Craftsmanship of the rural landscape

Craft workshop

Cultural landscapes are born as a result of the anthropization of the territory, through artisanal production processes. The recognition of artisanal cultural landscapes allows us to approach ways of conceiving heritage in a holistic, interconnected manner, considering craftsmanship as a privileged expression of the ways in which human beings relate to the territory they inhabit. Our experience-workshop of crafts of the territory is a form of knowledge and communication that perpetuates its cultural values through clay, wool and jet. As a result of an archaeological excavation, the pottery workshop integrated in the Ecomuséu Ca l’Asturcón started a process of recovery of forms and decorations of the ancient pottery of Lliñeru (Villaviciosa), an initiative of a potter originally from the area Faro (Oviedo) seduced in the eighteenth century by the landscape of the Ría de Villaviciosa that inspireá its artisan production for several generations. We will approach the process of elaboration of wool from the fleeces of our own herd of oveyas xaldas, the native breed that participated with its presence in the area just a century ago in the management of our landscape and the cultural and ethnographic wealth of local family economies. Asturian Jurassic jet comes from trees that populated the area more than 60 million years ago. The most important deposits are located in our coastal area known as Les Mariñes, between Gijó n and Villaviciosa from the Upper Jurá sico Superior. Used since prehistoric times as an amulet due to its magical properties, jet is closely linked to the Camino de Santiago. We will finish this 4 days/3 nights experience staying in our village house with a Microtheater performance in the hó rreo to complete the experience with the enhancement of the hó rreo, a fundamental identity element in the Asturian rural culture, using theater as an emotional language. Additional information: With this experience we invite you to experience traditional artisan knowledge and discover how craftsmanship gathers the images and symbols by which our diverse communities feel their experience of being from this territory. - Day 1 Arrival at La Quintana de la Foncalada – Ecomuséu Ca l’Asturcón in Argüeru (Villaviciosa), near the Rí RNP;a de Villaviciosa, where you will be welcomed with a small homemade, local or organic snack that will comfort you and make you take ground. - Day 2 In the farm of the rural lodging itself, we will discover in the morning the characteristics of the autochthonous varieties in danger of extinction: asturcones, bermeya goats, gochu asturcelta, pitas pintas and in particular the xalda sheep During the visit you can learn about the farm animals, the endangered native breeds, the commitment to biodiversity, identify the natural resources of the farm, the traditional craft activities of the area (wool, pottery, jet). At the end of the visit we propose a pottery workshop to discover the local craft production and its techniques over time. Simple techniques of modeling, working on the potter's wheel and firing. During the workshop a traditional piece will be made with the purpose of taking away after the experience a bowl type Lliñeru as recorded in a will of 1789 that speaks of “Quatro escudillas de barro (…) two dishes and another dish of Billaviciosa” In the afternoon, we will conduct a workshop of wool from our herd of oveyas xaldas. We will learn how to wash, scarm and card wool with manual carders. Finally, we will learn the technique of wet felting and we will create a small piece. They say that working with wool has something more magical, organic and special; you will see how the fiber of the fabric is gradually changing between your hands, taking body, taking shape, transforming and changing before our eyes, as if it were a living being. - Day 3 In the morning, after breakfast, we will have a workshop to familiarize ourselves with Asturian Jurassic jet, which comes from trees that populated the area more than 60 million years ago. We will highlight the unique luster and the most magical properties of a small piece of jet extracted in our coastal area for millennia. You will take that little piece of magic with you when the experience ends like so many pilgrims to Santiago who passed through our region for centuries. Free afternoon that you can dedicate to visit points of interest in the area (Rí a Villaviciosa, Tazones) and / or tour thematic routes such as the Route of Jet P.R. AS-199, which ends in an old mine where jet was extracted by hand until the middle of the last century. In the evening we invite you to a tasting of products from our eco-farm with a micro-theater performance in the Ecomuséu Ca l’Asturcón. - Day 4 Departure from the lodging after breakfast. If you want to know the environment inform and advise smallñas thematic routes or points of interestés to know the natural territory of the Ría de Villaviciosa and the maritime landscape of the coastal rasa (jurásica coast).