With the Basketry Workshop in Bunho, we invite you to contact with the history of this craft through the hand and teaching of Cristina Fonseca. Cristina is one of the few artisans dedicated to this traditional Portuguese basketry technique, and who has been generously coming to Cerdeira to share a know-how that is now on the verge of extinction.

Fighting for the survival of this technique and working with what nature gives us, we build useful and decorative objects for our homes with bunho, a natural material that once served and was essential to farming and agricultural work. From it, we can create unique pieces of basketry, intertwined by our hands and our creativity.

Bunho is a plant that we find in several areas of Portugal, especially in humid and/or swampy places. This material, that is sustainable and affordable, is also durable. A creation that will be more than the memory of an ancient craft.

Schedule

• Friday: 16h00 - 18h00
• Saturday: 10h00 - 18h00
• Sunday: 10h00 - 15h00

Program

• Friday: Brief introduction of bunho (schoenoplectus lacustris); its habitat and use in basketry; Preparation of small samples to explore the possibilities.
• Saturday: Preparation of a basket in bunho, with or without handles.
• Sunday: Conclusion of the previous day's work. Exercise: casing a "frame".

Conditions

• Enrollments up to 1 month before the course start date.

The workshop fee includes:

• Integration in a small workgroup (6 to 8 participants in total)
• Training 3-6 hours a day, spoken in portuguese and with support in english;
• All the materials needed for the course;
• Free accommodation in our shared residences during the course (upon availability). The residences are equipped with a dormitory, kitchen, shared bathrooms, washing machine, towels, bed linen and wi-fi;
• 10% discount when booking an individual house on the base rate (minimum of 2 nights). The base rate refers to a stay of 2 people and includes breakfast, equipped kitchen, towels, bed linen and wi-fi.

Adicional lunch service:

• Lunch package for 2 days costs 24€. If you book a meal outside the package, it will cost 15€. This service has to be booked at least 48 hours in advance at reception.