The fourth workshop of the #divanoXmanagua has just ended and this brings us the opportunity to reflect and think about what happened during the event …and … right before our eyes.
The pleasure of sharing sounds symbolic, nonetheless everyone present (at the 3rd wordshop of the divanoXmanagua) witnessed the four craftsmen who walked through our doors, of whom, one minute before considered themselves our competitors (it was us and them) they must have realized something was going on.
In our opinion, it was a glimpse back at the days when the race, between competitors, wasn’t the lowest price but a well made and a more beautiful product.
Talent has never divided us in the Brianza, on the contrary, it has always brought together. The challenge of who was the best has always been a friendly test, tough at times but sustainable.
The desire to teach, we believe, comes from the students desire to learn (which does not go unnoticed during each workshop), needless to say the big surprise came from the white haired artisans, they were the ones who craved to… teach.
We saw and heard, engage the children rather than the capitonnè, at times with a sense of urgency.
And indeed it’s understandable: What better satisfaction is there than a young man who receives and then gives back the value of your life’s work?
The pressure to improve, to develop their skills, along with their product -and why not -personal growth through the constructive work of the hands, the #divanoXmanagua is all this.
Thanks goes to Terre des Hommes Italy for sharing the project. We also like hearing that this work unites us a little and focuses our energies on the territory, improving it together, not … in wildly competing against each other.
We are not interested in making grand statements, but some things can’t be denied, they allow us to dream a little.
What if a different system was possible, an approach where the fear of Chinese competitors was replaced by an awareness of our own value, the authority that comes from decades of manufacturing excellence?
It would be nice, if along with building sofas, we could build a little craftsman pride … 🙂
Needless to say, we expect you at the next workshop on Thursday, March 28th, which precedes the final round, at the Fuori Salone Ventura in Lambrate.
Below are some photos of last weeks workshop, the capitonnè, and here is the complete storify of the evening.
