A felt exhibition and other beauties

I really wanted to write this blog post to share about a place I visited a couple of days ago. It was incredibly fun and I wouldn’t want you to miss the experience, if you have the chance. 

So, I've just come back from São João da Madeira, which is a small city about half an hour from Porto, in Portugal, where I spent a couple of beautiful days dedicated to felt, industrial history and design.

The main reason for my visit was Saar Snoek's felt exhibition at the Hat Museum. With a collection of more than 30 pieces, the exhibition shows mainly her hats, some of her coral-like work, as well as her wearable piece Wild Things, from the collection of Filzwelt Soltau. 

It was totally worth it, Saar's work is amazing and beautiful, and it was a joy to be able to see it live. If you live in Portugal or if you're coming to visit in the next couple of weeks, do make sure you don't miss it. You can still visit the exhibition until September 27^th. 

During my visit to São João da Madeira, I kept wondering how it was even possible that I didn't know about the wonderful places you can see in this city.

São João has an incredible industrial history from the second half of the 19th century, through the whole of the 20th century.

It was home to hat factories, shoe factories, as well as Oliva, the only Portuguese brand ever to produce sewing machines.

This industrial legacy is all over the city and you can now visit it in the form of 4 museums: the Hat Museum (@museudachapelaria), the Shoe Museum (@museudocalcado), the Oliva Tower with its historical collection of the Oliva brand (@turismoindustrialsjm), and the Oliva Creative Factory with its Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art (@OlivaCreativeFactory).

There are also some important factories that are still operating today and that you can visit. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to see them because you have to be in a group of a minimum of 5 people to be able to schedule a visit to these factories. Of course, it's perfectly understandable, since these visits obviously mean you'll be interrupting their work. So, it is only justifiable for a group. 

I'm talking about the pencil factory Viarco (@viarcoportugal), as well as FEPSA (@fepsa.felt.hat.bodies), the world's leading producer of felt hat bodies.

I would highly recommend you go see Saar Snoek's exhibition. But if you really can't make it until the end of the month, at least take some time to visit all these exquisite sites in São João da Madeira.

I promise you you'll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the cultural offer. And you’ll be amazed at how welcome the local people will make you feel!