The hands of those who make Porto creative outline the itinerary of an authentic city

Known - and sought after - for its unique identity and authenticity, Porto is a city made by hand: by the hand of those who mould, weave, paint or sew the thousand and one ways of experiencing this destination. It is creativity, innovation, but also sustainability and the cultural diversity of artisans, artists and other new creatives that 'Curated Porto' wants to celebrate. The municipal project to promote new tourist routes was presented on Tuesday morning at the Soares dos Reis National Museum.

'If Porto is known for wearing its heart on its sleeve, today we're talking about those who hold the heart of the city in their hands', says the Councillor for Tourism and Internationalisation, stressing that 'behind the hands there are people, artists, there are stories of innovation, courage, resilience and passion, that we want to value, make known and promote internationally'.

The first phase of the programme includes 13 projects, 13 pairs of hands that 'shape the new Porto', from ceramics to painting, from jewellery to textiles, 13 'inspiring cases of creative tourism and local development with a real impact on the enhancement of the territory and tourist attraction', says Catarina Santos Cunha.

In the Councillor's words, 'Curated Porto' is 'a celebration of the creativity of those who, honouring tradition and the legacy of generations, design the city's future, making it one of Europe's most vibrant artistic and cultural hubs'.

And because it's about community, the project is for everyone. It's for artists and cultural entrepreneurs 'who have long deserved this stage on the city's tourist route, promoting local economy, the establishment of cultural industries and international exchange'.

For residents, by creating 'new bridges of contact with the city, new ways of interacting with the community, new experiences to enjoy all that Porto has to offer'.

And, of course, for visitors, as 'an invitation to explore new areas of the city, decentralising tourist flows and finding new ways of engaging with the destination, and even cultural exchange, which is so essential to artistic production'. The programme is part of the 'Yours Truly, Porto' strategy, which, among other actions, seeks to promote the dispersion of tourist flows to new attractiveness 'blocks'.

Catarina Santos Cunha acknowledges that by opening up the experience to workshops, faces, journeys, techniques, creative thinking, and collective initiatives, 'we're going to show a contemporary, vibrant Porto that is deeply committed to preserving its intangible heritage'.

Among the stories to be uncovered, the spaces to be discovered and the experiences to be lived, there is Teresa Branco's studio. Working with ceramics for more than a decade, she believes in Porto as 'an absolutely creative city for what it is in itself: organic, full of texture, different. It's full of surprises, both architectural and in terms of the skills of several people who develop a new universe every day'.

That's why it hosts Curated Porto, 'to preserve our identity, because that's what the people who come are looking for. To be increasingly identified as a diverse people, full of history and creativity'. And because, she believes, by attracting more people to her workshop 'there will surely be new projects, new challenges, new creative and production interactions'.

Patrícia Sousa is also firm in her ability to attract people to the city through her creativity. 'Historically, Porto has always been a source of creation, movement and entrepreneurship', the textile designer emphasises, adding that 'we continue to show this, very undercover, but there is always a buzz, a contagious energy'.

For Patrícia Sousa, the added value guaranteed by handicrafts and the creation process is what these artists (or people with an aptitude for the arts, as she prefers to call them) can best offer the community and visitors to the city.

'It's learning that came out of schools and our daily lives and it's super interesting if we can convey this knowledge, this passion that we have, which involves art, but also handicrafts, fine motor skills. To work from the head to the hands and to teach this to the new generations, to integrate them into these processes as well, to show that there are no automatic things', she emphasises.

Patrícia Sousa believes that 'the greatest contribution we can make to the community is to take things 'out of the box' and make them more accessible, more inclusive'. As an economics graduate, she sees 'Curated Porto' as 'a way of demystifying the idea that only artists make art'.