The smallest island in the Azores is once again home to active weavers who are restoring the weaving history which has been extinguished since 1969, with the assistance of the Corvo Ecomuseum. The Corvina people relied on weaving for years, and Deolinda Estêvão, director of the Corvo Ecomuseum, has emphasized how important it is for this craft to continue to be recognised as an intangible cultural heritage.

As the director of the Ecomuseum shared, "In the past, utilitarian clothing items were produced and even the forum, the tax, was paid to the crown in cloth. Around 880 metres of wool had to be paid to the crown each year". Since 2022, the museum space has been creating community collection and training activities as part of the activity plan. The island produced warm garments and refined the craft, which continued until the latter half of the 20th century when the final "Wool Day" occurred and weaving stopped.

Since the wool used in the manufacture does not come from the island but rather is obtained in the Serra da Estrela region, the production now consists of little pieces that are sold locally.


Currently, there is only one sheep farmer on the island. According to the Ecomuseum director, the Ecomuseum is crucial as it is “the catalyst for the community to take ownership of these processes again”.

"This is a historic milestone because weaving has been extinct on the island since 1969. After 55 years, we have weaving alive again and we can say that it is once again part of Corvo's intangible heritage", emphasised Deolinda Estêvão who further added, "We have no doubt that they have revitalised an extinct knowledge, which belonged to the collective memory of the community, to transform it into intangible heritage. We now have two active weavers who are producing small handicraft pieces”.