Straw embroideries in Azores (Portugal)

UIDB/04209/2020 UIDP/04209/2020 ; Wheat or rye straw embroideries, typical of the island of Faial (Azores), are the ultimate representatives of a European craft very popular in the XIX century. Our investigation into the cultural use of plants in the Azores presents some examples of straw embroideries and information on the raw materials of plant origin used by the last embroideresses who keep this tradition alive. Azores and the straw embroidery The Azores Archipelago, located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between Europe and North America, was uninhabited when the first Portuguese navigators arrived in 1427 and the arrival of Europeans had severe consequences for the natural ecosystems, that were replaced by agricultural lands, pastures, and, later, by woodlands of exotic trees. The Azores have a very rich flora, with 84 species and infra-species endemic taxa (acores.flora-on.pt), but few of the native and endemic plants are now used as raw materials because the material needs of the population rely almost entirely in introduced species. The traditional arts and crafts are also diverse, and it is in Azores that we find a unique European tradition – the straw embroidery. The European history of straw use for weaving is Millenia old, and we can find exquisite examples in many countries, such as in Belarus, which recently (2022) added this tradition to UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ich.unesco.org) but the pattern of straw work that we find in Azores is closer to the traditions recorded in France (Figure 1), Belgium, Italy, or Switzerland from the XVII century on, when straw was used to embroider in cotton, linen, or silk. An extraordinary sample of this ancient art is the Good Shepherd altar (Figure 2) made by French nuns from the Couvent des Annonciades [Convent of Annonciades], in Nozeroy, and now preserved at the local Collégiale Saint-Antoine [Collegiate Church of Saint-Antoine] (Fitch 1998). In the Azores, the straw embroideries are made in the island of Faial; one of the nine islands of the ...