Six Senses Douro Valley sets up atelier with workshops (Portugal)
Azulejos is the famous Portuguese art form expressed in the painted tiles that have become emblematic of Portuguese culture and heritage over the centuries.
Six Senses Douro Valley sets up atelier with workshops (Portugal)
Azulejos is the famous Portuguese art form expressed in the painted tiles that have become emblematic of Portuguese culture and heritage over the centuries.
Arabs brought the art form with them during their occupation of the peninsula some 800 years ago. The centuries that followed were a golden age of Portuguese exploration and colonization, its traders opening up remote posts all over Asia, Africa and America in the hundred years that followed, and these wonderful blue, white and gold panels can still be found around the globe, adorning churches and public buildings from Goa, to Mozambique, from East Timor to Brazil, and to the hundreds of remote island regions all over the planet.
Six Senses Douro Valley is very proud to pay tribute to this fascinating and beautiful art form by bringing on board internationally renowned artist, Helena Ferreira. Helena is herself a living example of the Portuguese peripatetic soul. Energetic, dedicated and flexible in her life approach, Helena learned her craft in Óbidos, a beautiful medieval-walled village north of Lisbon.
From there she ventured all over the world restoring and creating azulejo art for decades. She has clients in France, India, Japan, Australia, USA and several South American countries, and has always combined her work with teaching in ceramic art schools in her global travels. Between 2007 and 2009 Helena joined a project in Goa, India, where she was in charge of a team of five artists who were restoring huge panels in a church while also teaching courses in artistic tile painting for children and adults.
By the end of 2009 Helena moved to the UK where she has worked for the past seven years for an interior design company on many fascinating commissions in private homes. Now it is time for the prodigal daughter to return to her roots, and so she has accepted the challenge to set up her permanent atelier at Six Senses Douro Valley, where she will be creating lots of exciting workshops for the resort’s clients of every age, as well as carrying on her work with international commissions and restoration projects from around the world. Guests have the unique opportunity to join a one-hour tile painting class with Helena at a starting price of just EUR 50 for one hour. There can be no better way to learn this skill than working side-by-side with the artist herself.
About Six Senses Douro Valley
Six Senses Douro Valley’s UNESCO World Heritage setting fronts onto the River Douro as it winds through the world’s oldest demarcated wine region. The estate covers 19 acres with 57 guestrooms, suites and villas. Three restaurants highlight regional produce with a dedicated wine cellar featuring local vintages.
Six Senses Spa comprises 10 treatment rooms, indoor and outdoor pools and a gym. It presents specialty and local therapies and multi-day programs. An outdoor yoga pavilion is ideal for individuals and groups. The sun-kissed valley is at the heart of the region that offers activities and excursions by foot, vehicle or water.
About Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas
Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas operates 11 resorts and 31 spas in 20 countries under the brand names Six Senses, Evason and Six Senses Spas.
Six Senses operates resorts in far-flung locations of incredible natural beauty known for their distinctive and diverse design personalities. Each of the nine properties is supported by a leadership commitment to community, sustainability, wellness and design. Six Senses hotels which share the same vision and values found at their award-winning resorts will premiere in the group’s first urban location, New York City, in 2019.
Six Senses Spas offers a wide range of holistic wellness, rejuvenation and beauty treatments administered under the guidance of expert therapists. Six Senses Spas are located in all Six Senses and Evason resorts; 18 additional standalone spas are located in prestigious hotels and resorts as well as the premier class lounges of two major airports.
Evason introduces a collection of two unique resorts that follow the Six Senses philosophy of uncompromised responsibility to sustainability and to the community. Family friendly, these properties also provide a strong value focus while offering a vast array of guest services and personal attention.
