Olê rendeiras

Trairi, the land of Bilro lace. There are more than 5,000 Bilro lace makers in the Trairi region. The finishing touches of the needles, made from cardeiro thorns, come from the seeds of the bilreiro, a local tree. On a cushion, many mothers and grandmothers created their families and taught the craft to their children, who grew up attempting stitches and soon became artisans themselves.

In 2019, QAIR (@qairbrasil) and Catarina Mina developed a project with the women of Trairi, on the west coast of Ceará. This mix of hinterland and beach holds one of the most valuable skills in our craftsmanship: Bilro lace. Over the past few months, more than 100 lace makers have worked with our teams to develop a collection that we now invite you to come and discover!

The challenges of the project

Bilro lace (also known as Ceará lace or pillow lace) is, like many other rich artisanal skills of our state, a typology in danger of extinction. This knowledge is always passed down through generations, with learning primarily guided by observation: young girls watched their mothers work on the cushion, and during breaks, they would try to copy them. Many learned this way.

This observational learning takes time, and for lace-making to remain viable for these women, as part of their daily lives and means of support, encouragement is needed. It is an extremely sophisticated craft, with tools that come from nature, sometimes from their own backyard: a thorn becomes a needle and a marker. A seed finishes each needle, and the cushion is sewn together. On this cushion, a matrix of thousands of hand movements forms an almost dance-like pattern for those working on the lace. Over days and days, a lace maker might find herself creating a single piece. In contrast, we learned from listening to the lace makers themselves that it wasn't all worth it because "the lace had no value."

Days and days of work do not yield the minimum. Low selling prices, too many intermediaries, and similar products in many groups make commercialization difficult. Our challenging task is to follow the Catarina Mina Workshops' method: to learn and build together with the groups, so that the craftsmanship is strengthened and the typologies are given longevity.

Collections

Days and days of work do not yield the minimum. Low selling prices, too many intermediaries, and similar products in many groups make commercialization difficult. Our challenging task is to follow the Catarina Mina Workshops' method: to learn and build together with the groups, so that the craftsmanship is strengthened and the typologies are given longevity.

[galeria=galeria de imagens 1]

Learn more

Days and days of work do not even generate the minimum. Low selling prices, excessive middlemen, and similar products across many groups hinder commercialization. Our challenging task, as suggested by the Catarina Mina Workshops' method, is to learn and build together with the groups to strengthen craftsmanship and ensure longevity for these typologies.