Artifex
The ancients had an excellent rating in the sense I seek to give the art, in which the inspiration and reason combine. The name "Artifex" was given to the man who exercised an art (or a craft) with a perfect consciousness. It was neither the artist nor the craftsman but something more than the combined one and the other".
(The Art in the new Era, Pag.241) Dr. Serge Raynaud de la Ferriere.
There was a time when the social status of a profession depended not only on the results but the knowledge aquired, and the art that each vocation represented. The word Artifex appears repeatedly, bearing the same form and meaning in three languages, latin, spanish, catalan: master artisan, as well as artistin its original meaning (one who practices an art).
We want to define our will to unite the global with local, like those itinerant masons traveling from city to city, who never felt like strangers, because their home was where whenever they'd built something. Hence ArtifexBalear, aware of our common Mediterranean heritage, and proud to be crafstmen and artists, children of those who through their ingenuity, creativity, tenacity and work provided beauty, harmony and usefulness to our buildings, and to our earth.
Artifex Balear is a non-profit organisation founded in 2002, and declared a public utility in 2008. We work in the recovery and innovation of the Building Arts and trades, as well as Regenerative Agriculture and Appropriate Technology. We offer long and short-term courses and organise local and international meetings that seek to promote the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
In addition, we propose a re-conceptualisation of Vernacular Construction and Regenerative Agriculture as the backbone of a Mediterranean answer to climate change adaptation.
