ARTISANAL TEXTILES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

 

“ENTREPRENEURS BY NATURE”

This is a program founded five years ago by the “Rewilding Argentina Foundation”. It brings together women artisans who live in the surroundings of El Impenetrable National Park, in the province of Chaco. The work takes place in the heart of the Chaco forest, a rural region with no access to water or electricity networks, where around 600 families still preserve ancestral crafts.

Between 2022 and 2025, I collaborated as a designer in this program, supporting the development of artisanal products through a collaborative approach, aiming to enhance their market potential especially among the visitors who come to the area each year. The women involved in the program weave on ground-planted criollo looms and use embroidery frames to make peleros, keeping alive techniques passed down through generations.

The focus was on creating design proposals deeply rooted in the territory valuing local traditions while opening a dialogue with new audiences. These processes not only strengthen community knowledge but also generate meaningful income for the artisans, improving their quality of life and contributing to the sustainability of their cultural practices.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE “PANTONERA OF THE FOREST”

Together with the Criollo artisans of El Impenetrable in the Chaco region, we developed a color chart of the Forest, a collaborative exercise in documenting and reflecting on the natural pigments they can obtain from their surroundings. More than a simple catalog, this color map aims to identify which dyes are easily reproducible, which require specific conditions, and which are exceptional. It enables the planning of design proposals rooted in the real possibilities of the territory. This collective work encourages conscious decisions regarding time, materials, and the natural cycles of the Chaco forest.