Telling the story of craftsmanship with Terre et Fils
Telling the story of regional synergies based on local craftsmanship
Since May 2022, Familles Rurales and Terre & Fils have been carrying out collaborative “Récits de savoir-faire” projects. Six cultural mediation projects in rural areas have been selected to keep alive the memory of local craftsmanship, encourage its transmission and intergenerational links, and stimulate the desire to undertake to perpetuate it.
The Ink Link's mission? To enhance the value of the region through a storytelling approach that is rooted in reality and inspires people to discover their surroundings.
A narrative co-written with local residents
The craftsmanship stories were written collectively, by and for local residents and players. The aim is to showcase what already exists and tell the real story through six stories:
- Pink garlic from Lautrec
- The words of Domjevin's women farmers
- From grain to bread
- Rubelles earthenware from Voisenon
- Asparagus from La Marolle
- The Béziers bullring
The diversity of products and achievements, the multiplicity of players: each project is very different! To bring them all together in a single book, and to showcase the regions and their inhabitants, we had to find a unique guiding thread. We created a hybrid format, mixing photos and drawings.
For each project, a mascot is created and drawn by Laure Garancher, and is integrated into the photos from different eras. In this way, the promotion of the region is anchored in what is most concrete: human relationships and actions carried out on a local scale.
A tailor-made, meaningful creation
The creation of the book had to show the richness of the territories. Florence Le Maux, an experienced graphic designer, worked with us to design a layout illustrating the link to the land and its history, while highlighting the players in the field.
The notion of capitalization was important for all those involved in the project, with a strong question: how can we motivate other territories to launch this type of initiative? The Ink Link suggested adding a Recipe for Success section to each chapter.
However, it's not always easy for those involved in a project to step aside and understand what made it successful. For this reason, we ran a special workshop with all the project leaders, to collectively analyze best practices and take stock of all the know-how involved.
The project leaders and everyone involved are very proud of the result. The book is a way of highlighting initiatives, reinforcing a sense of belonging and realizing the true scope of know-how transfer. May this achievement inspire many other initiatives to germinate!