From the historic centre of Tomar to the world, the self-taught artisan and designer reinvents ancestral techniques through a deeply contemporary language
Arraiolos wool is the common thread that runs through João Bruno Videira’s work. In his studio, located in the historic centre of Tomar, the self-taught artisan and designer reinvents ancestral techniques through a deeply contemporary language.
“I’m fascinated by the tension between the old and the new. Traditional techniques carry stories, knowledge, rhythms. When I put them in dialogue with a contemporary language, something is born that is neither one nor the other – it’s a fusion, a reinvention. And I believe that’s where art happens: in that space of confrontation and discovery,” João Bruno Videira begins.
It was in his childhood, surrounded by the Arraiolos rugs – traditional hand-embroidered textiles made in the Portuguese town – that his mother embroidered, that he first became familiar with the world of yarn and wool.
“I grew up watching my mother embroider Arraiolos rugs. It was one of her passions. It was a gesture of care, of patience, but also of creation. All of that stayed with me, like a kind of silent language. Years later, when I reencountered wool, I also received that invisible inheritance, that way of seeing with my hands,” he recalls.
It was a love that grew in silence and took shape after he left behind his career in journalism and communication.
“The disillusionment with working in the field had become clear, and inside me there was a desire to take a different path. I was far from imagining it would be this one… But life made sure to show me the way, and wool appeared as a link between past and future, memory and experimentation. It was like coming home, but through an unexpected route.”
It all began with a challenge to restore an old chair. That was how João Bruno Videira took his first steps on a path that now materialises in sculptures, design objects and installations that transcend material, aesthetic and even geographical boundaries.
Using multicoloured wool threads, the designer creates unique pieces that celebrate both the strength and fragility of natural elements. “It’s a very organic and fluid process, sometimes even immediate.
I can visualise things with great ease when a new idea strikes me. Other times, I start from a more abstract notion. It can be born from an image, a feeling. Then comes the most interesting part, the taking shape, where the material itself guides me. I like to listen to what the wool asks for, how it responds to gesture, to time, to repetition. There’s always a dialogue between what is planned and what is unexpected. And there’s also a meditative dimension that interests me deeply.”
It is his profound connection to nature that defines his creative process. “Nature is both my starting point and my return. Sometimes I don’t represent it directly, but I try to work with its rhythms, its organic forms, its cycles of transformation.
There’s a kind of active listening – to the materials, the light, the space – that stems from this deep connection with the natural world. But this connection also has a direct and tangible expression in many of the works I create; just look at the names of some of the pieces born from my hands: the stones, the trees.”
His pieces, almost always made to order, are more than objects – they are sensory manifestations of a keen observation of nature and its constant cycle of transformation.
Works like Coração (Heart), Raízes (Roots) and Erosão (Erosion) illustrate this approach. “Each of these pieces stems from a reflection on the body, on time, and on fragility. Coração relates to inner pulse, to what moves us.
Raízes evokes what anchors and sustains us at the same time. And Erosão speaks to us about wear, but also about persistence – about what time takes away, but also what it reveals,” he explains.
Despite the constant challenges of creation, since “wool demands time, dedication, and doesn’t always allow itself to be tamed easily”, his work is featured in several private spaces in Portugal, including in the Algarve, and has crossed national borders, carrying a piece of Portuguese tradition to international fairs and exhibitions such as the London Design Fair, Dubai Design Week, and Maison & Objet in Paris.
“It’s been incredibly rewarding. Taking my work abroad is also about taking a piece of my story, of Portuguese culture and of our textile tradition. There’s a genuine curiosity about this approach that blends the ancestral and the contemporary, and that gives me motivation to keep experimenting.”
This year, the designer is preparing for new challenges. One of his most ambitious creations will be a permanent installation in the Noble Hall of the Biscainhos Museum in Braga.
“It’s an installation that proposes a dialogue between the historical space of the museum’s Noble Hall and the contemporary materiality of wool, through a series of sculptural elements made from burel [a Portuguese fabric made from 100% sheep’s wool from Serra da Estrela],” he reveals.
“These forms, reminiscent of stones or pebbles, vary in scale and size, creating an environment where solidity and softness meet. Inspired by Portuguese textile tradition, the installation explores the relationship between nature and culture, inviting the public into a sensorial and contemplative experience. These are stones that suggest a place for pause and reflection, that invite slowing down, sitting or lying down, and, with one’s gaze turned to the ceiling of the hall, becoming immersed in the richness of the painting that inhabits it.”
As for the future, João Bruno Videira hopes to bring his textile language to the outdoors.
“I would really like to develop a large-scale outdoor installation that directly engages with the landscape and natural elements. I’m also keen to deepen collaborations with other areas – such as dance, video or architecture – in order to continue expanding the possibilities of textile as a contemporary language,” he concludes.
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