Creating in Angola in order to export to the rest of the world is one of the aims of the company Raízes Cruzadas, created by Paula Tavares, an entrepreneur who has been enchanted by the countless forms that wood can take. Portuguese by birth and Angolan by heart, over the 30 years of experience in this African country she has developed various projects that reveal comfortable environments, where luxury is manifested in the authenticity of the pieces carved by the experienced hands of artisans.
Paula Tavares considers herself to be self-taught, although she attended the Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva Foundation in Lisbon, a technical school dedicated to the decorative arts, where she learnt the basics which she combined with a taste for interior design, as she reveals: «Furniture creation and decoration have always been my work and as I feel a close relationship with wood and other premium materials, available on the Angolan market, such as stone, combined with the skill of local craftsmen, I leapt at the chance to establish a small industry in Luanda that transforms these raw materials into unique pieces.» This is how Raízes Cruzadas came into being, producing furniture and decorative objects for homes, hotels, restaurants or simply as a gift for someone.
«All our pieces travel carrying the phrase made in Angola»
It was a long path to tread before reaching the point of excellence: «Many of the craftsmen that today are extraordinary in making our pieces arrived with little experience in working, essentially, with wood. All the more specific techniques were taught by me, and, even today, the training continues, because there’s always something more to learn,» points out Paula Tavares, the mentor of the woodshop, as she affectionately calls this place that smells of freshly cut wood. And she adds, «it’s not only the master craftsmen in wood or stone that we need for our industry, we also need upholsterers, seamstresses and other professionals with skills inherent to the manufacture of the pieces we produce. Angola is yet to have many schools with technical training in these trades.» However, 20 years after opening its doors, the place where genuine Angolan pieces are manufactured employs 23 local artisans on a fulltime basis, most of them young people who have already mastered, to perfection, the art of sculpting and carving wood, giving shape to chairs, tables, sideboards and other pieces that already travel the world. «The customers of Raízes Cruzadas are in many countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Brazil, and we are also going to export to the United States of America. All our pieces travel carrying the phrase made in Angola and it is a source of pride when I realise that they are well regarded and valued by those who buy them and recommend them to friends or other business people who are looking for unique, ethnic pieces,» explains the designer and decorator.
«It was a long path to tread before reaching the point of excellence»
The raw material used to produce the objects is essentially wood, and this resource, which is increasingly in danger of extinction, particularly in Africa, comes from old trunks, roots, tree clearings or is bought from loggers who guarantee reforestation with fast-growing trees. Paula Tavares confesses that her fascination for wood can be seen in all the pieces she creates: «I don’t like to work wood very much, I prefer to show it in its raw state, its grain is very beautiful, which is why I don’t use synthetic stains, I leave the wood naturally visible, because its beauty is unique; often it is so majestic that it needs no work at all.»
«We will make an investment full of courage in this inhospitable time»
In this company, which takes furniture and decorative items produced in Angola to other countries, handcraft techniques are combined with innovative design and a promising future is envisioned. According to Paula Tavares, «we will continue to invest in the Raízes Cruzadas concept that has brought so much pleasure to our employees and customers. We will continue to transform spaces into more pleasant places and create comfort. We will make an investment full of courage, in this inhospitable time that we are living throughout the entire world and that constrains us, because we must not give up.» And so the decorative pieces manufactured by the experienced hands of the employees of this woodshop, full of smiles, will continue to cross borders, taking a bit of Angolan roots to the world.
Paula Tavares considers herself to be self-taught, although she attended the Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva Foundation in Lisbon, a technical school dedicated to the decorative arts, where she learnt the basics which she combined with a taste for interior design, as she reveals: «Furniture creation and decoration have always been my work and as I feel a close relationship with wood and other premium materials, available on the Angolan market, such as stone, combined with the skill of local craftsmen, I leapt at the chance to establish a small industry in Luanda that transforms these raw materials into unique pieces.» This is how Raízes Cruzadas came into being, producing furniture and decorative objects for homes, hotels, restaurants or simply as a gift for someone.
«All our pieces travel carrying the phrase made in Angola»
It was a long path to tread before reaching the point of excellence: «Many of the craftsmen that today are extraordinary in making our pieces arrived with little experience in working, essentially, with wood. All the more specific techniques were taught by me, and, even today, the training continues, because there’s always something more to learn,» points out Paula Tavares, the mentor of the woodshop, as she affectionately calls this place that smells of freshly cut wood. And she adds, «it’s not only the master craftsmen in wood or stone that we need for our industry, we also need upholsterers, seamstresses and other professionals with skills inherent to the manufacture of the pieces we produce. Angola is yet to have many schools with technical training in these trades.» However, 20 years after opening its doors, the place where genuine Angolan pieces are manufactured employs 23 local artisans on a fulltime basis, most of them young people who have already mastered, to perfection, the art of sculpting and carving wood, giving shape to chairs, tables, sideboards and other pieces that already travel the world. «The customers of Raízes Cruzadas are in many countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Brazil, and we are also going to export to the United States of America. All our pieces travel carrying the phrase made in Angola and it is a source of pride when I realise that they are well regarded and valued by those who buy them and recommend them to friends or other business people who are looking for unique, ethnic pieces,» explains the designer and decorator.
«It was a long path to tread before reaching the point of excellence»
The raw material used to produce the objects is essentially wood, and this resource, which is increasingly in danger of extinction, particularly in Africa, comes from old trunks, roots, tree clearings or is bought from loggers who guarantee reforestation with fast-growing trees. Paula Tavares confesses that her fascination for wood can be seen in all the pieces she creates: «I don’t like to work wood very much, I prefer to show it in its raw state, its grain is very beautiful, which is why I don’t use synthetic stains, I leave the wood naturally visible, because its beauty is unique; often it is so majestic that it needs no work at all.»
«We will make an investment full of courage in this inhospitable time»
In this company, which takes furniture and decorative items produced in Angola to other countries, handcraft techniques are combined with innovative design and a promising future is envisioned. According to Paula Tavares, «we will continue to invest in the Raízes Cruzadas concept that has brought so much pleasure to our employees and customers. We will continue to transform spaces into more pleasant places and create comfort. We will make an investment full of courage, in this inhospitable time that we are living throughout the entire world and that constrains us, because we must not give up.» And so the decorative pieces manufactured by the experienced hands of the employees of this woodshop, full of smiles, will continue to cross borders, taking a bit of Angolan roots to the world.
