Adélia Borges takes us to Rio and beyond

Brazilian craft and design writer Adélia Borges delivered the Craft Victoria Annual Lecture at the National Gallery of Victoria last Wednesday. She spoke about the new wave of craft and design collaborations that is sweeping through Latin America. The story was greatly appreciated by the strong crowd:

• 'Her talk was quite inspirational and it was wonderful to see the way the traditional craft work was being integrated into more contemporary forms.' (Jane Gilmore)
• 'Very informative, interesting and inspiring' (Stephanie Yaksa-Ladyzhynsky)
• 'I did enjoy Adelia Borges presentation, her humbling manner and soft toned warm voice. I am sure that the intention to develop cross cultural art links is a very positive step in improving understanding between cultures and there diverse way of working in the crafts world.' (Christopher Plumridge)
• 'I found her very inspiring and wonderfully fresh. The exhibitions she has organised sound incredible and I love her attention to the entirety of what craft can be - or become. I enjoyed speaking to her briefly over a drink last night about the parallels between what she's doing and what the Mingei movement did in Japan which I'm so familiar with. It gave me a new way of seeing and appreciating it.' (Jane Sawyer)
• 'Adélia Borges is a woman of acute sensibilities to, and perceptions of, design and culture in Latin America. For me, Adélia’s presentation was a potent and timely reminder that design relies less on economic and industrial capacities and more on history, traditions and ideas.' (Kathy Demos, National Design Centre)
• 'With a journey in my work for People, Culture and Form Adelia's Lecture slotted my wide thinking and research together, for which I am very grateful.' (Titania Henderson)
• 'Listening to our guest from Brazil was a privilege and a pleasure. We have so much in common. Adelia's ideas and expression have given me another way to think about my work infect all our work. inparticular the challenges of colonialisation, of cultural assertion and justice and how those issues resonate through craft and design. We have a lot to learn from the efforts fellow countries of the south have gone to to assert their independence in the face of the hegemony of the Nt. For someone who makes furniture to think about the social and political economy of posture is a delight. 'Form follows emotion' couldn't agree more. These are our neighbors. We should talk more often. Thank you for this great opportunity.' (Damien Wright)
• 'I especially enjoyed her exhibition of the seat/chair and her exploration into how people from different cultures/traditions sit. It is always valuable to learn about the context in which craft is made, and invaluable to learn about how other cultural environments approach ideas about craft. Continued international exchange – such as this lecture – nourishes craft, and benefits the on-going debate about how craft is placed in current cultural climate.' (Susan Cohn)
  

Adélia's talk will be up on Craft Culture soon.