticed that they needed to improve their quality and design if they wanted to continue growing.
The mission was given to designer Dijon de Moraes. At the beginning of last year, eleven companies were chosen to participate in a pilot project: the development of a furniture collection that had innovative design, quality, and was commercial.
The Ubá program was soon incorporated into the strategies of the Brazilian Face: the products should bring regional aspects. A study was ordered to Anthropologist Antônio Grecco. He presented a report about "what it is to be from Minas".
The report showed three important characteristics that were used in the development of the collection: baroque architecture, topography, as the state has many mountains, and the mineral riches of the state.
With this information, Moraes brought together a group of 10 young designers to decode the study by Grecco. The architecture of the houses - with whitewashed walls and dark windows, mainly blue - was translated into a contrast between light and dark in the products.
"All the furniture has light and dark parts," he explained. The products also bring the harmony between the straights of the railways that transported the ores and the curves of the mountains of the state.
The mineral riches became a pre-requirement for the choice of the material. "All the products have metal and wood," explained Moraes. Initially, 66 products were designed.
After various selection processes, Moraes' group decided on 11 products. They were chairs, sofas, tables and stands that will be presented to the market in the state of São Paulo, during the 24th International Furniture Fair (Fenavem).
For the companies, the result came even faster. According to Moraes, of the 11 models, 10 entered the production line of companies and, of these, four have received orders on the foreign market.
For the designer, among the secrets of the collection are the subtle cultural lines of the furniture from Ubá.
"There are no elements in excess, we did not create furniture in the shape of cheese bread (a traditional product of the state), for example. And that is what makes the products from Ubá so interesting, making it possible for them to be sold on any market," he said.
Face of the South
The Gaúchos, Brazilians from the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, are also working hard to associate the regional image to the industrial production of handicraft.
One of the projects developed recently was the Garupa, by the Piracema Design Laboratory in partnership with the Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and the Brazilian Association for Leather Components, Shoes and Handicrafts (Assintecal).
"The program started in November last year, gathered 43 artisans at the Vale dos Sinos," says the artist and designer José Alberto Nemer, manager of the Piracema Laboratory. Eight Gaúcho designers and two from the southeastern state of Minas Gerais were involved in the project.
The group's first step was to capacitate the artisans. They participated in workshops coordinated by the Piracema Laboratory. After that, a research work was made on regional culture to find out what could be used and transformed into products.
The result: a collection of bags, handbags, bag packs and other accessories inspired in the travelling peddlers that roamed across the state carrying bags on the backs of horses. "Everything was developed with local elements: leather, knit and crochet," explains Nemer.
The local industry also went for the idea, with the furniture companies from Ubá. Tactile and Varjac used the "horseback" handbag models in their winter collections, presented to the market in the beginning of this year.
"The industry's interest proves that adding value to the product, through regional culture, is a good deal," concluded Christiano Braga.
Anba - www.anba.com.br
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