From the market to the screen

Tradition and innovation go hand in hand in the strategy to overcome the crisis that a good part of the unions are going through through initiatives such as the one promoted by the Association for the Improvement of Traditional and Current Crafts (Amata), based in Alicante and made up of 150 associates. The restrictions of the pandemic have blocked most events to show the ins and outs of historical trades on the street. Until last year they organized around twenty fairs and this year they have only held two. The complicated situation that has led a good part of the artisans to lose up to 90% of their income has forced them to look for alternatives to get ahead. With this objective, Amata has created a website that brings together the works of more than thirty professionals and, most importantly, documents how handmade products are created and who their protagonists are. “This is a direct channel between the craftsman and the consumer. It seems that people are afraid to buy crafts online because they lack that direct contact with the craftsman, which is what he finds in our fairs. To show the authenticity of the products, we have incorporated videos and explanatory texts. It is a way of connecting with the buyer and making them understand the value and price of an artisanal product”, explains the president of the association, Elvira Geurts.

Pueblo Artesano is the name of the website where Internet users can visit workshops and shops, stroll through virtual fairs or see craft classes based on the techniques and tools used to create the pieces. With this, the visitor can enter the workshops and, above all, put a face to the professionals, connect with their history and carry out purchase transactions.

Visibility strategies on social networks, advertising micropills or responsive web pages that adapt to mobile phones or tablets are some of the tactics that artisans are beginning to implement to achieve, paradoxically, that products and articles molded from ancient centuries-old tools and techniques can be marketed on-line.

Leopoldo López and Rosa Pérez are two of the artisans in the province who were probably among the first to bet on the possibilities of the digital environment through their business, El taller de la Rosa, located in Villena. They are specialists in making garments and accessories made of leather and opened their own website in 2013. «We came up with the idea to increase sales and be able to sell medieval historical recreation products such as bracelets or bags to other stores. We do a lot of custom orders and the key is listening to the customer and capturing what they want.” Thanks to the promotion worked for years, they receive orders from all over the country. "It was very noticeable in the weeks prior to the celebration of medieval markets" although now, they admit, "very little is sold."

Beatriz Hurtado, from Almoradí, has also seen how her turnover was reduced to the point of almost disappearing with the pandemic. She produces jewelry in glass, a delicate material imported from the island of Murano (Venice) that she melts and molds with the help of a torch to shape bracelets, earrings or pendants. "I learned to melt glass with my brother, who made decorative stained glass for churches, until I left my job in a consultancy and bet on crafts," she says. She normally worked in medieval markets throughout the province, Valencia or Albacete, showing her technique live. "Seeing how it is done is not the same as finding a finished piece because it is given less value," she says.

Ella Hurtado points out that now “the situation is complicated because we cannot expose our work”, but she does not give up. She has opened her virtual store · "I'm moving through social networks, uploading pieces and making myself known," she adds.

Social networks and her own website also contribute to keeping the Iron and Fire school-workshop afloat, which the master forger

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Alejandro Cremades, 48, maintains in Onil. His involvement with cast iron modeling began when he was in the military. He worked in a workshop in Albacete where aircraft parts were manufactured. Years later he decided to ride in his van and spent two years touring different European countries to learn medieval techniques in renowned workshops. His deep knowledge of the forge has even led him to work on the restoration of a part of the railings of the Pórtico de la Gloria of the Cathedral of Santiago. Cremades is in charge of carrying out the work of molding iron with the blow of a hammer, anvil and fire , and it is his wife, Brenda Cacciola, who is in charge of promoting the training offer of the school-workshop, in which students are instructed in the art of the forge and commissioned works are promoted. “Now we are changing the website, which is 10 years old and not adapted to mobile phones, to enter the digital market and get customers. We also advertise on Facebook and Google Business. They are good tools and generate a lot of movement through networks », he maintains.

From game to job

Aitor Vañó is 27 years old, he is from Agres and runs his own woodcraft workshop. He began making crafts with pruning waste discarded by his parents, farmers, and ended up turning what he started as a game into his trade. Gouges and chisels are the tools with which he carries out his work, from sculptures to furniture or shields and toys. Without Christmas markets or fairs, he recognizes that times are complicated, although he now focuses his strategy on making himself known online. “You have to adapt and let people know you. I have my website and I use Instagram, Facebook and everything I can to keep up to date. It is important that people know your work to be able to value it».

The marriage formed by Silvia Arias (ceramist) and Paco Trives (who produces by hand recreations of historical products such as breastplates, shields or weapons for the Moors and Christians festivals) also suffers in times of crisis the difficulties of the lack of events where they can sell their products and try to cling to digital channels to be able to dedicate themselves to jobs that require large doses of vocation. "During confinement I even opened a YouTube channel and a website, although it is very difficult to sell ceramic crafts online," says Silvia.

And, while some artisans with years of experience continue to search the virtual universe for the visibility that the pandemic denies them, others like Marcel la Payá have found a niche of employment in crafts. In her case, making bags that have a lot to do with the concept of sustainability and circular economy. This entrepreneur from Muro worked in the setting of costumes for film productions until the covid-19 crisis blocked the activity.Now she dedicates herself to making bags with recycled tires and used clothing. The designs of her brand, Lulutbags, "have been well received" and much of the promotion is focused on her website and social networks. Although some of her clients, due to their age, are not very experienced in virtual codes, Payá find formulas to reach that audience as well. «They know me through the internet and contact me through the chat enabled on the website. I have put all my energy into this project and, for now, it is not bad for me », she concludes.