Embroiderers of Ipoema (Vale Foundation)

The Community Social Entrepreneurship Program (PESC, in Portuguese) proposed by the Vale Foundation in Itabira was carried out in two stages.

In 2018, the Flores do Carmo Project worked with the Ipoema Embroiderers Collective to add value to some of the products in the Tropeirismo collection: the weavers’ pieces were embroidered by the women of Ipoema. The aim of this action was to foster what is known as a “productive chain” in the PESC methodology and to add value to the products of the Carmo weavers.

In 2019, the 13 women of the Collective took part in a social project involving the creative economy, this time as protagonists!

The initiative worked to strengthen local knowledge, valuing it and creating products that carry with them the identity, culture, and tradition of the Ipoema region, 90 km from Belo Horizonte.

Raízes provided:

-Training and qualification for entrepreneurship;

– Design guidance;

-Lectures and technical workshops on contemporary and traditional embroidery.

The embroiderers have also created their own collection which, after the training stages, is now being marketed. In addition, the group is continuing its partnership with the weavers of the Senhora do Carmo district, giving continuity to the collection created in 2018.