4th edition of Hemp Fiber Lab will take place next weekend in Sintra

The collective 7 sisters, in collaboration with Sensihemp, organizes the 4th Hemp Fiber Lab at Quinta dos 7 nomes, in Sintra, from June 20th to 22nd. In this 3-day workshop, participants can learn how to transform hemp “from plant to thread”, and at the end create a handmade and collaborative piece, “from fiber to thread – from thread to textile”.

This time, Lilian Rodrigues, organizer of the event and founder of the collective 7 irmãs, joins Marta Vinhas, from the Portuguese hemp clothing brand Sensihemp and other “sisters” of the constellation such as Sabina Baptist, specialist in natural dyeing, the poet and singer Sheila Rodrigues from “As da Fonte” or the Chinese artist Scarlet Hongying. The mission of the artisans is sharing each person’s knowledge with anyone who wants to know more about how to process hemp fiber to create fabrics – and not only that, because this time, as Lilian told CannaReporter®, “the goal is to make a piece from start to finish”. 

The idea of ​​this workshop The practical and collaborative approach is, in the words of the organizer, “paving the way to create bridges between producers and artisans” who use or want to use hemp as a raw material. And for that, there is nothing better than getting your hands on the fiber. In this case, learning from those who have knowledge and experience to share. As Marta Vinhas says, participants will find “a lot of beauty in the details: from riverside rituals with songs, to the sound of the loom in operation, to the natural pigments that will transform fabrics and hands.”

The synergy between the 7 Sisters and Sensihemp was born from a shared vision: “we want to regenerate, create with awareness, take care of the land and people. The 7 Sisters project“Hemp has been a precious guardian of ancestral knowledge and deep listening. Bringing Sensihemp to this territory is almost natural. Together, we want to bring hemp to the center of the conversation about sustainability, circular economy and community culture,” explains Marta.

A story with many stories inside

The first Hemp Fiber Lab took place in 2019 “from the desire of several women to come together to discover how to transform hemp fiber into yarn, because there was no one doing this in Portugal,” Lilian told us. At the time it was a Lab practical, research-based, in collaboration with Alice Albergaria Borges, “who already had experience and knowledge with linen”, and the illustrator Inês Milagres who already worked with plants. As Lilian explains, “it was a meeting of curious spinners and artisans who wanted to discover this fiber to use in their crafts”.

The second edition took place in 2020, the year in which they decided to build their own tools and experiment with different types of macerations (from the hemp plant), fibers and instruments. During those two days, at Quinta dos 7 Nomes, 20 “very curious” people participated, recalls Lilian. That was a week before the “lockdown”, but in 2021 the curious souls that orbited the 7 sisters collective, among which Alice Albergaria and Scarlet Hongying remained, joined forces again for another Fiber Lab in Canal Caveira, Grândola. It was a “very beautiful meeting, lasting 3 days, with more artisans who brought techniques that they had prepared before”, recalled Lilian. This time, they worked with hemp, dyed it with different plants and natural pigments, and wove a piece on a traditional loom in a collaborative way – 100% natural and handmade.

For Lili, this meeting was very important, because “it was very well documented, there were people who were inspired and other movements emerged – that year, it was like a wave that woke people up and more people appeared to explore these areas”.

But the path of hemp is tortuous. Since then, there have been new regulations and some police raids that have made life difficult for hemp growers. Among other things, time has passed. 

After the hiatus, Lilian decided to resume the project because, she confesses, hemp has always been what interested her the most. The conversations continued and the results began to show. Alice Albergaria joined forces with Marta Vinhas, from Sensi Hemp, to create a collection of 100% hemp t-shirts, produced in part by Lilian, with natural pigments; other creative ideas began to emerge. And so, finally, they decided it was time to organize another Fiber Lab.

4th edition has the goal of “making a piece from start to finish”

And it all starts in the river, because water, as Lilian says, “is the element involved in all hemp processes and is very important in the textile sector – rainwater for irrigation, river water to macerate the fibers and be able to work them…” Thus, the first day will begin with a tribute to the river that irrigates the farm, with songs led by the poet Sheila Rodrigues, whose work of researching and recovering traditional songs will mark the agenda of this opening moment. “Sheila will accompany and encourage the movement of singing at work, so important in traditional crafts, a community act that unites us, which is sorely missed nowadays”, says Lilian. Sharing music during “work” throughout the creative process “is the common thread that remains in everyone”.

The “work” continues the following day with decortication (breaking the bark of the hemp stalk) and the separation and preparation of the fibers with traditional tools. 

On Saturday, the day is reserved for transforming the fiber into thread and coloring it with flowers, vegetables or minerals, with the dyer Sabina Batista. And on Sunday it will be the day to use the threads obtained to create a piece between everyone, which will tell the story of this fabric, of this experience and of these moments shared with the upcycle and visual artist Scarlet.

Participants are invited to bring a piece of their own, with its own story, to create a new piece with a collective story, with the support of the spinner. Mariana Amorim.

At the end, there will be material to assemble an exhibition with the results.

In addition to the experience and the final pieces, there will also be other surprises, some planned and others yet to be seen. As Marta says, “We will have unexpected moments of connection between people from very different areas, spontaneous sharing, dancing in the moonlight, cannabis food and workshops led by those who actually experience these practices on a daily basis. It is a lively and organic event – ​​and, usually, the best surprises are the ones that are not planned”, she says.

HEMP FIBRE LAB
20th to 22nd June, Quinta dos 7 Nomes, Colares, Sintra
Participants: maximum of 30 people

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Friday 20/06, from 17pm: Reception

– Opening performance ritual by the river with the “From the Source” with singing
– Cannabis dinner and social gathering

Saturday 21 / 06, every day and night
Participants: up to 20 people

– Fiber processing (decorticating, stripping, ripping, sedating)
– Spinning, natural dyeing and handloom weaving workshops
– 19:00 pm – Dinner: for participants and the public who wish to join
– 21:00 pm – Traditional dance / solstice celebration with Vira-Vadio – Songs of offices 

Sunday 22/06, all day
Participants: up to 20 people (morning/afternoon)

– Textile finishing and application practices
– Assembly of collaborative parts
– Collective reflections and sharing of learning. Closing with 'As da Fonte'

Prices:

3 days: €275,00 / all inclusive (food, accommodation in our own campsite – for other types of accommodation, contact the organization).
Social grants and discounts: €160,00 (contact the organization).

1 day: € 160,00

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Margarita Cardoso de Meneses

More postsBiography

Margarita has been a regular contributor to CannaReporter since its inception in 2017, having previously worked for other cannabis-focused media outlets such as Cáñamo magazine (Spain), CannaDouro Magazine (Portugal) and Cannapress. She was part of the original team for the Portuguese edition of Cânhamo in the early 2000s and was part of the organisation of the Global Marijuana March in Portugal between 2007 and 2009.

He recently published the book “Canábis | Cursed and Wonderful” (Ed. Oficina do Livro / LeYA, 2024), dedicated to spreading the history of the plant, its ancestral relationship with the Human Being as a raw material, entheogen and recreational drug, as well as the infinite potential it holds in medicinal, industrial and environmental terms.

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