Artisan Elena Ferro visited the schools to show the clog-making process to the children who had previously worked with the educational unit ‘Eu son zoqueira’. During the visits, Ferro discussed the historical importance of clogs, especially in rural Galicia, and gave a live demonstration.
The family workshop Eferro, from which Elena Ferro hails (Merza, Vila de Cruces), has over a hundred years of history and received the National Craftsmanship Award in 2019. The artisan has adapted traditional footwear to contemporary trends, incorporating modern colors, textures, and shapes.
Artesanía na Escola is a program by the Xunta de Galicia aimed at introducing traditional crafts and their values to schools throughout Galicia. Its objectives include promoting crafts as cultural heritage and economic sectors, highlighting handmade products and craft professionals as creators and knowledge transmitters, and sharing old wisdom while showcasing new crafts linked to contemporary artistry.
The program also promotes values such as responsible consumption, local and sustainable production, and the circular economy, with the long-term goal of addressing generational succession in craft trades. Currently, it features three educational units: ‘Eu son zoqueira’ (I am a clog maker), ‘Eu son artesán de percusión tradicional’ (I am a traditional percussion artisan, focusing on tambourines, with artisan Xosé Manuel Sanín), and ‘Eu son artesán de figuras de pan’ (I am a bread figure artisan, focusing on sanandresiños, with artisan Jorge Bellón).
