The Consell de Mallorca has organized a basket-weaving workshop at Capdepera Castle to celebrate the legacy of traditional craftsmanship.
According to a statement released by the island’s government, the event “The Legacy of Ses Madones de Capdepera,” organized in collaboration with the Museu Es Baluard, was designed to connect heritage, the local area, and contemporary artistic practices.
The workshop paid tribute to 'Ses Madones de sa Llata,' the craftswomen of the municipality of Capdepera who practice this craft using palm fronds from the 'llata' palm, the only native palm tree of Mallorca.
"Their way of working, based on oral transmission and shared labor, has inspired an experience that has faithfully reproduced this tradition," the Consell noted.
Thus, the session was held in one of the castle’s spaces, which currently hosts an exhibition dedicated to the ‘llata’—the Catalan name for this technique. Participants sat in a circle, as the artisans traditionally did, and carried out the entire artisanal process, from preparing the leaves to the final weaving.
The workshop was led by Araceli Iranzo, a teacher at the Escuela Artesana and recipient of the Consell’s Artisan Promotion Award, and Antonella Farris, a representative of the Antic Mallorca brand and a specialist in crafting items from palm fronds.
The island’s Minister of Culture and Heritage, Antònia Roca, who also attended the workshop, highlighted the importance of preserving Mallorca’s traditional crafts and described the pleita as “living heritage” and a form of “identity and artistic expression.”
