PROJECTS AND BENEFICIARIES – Artesano Global Foundation

INTEGRAL FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS PROJECT

The community food project that we are developing in the community of San Martín de Porres, Las Casitas sector, municipality of Arismendi, in the capital of the state of Nueva Esparta, also includes artistic and recreational activities.

The goal of this project is to achieve integral and nutritional benefits for children, adolescents and volunteers of this community of San Martín de Porres, Las Casitas sector, La Asunción, on the island of Margarita. Currently, the project serves 80 beneficiaries (70 children and 10 volunteer mothers) in a condition of food insecurity. In addition, aware of the importance of art as a tool for social development, creative skills and emotional well-being, we organize activities with artists, artisans and teachers for this population.

The age of the children and adolescents who have been assisted ranges from 2 to 18 years old. These children are fully integrated into the educational system in the initial, primary and diversified middle school stages.

The children who benefit from the Proyecto Integral de Seguridad Alimentaria y Medios de Vida also have the opportunity to participate in cultural and recreational activities.

80 direct beneficiaries
More than 320 indirect beneficiaries
44,228 meals served (lunch and afternoon snack)
(September 2021 to October 2024)
95% efficiency

MUSIC EDUCATION

One of our main lines of action is to support the creative fabric in the fields of arts, crafts and culture in general. With this in mind, we created the Musical Residence project, which aims to help musicians focus their attention on the training process.

In 2021, the program Hacedores de país, in collaboration with the Conservatorio de Música y Danza Alberto Requena (Alberto Requena Music and Dance Conservatory) and the Alliance Française of Margarita, began to implement the Proyecto de Formación Musical The aim of the project is to offer young instrumentalists the opportunity to develop their talents through pedagogical techniques taught by qualified professionals, as part of their preparation to enter internationally renowned conservatories or to cultivate themselves as music professionals and/or teachers in our country, allowing them to become multipliers of the knowledge acquired. In addition to musical education, the training process of these young instrumentalists includes, among other aspects, reading and discussion of universal historical and art historical themes, courses to improve verbal expression and communication, and learning other languages. This provides them with tools that will benefit them not only on a personal level, but also in the professional and academic fields.

We also consider it necessary to offer them the opportunity to share educational experiences with national and international teachers, so we are always willing to support activities and events that promote these meetings, as is the case of the International Classical Guitar Festival that takes place in Margarita Island.

Students attending the master class on repertoire review and classical guitar techniques given by Costa Rican maestros Sergio Carrera and Henry Calvo at the Conservatorio de Música y Danza Alberto Requena, Los Robles, Margarita Island, as part of the International Classical Guitar Festival, June 27-July 1, 2023.

Clarinetist and saxophonist Edgar Parra Torres and violinist Eros Padrón Quijada, two of the three young musicians benefited in the first stage of our Proyecto de Formación Musical (2021-2022), who were admitted to prestigious French conservatories.

214 direct beneficiaries
More than 710 indirect beneficiaries
15 chairs of musical education
30% increase in the number of students

EL CERCADO CERAMIC WORKSHOP SCHOOL PROJECT

El Cercado Ceramic Workshop School created in 1962 by the Regional Government’s Department of Education, with the support of our Foundation and the work of master craftsmen and their apprentices, has undergone a process of restoration of its premises, which will allow it to fulfill the purpose for which it was conceived: to preserve and transmit the regional pottery tradition and to guarantee the incorporation of new generations into the craft.

The revitalization project of the physical plant of the Escuela Taller de Cerámica El Cercado has a special meaning for us. Since the publication of the book La alfarería popular de El Cercado, isla de Margarita, 2016 (The Popular Pottery of El Cercado, Margarita Island) by the researcher Nelly Barbieri, we have been committed, together with the community of El Cercado, to continue documenting and preserving their ancestral pottery tradition, on which a large part of the economy of this island town is based. The implementation of the project, developed as part of the Hacedores de país program, is led by master potter Juan José Bermúdez and other members of the school’s faculty, who are carrying on the legacy of their elders and keeping alive a practice that has been joined by new generations. With the revitalization and strengthening of the Escuela Taller de Cerámica El Cercado, the pottery artists will have a space for training and also for the documentation and exhibition of their work, which will lead to the revaluation and promotion of this activity. It is also projected as a place with the disposition and conditions to welcome researchers and creators, both national and foreign, interested in learning about the handicraft production techniques that have been used there for centuries.

The publication of this book was the first step in the relationship that continues to this day and commits us to encourage and generate actions aimed at preserving and promoting the pottery tradition of El Cercado.

Preserving the tradition for present and future generations has been the work of several generations of potters who have set a relevant example, including Carmen Elena Domínguez de Brito, whose work has been recognized for its excellent craftsmanship.

Assistance to school groups
437 direct beneficiaries
(School period 2023-2024)
Permanent activities through artistic residencies

ARTESANOGROUP FOUNDATION
ARTISTIC RESIDENCY

They are an initiative aimed at promoting artistic and artisanal creation and research, the exchange of ideas, aesthetic concepts and multicultural connection between creators from different geographies.

Francisca Sosa Lopez Artistic Residency

Retornar a lo que fue, sacar del foso la fe (Returning to what was, pulling faith out of the pit) is an exhibition that values the connections between artisanal knowledge (pottery, basketry, and weaving) and their resonances in contemporary times through the work of Francisca Sosa López, a Venezuelan multidisciplinary artist residing in London.

The research, work, and trajectory of Francisca Sosa López allow for the development of this project in which craftsmanship and contemporaneity converge, as her residency on Margarita Island offered the artist the opportunity to reconnect with Venezuela for an extended period of time and learn from the traditions of the artisans in the region. Building on the historical debate that took place during the Renaissance regarding the differences or boundaries between the figures of the craftsman and the artist, one of the main objectives of the residency was to – always respecting the heritage and knowledge passed down by the island’s artisans – expand or resignify from a contemporary perspective the use and possibilities of traditional materials and objects. To this end, the artist investigated the daily habits of the artisans, the history and function of each artisanal manifestation, as well as the intentionality and inherent function of each of the objects she was interested in. In this process, she conceived and built a set of four installative works using various objects originating from island craftsmanship. For each of the installations designed for this exhibition, the artist subverts or disrupts the utilitarian function of the original object, creating new configurations in which a dialogue or tension is established between the traditional and the contemporary. Additionally, Francisca Sosa López leaves her mark by intervening materially and/ or pictorially in the final construction of some of the objects used, paying tribute to the act of weaving.

The work and artistic practice of Francisca Sosa López reflects and explores her connection with home, with the country, with its traditions. The experience of migration and her condition as a woman are also vertical themes that intersect with her original inquiries.

Her work is built from drawing, painting, assemblage, collage, and textiles to create pieces of an installative nature that gradually acquire corporeality, often through formats that play with volume and three-dimensionality. It is a work of abstract nature with deep contemporary echoes both in its narrative and in its technical realization.

Lucia Pizzani Artistic Residency

“I feel deeply grateful to the community of El Cercado for their participation in this Residency. It was a frank and enriching exchange, where everyone generously shared their knowledge. At the same time, I had the opportunity to show them a little bit of what is being done in contemporary art and ceramics worldwide.

During our stay, we not only had talks and viewed images, but also worked directly on creation. With the young ceramists, there was an exchange of suggestions and ideas inspired by my work, in which I was able to offer feedback and propose changes or new forms that they could explore. We experimented with new textures, using elements such as palms and corn, which are of great importance to me, since they represent the bread of the Americas and are associated with numerous creation myths from this part of the world.

The result was a diversity of pieces rich in rustic and burnished textures, fire in the ancient method of fire pits. I am very happy to take some of these works to present at the Frieze art fair in London with the Cecilia Brunson Projects. Itbis Aldo important as this secured a collaboration between Hacedores de País, the Escuela Taller de Cerámica El Cercado, Fundación ArtesanoGroup and Abra Caracas, who will continue this project within the framework of my exhibition in Caracas, titled Morada Vegetal, open until September 15. Some of the pieces from El Cercado will remain in the back room so that you people see the result of these intense days of sharing, creating, getting to know each other and enjoying the company of this beautiful community”.

Eduardo Palomares Artistic Residency

Surrender to the Sea – Surrender to the Earth was an artistic residency developed by Spanish artist Eduardo Palomares on Margarita Island, as part of the Artesano Global Foundation residency program. The project integrated contemporary art, traditional craftsmanship, and environmental awareness through the collective creation of ceramic sculptures designed to dialogue with the territory and remain within the landscape.

For one month, Palomares worked alongside the pottery community of El Cercado, scientists, musicians, artists, and students, developing a knowledge-exchange process that linked ancestral wisdom, scientific research, and contemporary artistic practice. The residency established itself as a space for cultural encounter and ecological reflection, strengthening the bond between creation, territory, and community.

El Cercado: Origins of Clay and Ancestral Transmission

At the century-old Pottery School of El Cercado, and alongside masters Juan José Bermúdez and Juan Alberto Rodríguez, the artist worked with indigenous clay extracted from Cerro La Cruz—a historical site where generations of potters have sourced their materials. This gesture reclaimed ancestral practices and built a bridge between traditional craftsmanship and the language of contemporary art.

The “Deliveries”: Two Symbolic Actions of the Territory

The residency was structured around two performative actions:

Surrender to the Earth: An amphora was taken back to the mountain, reconnecting the material with its origin and emphasizing the link between the natural elements: earth, water, fire, and air.
Surrender to the Sea: A series of sculptures inspired by coral forms and the artistic research Blooming Ocean was installed beneath the waters of Cubagua. This was conceived as a ceramic reef aimed at the ecological regeneration of the marine environment.

Both actions integrated craftsmanship, ecology, and contemporary thought, proposing a symbolic and active perspective on the relationship between humanity and nature.

Interdisciplinary Encounters and Educational Actions

The residency included collaborations with the Porlamar Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Alberto Requena Conservatory of Music and Dance, artists such as Luis Lizardo and Mónica Ferreres, curator Humberto Valdivieso, students, scientists, and the local community.

Furthermore, open activities were held, such as the poetry workshop Habitar el paisaje (Inhabiting the Landscape) and the sensory workshop Azules y Sal de Margarita (Blues and Salt of Margarita), expanding the project’s educational and cultural impact.

A Project Conceived to Endure

The pieces produced were fired using traditional techniques and subsequently delivered to the sea and the mountain. Their permanence in the territory did not represent an ending, but rather the continuity of a symbolic and ecological gesture focused on memory, environmental regeneration, and a shared future.