STUDIO PRATHA

In a small Sardinian village, some elderly women have kept an extremely rare weaving technique with standing loom, passed down through generations over the centuries. In 2016 they started cooperating with young female designers to give new life to their handicrafts: the result is an all-women team, where tradition meets innovation. If technique and instruments date back to prehistoric times, the creativity of the designers leads to all-new artworks, a triumph of modernism. Born from the intuition and vision of Graziella Carta, strongly fascinated by this ancient textile art, Studio Pratha relies on the abilities of a team of craftswomen - who have been weaving exquisite and fine traditional rugs with the same unique and fully manual technique since the ’60s - and some eclectic designers, based in Sardinia, Milan, London. Inspired by classical subjects, the designers modernise their shapes and colours, while the weavers translate their futurist reinterpretation into evocative tapestries. This project is also conceived as a virtuous example of: sustainability, having no environmental impact; and of circular economy, using exclusively Sardinian sheep wool, very difficult to process and therefore considered a waste product. The whole process is 100% manual, (only few centimetres per day of actual weaving). Studio Pratha tapestries are made from Sardinian sheep wool, either in its natural colours or following the ancient tradition of dyeing naturally from herbs, whenever possible. Sheep are sheared manually with the utmost care, ensuring the best animal health and welfare. Every Studio Pratha tapestry is an exclusive and unique piece. The result is a modern, sophisticated, dynamic design, ready to be elevated – like in an initiation process – by the millenary wisdom of nature and the finest human skills.