CARPET (Craft, Art & People Together) promotes the value of diversity by means of handicrafts as a social and economic driver, fostering dialogue between artisans, contemporary art, design and citizens. The project contributes toward internationalisation by making it easier for artists and artisans to shift location, work together and gain repute outside their own country, reaching new publics and future markets.

The activities promote cultural dialogue via contact between handicrafts, art and citizens, with a view to providing a society model in which citizens are made more aware of creative processes via their own participation, and also of the wealth diversity instills in any society. Such participation enables better evaluation of artistic production, encouraging acquisition of authentic products while working against the presence of counterfeits and their consequences.

The multidisciplinary joint effort comprises a blend of tradition and technology that brings local and global together. Exhibitions showcasing results from artists’ residencies will reflect a creative process based on dialogue between society, culture, identity and innovation, which may become the future of a creative sector addressed to an increasingly demanding and extended public, now that products can be obtained online around the world.

The combination of countries from both north and south highlights the role of handicrafts as an asset for social and economic development in the framework of the arts. The presence of a strong Islamic legacy in Europe, especially in sectors associated to crafts, brings citizens and different religions and cultures closer, thereby helping ensure peaceful and respectful coexistence. The project promotes cultural diversity by means of a very participative approach for both artists and citizens of the different countries.