On bringing together through arts and crafts
Alone Together is a collective of creatives founded by Natalia Criado and Pietro Minelli, it was born in March 2020 during the lockdown while they were in Ráquira, a town located in the region of Boyacá, Colombia. The project was born in order to create new dynamics between crafts and design during this particular period. We interviewed them while on hold of their launch exhibition
Interview : Francisca Ceballos
Photography: @alonetogether_raquira
Hello Natalia, please tell us how did the idea of the project was conceived?
The idea was conceived initially by Pietro; when we were arriving to Ráquira with the principal intention of working with the team of artisans and take a ceramic course. He decided to ask his friends to send us a sketch of a vase so we could make it in Terracota. Then I decided to make a post on Instagram and make a convocatory. We received around eighty sketches, renders or ideas from all around the world.
Please describe the process of creation, how did you find the balance between the designs of the people involved, your creative input, and the artisans craftsmanship?
In the first place, we explained the artists and creatives that we will be going to interpret their sketches, altogether with the team of artisans. From the sketch, we started a discussion with them about the process on how to make each piece. Some of them were very difficult to understand, for us and the craftsmen.
With time we understood how the artisans tried to decipher our ideas by seeing them from the design or sketch. It was an exercise of creativity and interpretation. Thanks to technology we were able to clarify doubts with the creatives and show them the process of creation.
The techniques we used were lathe and modeling.
You all come from different creative backgrounds. How does a creative meeting work between you?
We use social networks and phone calls to communicate with each other.
The concept of bringing people together through an object seems quite utopical in this era where objects have become utilitary and made for temporal use. Do you agree? Why?
We don’t think it is utopical as Objects have always been part of our lives over the years. Through objects we have understood the human being and his behavior. Objects always tell us a story, a past or a present one.
The territory of Ráquira has an immense tradition of ceramics since the Muisca community inhabited the area and has evolved within time. Would you say that the project would leave an imprint in this territory and be part of its own evolution?
We think that through the formal design language we received from the creatives, we put this concern to the craftsmen, to create new forms and experiment with the Terracota material in other ways different from the current ones. Also to change its ways of communication, using technology, especially in these times where it is not possible to mobilize as before.
If this is so, which would be the imprint you would want to leave at Ráquira?
To explore the material Terracota has always been beautiful, but why can't we take the craft to another formal exploration?
What's next for Alone Together Ráquira?
We have several projects. In Milan, we will do our preview soon. Also, we will have a show in Bogota in a new gallery, and later on in Mexico City.
