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As a child, my mom and I would spend every Saturday morning at Feira do Pau. Feira do Pau , or The Ebony Market, was our local outdoor craft market and a weekend staple in the city of Maputo, Mozambique, where I grew up. This Saturday market joined many craftspeople from the region to trade goods such as traditional capulana clothes, clay vases, batiks, ebony and sandalwood sculptures, baskets, and many other traditional craft pieces from all over the country and its neighboring lands.
If I have to think about the role of crafts and Feira do Pau for my mom and me back then, it was about solving our simple needs: our desire for beauty and identity. It provided us with a remarkable opportunity not only to strengthen our relationship with one another, but also to forge a deeper connection with our surroundings. We had the privilege of engaging directly with the people who produced the goods we consumed, gaining valuable insights into their origins and witnessing firsthand the expertise and perspectives they brought to their craft.
One day, while strolling through the market, my mom pointed at a stunning bowl. Crafted from clay and fired in a brick kiln, it displayed enchanting fire stains that spanned a range of shades from warm terracotta to deep black hues. The next Saturday, there it wasβnot only our perfectly holed vase exactly how my mom needed it, but six identical others as well. It became a new product this man now proudly displayed on his stand.
As I recollect this trivial dialogue, I realize how it reflects our way of designing. They are vases; they are sinks; they are bowls. Rather, our creations are open invitations for use and collective contribution. Through their usage, we take part in designing our reality every day, since no one knows our needs better than we do. A sense of identity is shared through a crafted object, and it broadens a conception of authorship toward the community. A crafted object can work as a tangible document of the time, climate, social structures, and identity of a place.
