Analysis of the productive design of the handmade embroidery of Timbaúba dos Batistas, Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

The handmade embroidery was introduced in the Seridó region from the arrival of the Portuguese and has similar traits to the embroidery identified on the island of Madeira in Portugal. Thus, the objective is to discuss the stages of circulation, distribution and consumption of the productive spatial circuit of the handmade embroidery of Timbaúba dos Batistas in the current period of globalization. For this, semistructures were interviewed with 242 embroiderers randomly chosen in the municipality. Of that amount, 82 were held virtually between April and June 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Authors such as Batista (1988), Brito (2010) were used in the discussion of handmade embroidery, Frederico and Castillo (2010), Moraes (1985) and Santos (1994; 2008) regarding the spatial circuit of production and use of the territory. Within the circuit, the means of transport used by the enterprising embroiderers are trucks, vans and air taxi funded by the buyers of the goods in a vertical relationship. Payment is 85% cash, 5% deposit, 3% credit card and 2% with Pix. Communication between customers is about 93% by WhatsApp, and 7% by phone. The largest consumption of artisanal embroidery is in the Northeast region itself, by the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Ceará, which concentrate 68% of all production, and, in second place, the Central-South region, represented by the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and the Federal District, which confer 32%. Finally, it is perceived that the forms of distribution, commercialization and consumption have changed from the times brought by the Portuguese.