Tejiendo la calle | Marina Fernández Ramos

Name of the submitted project or idea (in English or both English and your language)

Tejiendo la calle
URL of a video introducing the work（under 5 minutes）

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrjHPtH_j6E
Detailed explanation of the submitted project or idea (in English or both English and your language)

The Cultural Association of my hometown, founded more than 30 years ago by my parents together with several neighbors, proposed me in 2012 to do an exhibition of my work. I thought It was more exciting to propose a new project that we could do together and that would contribute something positive to our community and the environment. Around fifteen women from the town were involved from the beginning in 2012. We did our first installation in public space in the summer of 2013. More people have joined. We continue weaving today. After more than 10 years, the project has become a tradition of our community.
How does your work address the 3 P’s (for Planet, for People, for Profit) for Sustainability?

Tejiendo la calle opens a space for social cohesion in the town. The practice we do collaborates in personal and common artistic expresion. We re-activate tradicional craft textile technics that are not longer in use in our area. We share time, friendship, and knowledge, and owur affection for owr town.

Many of the motifs that appear in the pieces are representations of nature, of the landscape. We think about the plants, the animals, the ecosystem, while we weave. These motifs fill the streets of our town. Through the project, we socialize awareness, thought and action to care for our environments, our ecosystems.

We reuse plastics, transforming a polluting material into beautifull and usefull handmade pieces. Throuh this practice we try to change the way we relate to objects, expanding awareness of the origin and production processes of the objects we use in our daily lives.

Tourism in our town has grown exponentially, we receive many visits during the installation in summer, and this has a very positive impact on the economy, not only of the town, also on the economy of the area.
Where (country, region, etc.) have you primarily carried out your project?

Valverde de la Vera, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain.
What is the timeline your project has taken place over?

2013-Present.
Keywords

#PublicSpace #Craft #Upcycling
If you have a website for your submitted project or idea, please provide the URL

https://submarina.info/
If you have a social media account for your submitted project or idea, please provide the URL

https://www.instagram.com/marina.fernandez.ramos /// https://www.facebook.com/TejiendoLaCalleProyecto
Special Prize Question 1: Is there a mechanism in place to inherit culture and industry as assets for people living in that area 100 or even 1000 years from now?

The mechanism to inherit culture and industry as assets for people living in thar area 100 or even 1000 years from now is participation and cultural mediation through Tejiendo la calle. This is an intergenerational activity. We have introduced it to the Children's Camp so that the little ones in the town can learn from their childhood and participate in the collective activity.
Special Prize Question 2: What is the positive impact on biodiversity? Is the project creating a cycle not just from a human-centered perspective but for the entire ecosystem?

We transform plastic material to extend its useful life before It becomes garbage. Through this action we generate awareness about objects and material we use in our daily life, and the value of reusing and recycling. We try to raise consciousness about the material culture in which we live.

The artistic intervention transforms the public space, the architecture where we live. The ornamental drawings that appear represent elements of the landscape. Plants, animals, drawings and symbols that belong to cultures from very distant places, and others that are local. These representations of nature and personal issues take center stage in the streets of the town and are shared with all the people who visit us. The handwoven pieces speak, visualize and share elements of nature, of the biodiversity and ecosystem of the place.
Special Prize Question 3: Are you enabling new forms of collaboration with others? New forms of collaboration might include cross-industry cooperation, co-creation with consumers, or role transformations within the supply chain.

Tejiendo la calle is open to the participation of more people. It is a way for the integration of new neighbors who come live in our small town. It is in itself an exercise in co-creation, since each person designs and produces her/his pieces. We are in contact with entities that give us their waste plastic material so that we can reuse it through our textile practice. Numerous groups of people in Spain and other countries (Costa Rica, Argentina, England) are replicating our initiative in their contexts.

To multiply the impact of our project, the ways of relating nature, objects, space and community, and work with the different languages of art and design, we invite more creators to do artistic interventions in the town. This year, thanks to the city hall, we had a site-specific dance piece, a fashion and bio design performance, and a gardening and ceramic decoration intervention in the streets of the town together with Tejiendo la calle.