Page 14 - Artesania Catalogo

José Rafael Lantigua
FOREWORD
Artisanry, like any expression of the national creative
industry, has come to evaluate itself, identify its priorities
and harmonize its objectives with the strategic lines that
mark the rhythm of the market and the pulse beat of the
economies in these new times.
Let this publication serve to recognize the Dominican
artisans who via their perseverance, show us that, beyond
the unpretentiousness that characterizes them, there lives
within them, in all of them, the spirit of “passion, creativity
and execution”.
It is a great satisfaction for us to launch this “Catalog-
Directory of Dominican Artisanry” product of the labor of a
team of experts of the National Artisanry Center (Centro
Nacional de Artesanía - CENADARTE), an agency of the
Ministry of Culture, in alliance with the Ministry of Industry
and Commerce, whom we thank and congratulate for the
quality achieved in this sampling.
Once again, we can feel the touch of the success of
the efforts towards promoting and distributing research
that enables us to know, objectively, the evolution of the
Dominican artisrany industry, illuminating and directing
policies which, in the future, will have to be re-formulated
for its sustainable development and production, the path
laid out by the National Development Strategy (Estrategia
Nacional de Desarrollo - END).
14 | Artesanía Dominicana | Dominican Crafts
Minister of Culture
The protection of artisanry is a vocation that has guided
us since the year 2004 when we assumed the administra-
tion of the Ministry of Culture. In 2005, we proceeded with
the signature of a collaboration agreement with the Office
of the First Lady of the Republic, Dr. Margarita Cedeño
de Fernández which benefited hundreds of users of the
National Center of Artisanry (Centro Nacional de Artesanía
– CENADARTE) which today shines again, renewed in its
institutional re-structuring, in its varied academic offer and
in the efficiency of its services.
Our YES to the industry demanded the creation of a
program of artisan fairs that began with great economic
impact and glory in the National Christmas Artisanry Fair,
passing through the municipal and regional fairs and was
crowned by the Artisanry Runway in the International Book
Fair – Santo Domingo. In addition, even before that, the
Ministry of Culture carried out the Artisanry and Nativity
Scenes Competition, at the same time it promoted the par-
ticipation in artisans prominent in international contests
and fairs.
In 2011, the Ministry of Culture, via the Vice-Ministry
of Cultural Patrimony and its strategic partners organized
and co-sponsored the largest fair of artisanry and gifts in
the Caribbean, in its edition “Design Caribbean” with the