Craft Your Impact - Introducing the MOSAIC gadgets
The MOSAIC partners have engaged craft professionals, through an international open call, to create authentic craft gadgets to help spread the word about our core mission in supporting excellence in the Arts & Craft sector.
Inspired by a desire to move away from industrial production and make sustainable choices, a core mission of the project, the gadgets selected represent the breadth and depth of the MOSAIC partnership from Armenia, Bulgaria, Finland, France and Italy, showcasing the richness of craft.
The selection process took into account the creative process, links to local heritage and the principles of sustainability on the production process.
Check out how the winning craft professionals are inspired and join our dissemination events to pick your favourite gadget!
Armenia
Edgar Grigoryan
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
As a professional sculptor, Armenian culture is the focal point of my studies and interests.
My creations draw inspiration from Urartian and mediaeval sculptures and miniatures, offering my interpretations of these rich cultural artefacts.
An important objective of mine is to introduce authentic representations of Armenian culture to the market, ensuring that both our local community and visitors have the opportunity to experience our heritage visually.
Each magnet is meticulously handcrafted in our workshop. Additionally, we produce our own glazes using raw materials.
HOW THE GADGET IS LINKED TO HERITAGE AND TRADITIONS?
These souvenirs draw inspiration from Urartian sculptures, mediaeval bas-reliefs, and miniatures.
HOW THE GADGET IS SUSTAINABLE?
We use natural clay and glaze.
LINK
France
Myriam Nicolas
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
I am a felt maker and one of my flagship products, which is attractive, original, and useful to the general public, is the “felted soap,” a 2-in-1 soap/mitt. I use artisanally produced soaps from France, without palm oil, which I cover with felted wool.
HOW THE GADGET IS LINKED TO HERITAGE AND TRADITIONS?
Water and soap felting is a traditional ancestral technique. Felt is the first material used on the planet, before the creation of yarn and weaving.
HOW THE GADGET IS SUSTAINABLE?
Encasing the soap in felt allows it to last much longer. You use just what you need by wetting the soap and rubbing it. The wool, naturally exfoliating and antifungal, will shrink as the soap diminishes with water contact and friction. Wool is a completely renewable and recyclable natural material. Once the item is finished, it can be composted, or used as a makeup removal pad, or perfumed with a drop of essential oil to scent a stack of linen.
Bulgaria
Largo City Ltd
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
After discussing with colleagues the different products we make, we selected a bookmark that illustrates the traditional embroidery from Bulgarian folklore. This is followed by the digitalisation of the images for cutting and printing. Cutting is done on a CO2 laser and printed on a UV flatbed. .
HOW THE GADGET IS LINKED TO HERITAGE AND TRADITIONS
The bookmark depicts an element of traditional Bulgarian embroidery. Needlework is the most beautiful part of Bulgarian folklore customs, thanks to all the creative potential, imagination and craftsmanship of generations of Bulgarians invested into it.
HOW THE GADGET IS SUSTAINABLE
The bookmark is made for resistance, using transparent PVC – plastic and unbreakable, printed with highly resistant soft greases. It can be submerged and stand in water as well as stay in the sun.
Italy - Matera
Ilenia Dragonetti
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
My creative process can be found in this video, created with the support of the Creative Europe project, CraftHub:
HOW THE GADGET IS LINKED TO HERITAGE AND TRADITIONS
My gadget is known as a cuccù and is an ‘ocarina’ (an ancient terracotta wind instrument) of Greek origin. An iconic symbol of the city that takes the shape of a rooster and represents fertility, abundance, and protection and were traditionally gifts for children and couples betrothed to be married.
HOW THE GADGET IS SUSTAINABLE
Made of earthenware, it is non-polluting and of natural origin.
LINK
Italy - Este
Fondazione ETS IREA
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
The “Dream Book” is made in the craft workshops of IREA ETS Foundation by people with intellectual disabilities. The design, making and packaging are the result of the work of young people and adults with disabilities included in the training and educational projects run by IREA. The name of the object transforms the bookmark into a dreambook, inviting those who buy it and those who give it as a gift, to believe together with our Institution in dreams and projects that promote the inclusion of all. The dreambook is an object of I REAlizzabili that combines the words IREA, Abili and Realizable precisely to emphasise the daily commitment to support people to acquire knowledge, skills and abilities functional to the realisation of their life project.
HOW THE GADGET IS LINKED TO HERITAGE AND TRADITIONS
The ‘Dream Book’ is handcrafted in fabric and ceramics, reflecting the strong tradition in the Lower Padovan area of Italy in textile and ceramic manufacturing. For this reason, the vocational training courses offered by IREA are in the field of artistic craftsmanship, an area in which the proposed product was also born. IREA also participates with its handicrafts in the event Buongiorno Ceramica (https://buongiornoceramica.it/city/este/), enhancing the local tradition of its own handicrafts.
HOW THE GADGET IS SUSTAINABLE
The ‘Dream Book’ is a sustainable gadget that invites the buyer to use it as a bookmark for a long time. It is made from fabric cuttings, waste material from local textile companies and an applied ceramic ball.
LINK
Finland
Lea Akkila
Designer Lea Akkila, a student of MOSAIC partner OMNIA, a Finnish vocational school that provides various degrees ranging from nursing to woodcrafting/product manufacturing, has designed this wooden box in collaboration with Wooden Oy, a modern woodworking factory in Espoo, Finland and a company partner of MOSAIC.
Have a look at this video where Lea shares her creative craft process and the motivation behind the design.