Irlando Ferreira

Director, National Center of Crafts and Design, Mindelo

Ferreira is currently overseeing a major renovation project that will allow the National Center of Crafts and Design (CNAD) in Mindelo to cement its position as the pre-eminent cultural centre in Cape Verde. Since becoming director of the institution in 2015, Ferreira has been a prominent campaigner for the nation’s crafts and culture sector; the ordinance conferring professional status on artisans in Cape Verde, which he has pushed for, comes into effect this year. He also led a delegation of artists and artisans to the Dakar International Craft Fair earlier this year.

Ferreira, who was born in Cape Verde, studied management and culture studies in Lisbon, working as a theatre producer in Lisbon and Los Angeles before returning to the island in the early 2010s. At the heart of his work is a belief that culture can play an important role in social development. He has spoken and written widely on the topic, most recently at the European Union’s international colloquium ‘Culture for the Future’ in 2019 and at the Cape Verde Ambition 2030 forum, organised by the government of Cape Verde this year.

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