Any mention of handicrafts means talking about tradition, about the appreciation of craftsmanship, and about beauty and patience. It also means talking about objects designed for everyday use, about things which give pleasure to life. Before that can happen, however, a previous step is required: the pieces lovingly shaped by skilled hands must reach the no less appreciative hands of those who are going to enjoy them.

On La Palma , handicrafts are an intrinsic part of daily life.

In the first known dictionary of the Spanish language, a "craftsman" is defined simply as "a manufacturer who earns his living with his hands". Nowadays, however, a craftsman or woman is regarded as a skilled manual worker who produces articles for household use individually, imbuing each one with that unique personal touch which distinguishes them from mass-produced objects.

The handicraft concept has varied throughout history, at times being simply regarded as manufacture, at others as belonging to anthropology, more often as an aspect of culture, but always with common agreement that it refers to a manual process for creating objects of a certain artistic quality, performed by a single individual or family-unit using traditional methods, and leading to production which is anonymous in character, has a utilitarian or decorative purpose, or is designed for use in ceremonies and celebrations.

And what better scenario for talking about handicrafts than the island of La Palma ! - an island where traditional culture has always been, and still is, "alive" in everyday life. The present challenge faced by the traditional culture of handicrafts not only consists of conservation, but also of looking towards the future so that, in addition to being a cultural legacy of the highest order, craft production becomes an increasingly respectable way of earning a living for those craftsmen and women who have struggled through difficult times.

POTTERY

One of the most outstanding handicrafts sectors on the island of La Palma is that of "black Palmeran pottery" - solid in feel but of incredibly delicate workmanship - which has made a come back in recent times, since the mid 70s, and is presently enjoying a boom.

Prehispanic remains bear witness to a very different kind of pottery to that found on other islands in the archipelago. Its beauty speaks for itself of a perfectionist society which appears to have maintained the same high level throughout its history. Some of the techniques involved in the pottery work of the Beahoaritas (the name given to the original inhabitants of what was then known as Benahoare , appropriately meaning "my land") are still preserved in the present-day reproductions made of these pieces, especially the incised decoration and their black colour, obtained during the firing process.

The recovery began from 1975 onwards, around the active cultural, economic, educational and, in a word, vital centre of El Molino in the Villa de Mazo municipality. The returning islanders who had, almost inevitably, been forced to emigrate to Venezuela , discovered, in the recovery of what little remained of Palmeran pottery, an ideal way of re-establishing themselves in their homeland. Over one hundred and sixty different pieces, coming from different archaeological sites on the island, make up the present-day production based on the gánigos (pots) of the Benahoaritas . Clay found in some of the island's municipalities - such as Puntagorda, Garafía or Tijarafe - and which is mixed with sand, provides the basic raw material.

Once the right consistency has been obtained, the pots are shaped without a wheel, allowed to dry for a few days and then scraped, usually with a metal tool, to give them their final shape. The next step consists of smoothing with water, using a pebble from one of the beaches or stream beds, and then comes the incising of the patterning, and burnishing with a finer-grained pebble. The piece is then placed in the kiln until a temperature of 700 degrees is reached. The characteristic black colour of the pots is obtained by lowering the temperature and reducing the amount of oxygen.

In the late 15 th century, history on La Palma suffered a severe upheaval as European customs and habits were introduced following the conquest. Chronicles providing details of daily life during this period are extremely scarce, but there is one of great value, however: that compiled by Gaspar Frutuoso in the mid 16 th century which, among other aspects, mentions the use of clay in the new Palmeran society.

This Portuguese traveller says: "They all keep goats and sheep and eat gofio (flour) made with wheat and barley mixed with oil, honey and milk and prepared on griddles made from extremely smooth clay". Earthenware was also used in the first monoculture established on the island: sugar-cane. Sugar export to mainland Europe meant that moulds had to be used, conical in shape, which later gave rise to a classic among Palmeran sweets, the so-called rapaduras , although obviously the original moulds were larger in size. Thus, in the hereditary bequest of the wealthy Flemish colonist Pedro de Van Dale, dated 1621, reference is made to "a number of moulds, a ceramic vessel, and a large earthenware jar".

Following the death in 1980, at the age of 67, of Anuncia Vidal, regarded as the island's last potter, it appeared that traditional pottery on La Palma was in for a dark future. Fortunately, this forecast has not been fulfilled and this craft tradition is now gradually recovering.

Anuncia Vidal came from a family of potters who lived entirely from their work in Santa Cruz de La Palma. She is still remembered while, almost blind (she died of diabetes), she showed how to knead the clay, and the correct technique for making the pots: "You must clean the clay" she used to say, "add water and mix it with sand to avoid cracking, and knead it till it becomes malleable. It must be left in the shade to dry for a week and then burnished with water and a pebble from the beach". Afterwards the firing took place on an open fire, in the middle of a garden, "the pots on their sides, with their mouths facing the direction the wind blows", as the old potter always recommended.

While the designs still remain, instead of firing the pots in the open air in a garden, these days a kiln is used. Recovery of these handicraft skills is a slow process and production is currently unable to satisfy the demand.

The LA PALMA ARTESANÍA project aims to stimulate the revitalisation of the traditional pottery sector, and to contribute both to future conservation within Palmeran culture, as well as to adaptation to new types of consumers and the requirements of new life styles.

TRADITIONAL EMBROIDERY

Turning our attention elsewhere, we come across the traditional embroidery handicrafts sector, normally a part-time occupation combined with household or farm work on La Palma . The embroidered pieces are, by their very nature, the result of a slow, painstaking process in which, not the time involved, but the quality of the finished product is what matters. In spite of this, and in some cases precisely for this reason, in recent times a certain number of young people have begun to see in what was once a part of daily life for their elders, a laborious but possibly more human way of contributing to economic activity.

Things have changed since the days when every local islander (as occurred elsewhere in most island societies), had, possibly without knowing it, a hidden craftsman or woman inside.

Embroidery not only refuses to fade away into sweet nostalgic dreams, but actually constitutes one of the basic areas of Palmeran handicrafts, used in traditional costumes, table linen, religious decorations, dowries. Among traditional techniques, three are most frequent: Richelieu (cutwork), realce (raised work), and punto perdido ("lost stitch" layering). Richelieu , usually done on beige or white cloth, is characterised by its festoons or decorative loops, joined to each other by other hanging loops which, once the piece has been cut out, gives it an unmistakable elegance reminiscent of European baroque palaces.

In realce embroidery, patterns are sewn in relief, with straight or angled stitches perpendicular to the filling stitches; it is a technique used in embroidering flowers, leaves and initials. Punto perdido , on the other hand, is based on superimposed stitching which produces, through the varying intensity of the thread colour, different shades on preferably floral motifs.

For decades on La Palma , embroidery has provided an important source of income for poorer families. In 1945, according to the Palmeran scholar Félix Poggio, more than twenty thousand women (from a total island population of around sixty thousand) were involved in this work, although it cannot be claimed for a moment that they were professional embroiderers, as it has never been possible to live exclusively from embroidery; nevertheless, to this day, most Palmeran women know how to embroider.

Of all the handicraft sectors, this is the most productive one, with the result that firms or agencies are found on the island which previously mark out the drawing used as a guideline onto the fabric, distribute the cloth and reels of thread among the embroiderers and later, once the piece is completed, collect the articles which are then prepared for sale locally, or else for export, basically to mainland Spain and Great Britain.

The LA PALMA ARTESANÍA project aims to act as a stimulus for the revitalisation of the traditional embroidery sector and to contribute to its conservation within Palmeran culture and to adaptation to modern lifestyles and new types of consumers.