Repara

Artlier — Lisbon Design Week (2025)

A site specific exhibition developed in Artlier, an arts and crafts school in Lisbon, for the 3rd edition of Lisbon Design Week.

Since its foundation, the act of Repair has been central in Artlier's philosophy, shaped by over two decades of furniture restoration practice and teaching.

The school has grown over the years, incorporating several other artistic disciplines, yet the concept of repair remains at its core. This commitment has become even more evident recently, with the introduction of clothing mending workshops.

We can't talk about repairing without acknowledging our relationship to objects. Many come into our lives fleetingly, spending less and less time with us, an undeniable sign of the ever-growing consumer society we live in.

These objects are often massed-produced: from the dishes we use, to the furniture that fills our homes, or the clothes we wear daily. Many are designed with no regards for longevity, and instead they are meant to be replaced easily. They come to us quickly, and are disposed even quicker.

We want to sail in the opposite direction and celebrate the objects with soul, that are made to last, the ones that are testimony of our history and cultural heritage.

If part of the solution is to design with all stages of an object in mind, including its end of life, we also identify a series of impactful choices, within each person's reach.

It's at this personal level, that we find the art of repair, or the way we care for our things.

For this exhibition, we have selected iconic pieces of Portuguese furniture. Some have gone through the repair workshop over the years; others live in the memory of the places we inhabit, forming the backdrop of countless personal and collective stories.

By representing these pieces in fabric, we forge a connection to textile mending—because at their root, these two practices are deeply intertwined, reflecting the same philosophy.

With each mend we challenge any aesthetic notion that rejects cracks, scars or differences. Repairing is also that.

We look at the past, when repairing was commonly employed, to inform the present, disconnected, on one hand, from craft, and on the other hand, facing an ethical and environmental crisis due to excessive production and consumption.

In this context, spaces like Artlier are essential in a city: community spaces, to create, share and reinvent reality. Within them, practices like repairing lead a circular path for objects, contributing to a more meaningful, responsible and authentic future.

Repairing is also the moment we give part of ourselves to the object we have in hands. We give the object – and the object gives back – in an exchange that brings us emotionally closer to the undeniable truth: we are all responsible for our shared history, and for caring for and reinventing the world around us.