The crafts and the popular sculpture in clay. Art felt in or Art thought of? Aldeia da Terra case study

Abstract

Clay, as a sculpture material, is also used as a means of expression and psychological therapy. Often, we find examples of works whose creativity is a manifestation of anxieties and inner conflicts of the artists in this material. We can say that much of the creative folk art, has a subconscious component, in its creativity, that “shows the artist” and how he feels the themes. This characteristic is also found in the works of trained artists, in theses perhaps more hidden, because these are more aware of the phenomenon. In other words: the art of clay sculpture and its creativity will be as much “at the surface” as the artist’s training allows it. The question that we could ask, namely in relation to popular art and handicraft, would be, which art is the most genuine? The one which is more aware of this phenomenon or the one is less aware of this phenomenon? Popular art and handicraft are also built and promoted, in their aspect of creation, production and dissemination along two apparently antagonistic axes. Do figurative popular clay sculpture, have their creative roots in raw and naive primitive art? Or rather in the elaborate and sumptuous emotional productions of the Baroque? In this work we will analyze the case study of the Aldeia da Terra project to try to establish parallels and draw from these conclusions. Understanding this problem can also help us to understand the reality of the creation, production and dissemination of popular art and popular ceramic figurative sculpture that is practiced not only in Portugal, but with the inherent characteristics of its own, in all countries.