Welcome to the 30's -- craft tradition and beyond

‘Renaissance lace’ is the latest product to apply for Geographical indication (GI). Producers of the lace in the region of Cariri Paraiba submitted an application to the Brazilian Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) requesting for a GI in the form of Indicação de Procedência (Indication of Source).

The lace is said to be mainly of ‘concentric’ designs --a beautiful complex production process.

INPI informs that the renaissance lace Cariri goes back to the 30s of last century, appearing first in Pernambuco, when French nuns broke the secrecy about the mode of its production. Then this craft was passed to poor women in the region and thus creating employment and income in one of the areas which is most affected by drought in northeast Brazil. The current technique of production of this income came to Cariri Paraibano in the mid 50s becoming later in a great craft tradition.

The GI aims to protect the name of the region, Paraiba Cariri, known for producing renaissance lace and allowing the consumer to know the true origin of the product that is said to incorporate patterns and characteristics proper of the region.