Dressed in sky blue, she has blue hair and a white crown, to represent snow, on her head. Her arms are braids of wool. It’s the Senhora das Neves puppet, the Saint that saved Almeida from a fire when it snowed in the middle of summer, recreated in wool by the hands of the artist Ana Almeida.
We’re talking about dolls for the “Histórias Criativas” (Creative Histories) project, 12 puppets that represents each one of the most representative legends of the Historical Villages of Portugal, through these enchanted places and their stories.
The initiative arose from the Historical Villages of Portugal, which invited children from the 1st school cycle of the municipalities of the network to reinvent the legends/stories of their villages, based on their own knowledge of them. From there arose the “Histórias Criativas – Eu conheço a Minha Aldeia” (Creative Histories – I Know My Village) contest and a creative writing workshop, which served as inspiration for the children’s book Lendas da Tua História (Legends from Your History) by the author Rosário Alçada Araújo, with illustrations by João Rui Frade.
And it was also based on children’s stories that Ana Almeida was inspired to create 12 puppets, 6 boys and 6 girls who represent the courageous heroes from the legends and myths of the Historical Villages of Portugal. These colorful dolls were created based on one of the most important raw materials of the region – wool – and from a cross of techniques between traditional know-how and contemporary design. A way of uniting tradition and modernity in a project that aims to bring the past to the present.
The dolls may now be found at Atelier Histórias Criativas – where initiatives with schools are held that promote the children’s involvement with the myths and legends that compose the History of the villages and our country – and in Casa da Lagariça, both in the Historical Village of Castelo Novo, as well as in the Tourist Centers of the Historical Villages of Sortelha and Linhares da Beira.
But you can now get these puppets, as well as the book Lendas da Tua História, at home – order them online at this page and amaze the little ones (and the big ones) by telling stories based on the fun wool puppets of the fascinating myths and legends of the Historical Villages of Portugal!
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