The International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) is helping artists in El Salvador to upgrade their pottery industry, by enhancing the local designers’ abilities and injecting innovative elements into their work.
In a three-year program, which is to run through May 2017, the Taipei-based agency responsible for foreign aid programs is working with artists in the town of Ilobasco in central El Salvador as part of an effort to develop a niche pottery industry.
To promote the program, the fund appointed a project manager in Ilobasco. Earlier this month, four Taiwanese experts in pottery design, arts marketing and related areas also visited Ilobasco to offer advice on how to boost the industry.
The “one town, one product” project is aimed at promoting and upgrading the pottery industry in Ilobasco, a town known for its craftsmanship, by improving packaging and branding techniques, it said.
In order to create a distinctive industry, the agency said it has encouraged local artists to integrate elements of Mayan indigenous culture and the natural resources of the volcanic land when developing products.
Under the cooperative program, a group of artists from Ilobasco is set to visit Taiwan later this year to learn about Taiwan’s pottery industry, the agency said.
The “one town, one product” concept stems from Taiwan’s own successful experience. Yingge District (鶯歌) in New Taipei City has many factories offering a range of pottery products, from vases and ocarinas — a simple wind instrument shaped like a sweet potato — to teapots and tableware.
In recent years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has helped several communities across the nation to develop signature products that help attract tourists.
The program in El Salvador follows a similar program launched in 2011, when Taiwan helped Honduran artists in Valle de Angeles establish a culture-focused pottery industry.
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