The promotion of this cooperation project in the European context follows from the understanding of the importance of this kind of initiatives to increase projection, both national and international, of the new urban structures installed in Santo Thyrso’s Factory. The cooperation at European level will facilitate the exchange of experiences between cultural and artistic agents or other professionals in these areas, as well as the inclusion of this municipal structure in networks, extending its range of action and allowing the contact with other contexts of creation and with other markets.

The cooperation project “CREATIVE CONTAGIOUS - Textile territories, rural memories. Creative talents, technical talents”, includes the Municipality of Santo Tirso (project organizer) and four European institutions of higher education in the areas of artistic design and fashion jewelery: ESAD Matosinhos (Portugal), the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Design Academy (University of Primorska in Slovenia). The three regions involved in this project have in common a strong tradition of textiles and handicrafts that this project seeks to harness, exploring the intersections between creative designers and craftsmen, between traditional materials and know-how and between new techniques and contemporary materials. Under this project will be held artist residencies and workshops that promote the circulation and exchange of knowledges related with the diversity of cultural expressions which constitute the different traditions of arts and crafts available in Europe.

QP technically supported the project design, including the setting up of the partnership, as well as the formatting of the EForm and online submission at the Culture Programme.