The Regional Centre for Handicrafts (CRAA) is a service under the jurisdiction of the Vice-Presidency of the Government, Employment and Competitiveness that is in charge of the implementation of regional policies in the development and enhancement of traditional products, with special emphasis on regional handicrafts and craft production units, vocational training and coordination of local multifunctional initiatives.

The CRAA is intended to develop a consistent and diversified annual plan that focuses on the four areas we consider fundamental: research and documentation, exhibitions, training and support to craftspeople. The development of these areas requires the certification of products, always ensuring maximum rigour and quality, editing of publications, construction of a website, organisation of exhibitions, promotion of workshops and training courses, provision of information to artisans and the creation of an incentive scheme to support them.

It is time to embody a strategy to recover and acknowledge the credibility of arts and crafts as a platform for disseminating regional identity and culture through the implementation of measures that improve skills and the qualification of artisans. This strategy also aims to promote the development of regional handicrafts, stressing its importance in the revitalisation of local economy.

In a perspective of reflection on handicrafts and its aesthetic and technological transformations, our goal is to provide a space for dialogue and confrontation between tradition and modernity, memory and creation, past and present. The centre for handicrafts also promotes a consistent and quality image in order to enhance the visibility of Azorean craft activities in the national territory, Europe and in the Diaspora communities.

With this online page, we intend to provide a range of information and tools to support artisans in the course of their economic activity.