Cohana and Ninigi Vol.7 Aitor Saraiba in Spain
Series Cohana and Ninigi
In this series, we would like to share stories and the latest information related to handicrafts, focusing on the "people" who passionately work in various fields of handicrafts.
Cohana and Ninigi Vol.7
Aitor Saraiba in Spain
Aitor Saraiba is an artist living in Spain. Studied & received his degree in Fine Arts from the University of Cuenca, Spain. Since graduation, he has published several books of drawings and poems, and has received recognition and various awards in a wide range of fields.
He is a master of the medium. His artistic expression has no boundaries in regard to medium. He chooses the medium of his choice at the time: drawing, ceramics, textiles, painting, video, photography, etc. His artworks have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world.
The rich emotions and great liberality lie in his artworks. His philosophy as an artist also as a human being, reaches out to many people and have been embraced by them.
In recent years, his activities as a textile artist & a yarn maker have been flourishing. We cannot take our eyes off of him.
The article will be divided into two parts, Vol. 7 and Vol. 8. In this first half Vol.7, we interview about Mr. Saraiba's works and his thoughts.
How did you know about Cohana?
In Europe it is not easy to get Cohana's products. The first thing I discovered was a photo of Seki Mini Scissors on the internet. I had a hard time getting them but I finally got them in a shop in Barcelona. From there I started to investigate the brand and I fell in love.
One of the first things I did when I got back to Japan was to visit your shop.
We were so happy when you first came to our store in Nihonbashi Tokyo. You did a lot of shopping! Thank you.
We also vividly remember that you visited us when we held a pop-up and workshop at Loop London in England, June 2023, before Tokyo.
Yes. I thought it was a great opportunity to see Cohana products. There I first met Pokeori, my favorite loom.
And instantly I thought it would go well with the yarns I make. Then we naturally talked about collaboration and the possibility of a workshop together.
Yes, yes. That's how we started the plan of the collaboration workshop. We made it on 2nd October 2024, after 1 and half years!
Everyone who attended the workshop was delighted. We are very grateful to have met you.
So could you please introduce yourself? What you do and what you make etc.
I am Aitor Saraiba from Spain. I live in the forest in a stone house, I drink water from a spring and I warm myself with firewood in my fireplace.
My work has always been born from the drawings and texts I write in the diary I always carry with me.
My work focuses on textile art and its different formats.
Please share your handcraft history.
I have been sewing since I was a child. It's something I always saw my mother and grandmother do. In the neighborhood where I grew up in the eighties and nineties, textiles were the backbone of the local economy. Then it disappeared completely.
My childhood has always been surrounded by threads, buttons and needles. Mending, darning, repairing fabrics is something I have seen since I was a child, not as an art form, but as a form of survival.
How do you process your creative activities?
All my work stems from my texts and drawings. And from there they jump to textiles, ceramics or canvases. Depending on the story I'm going to tell, the technique is one or the other. But lately I always use textiles, it's the place where I feel most comfortable and where I feel most represented.
You make handmade yarns at your place. Please share details about your handmade yarns.
Where I live, sheep play an essential role in our lives. They live free around our houses and keep the grass short so that the forest does not eat away our homes.
The drama is that their wool stopped being collected and used many years ago in Spain and is considered waste. My work together with my neighbor Josito is to save as much wool as we can from the rubbish and transform it into textile material which we process in an artisanal way. We dye and finish the product with natural ingredients.
When you became aware of the problem around you, you made it your purpose. With your creativity and good intentions you bring wool into handmade yarns.
Your yarn is not only natural & beautiful, but attractive because of your action.
Your yarns were very much loved by the customers at the workshop we held in Tokyo and appreciated with the natural manufacturing process and its beautiful colors and texture.
At a workshop held at Cohana's Nihonbashi Store, amulets called a scapulario were made by Pokeori with Aitor's yarn and a variety of materials. Each handmade amulet is unique, even when made from the same materials. The creator's individuality comes out, which is the charm of handicraft.
Aitor yarn shows us the importance of process of making things. Even when we have the finished product in our hands, many parts of the process are often invisible to us.
His project gives us an opportunity to think about the criteria for purchasing products.
Aitor's Favorite Cohana
Seki Mini Scissors and Pokeori
The Seki Mini Scissors & Pokeori are without a doubt one of my favorites, as I travel a lot for my job and it's wonderful to be able to carry such a good quality product in my little travel sewing box. I love them, I give them as gifts to everyone I know who sews, because they are tools that everyone should have!
