This document provides an overview of traditional arts in Galicia, Spain. It begins by stating that Galicia has a rich craft and artistic tradition beyond what many people associate with Spain. The document then summarizes several important Galician crafts and performing arts, including carpentry, masonry, jet carving, blacksmithing, pottery, lace making, cabinet making, music (including specific folk song forms), musical instruments (such as the requinta flute and bagpipes), and dancing (particularly the muiñeira dance). It provides brief descriptions of the history and techniques for several of the art forms discussed.

1. GALICIAN TRADITIONAL
ARTS
Spain
IES Nª 1
Comenius Project Imagine 2010-2012

2. Spain is a very rich country in crafts and
traditional arts. Too many people still believe
that our only instrument is the guitar and our
only dance is Flamenco.
That is why we have decided to focus on what is
closer to us Galicia and its traditional arts. Not
only to show you something different but to
narrow this otherwise unattainable topic.
Even within this geographical area the richness
of its crafts has made us choose only a few
of the most representative ones .

3. GALICIAN TRADITIONAL ARTS
PERFORMING
CRAFTS
ARTS

4. CRAFTS
Lace Making
Carpentry Mansonry
Cabinet Making
Jet Blacksmiths
Pottery

5. CARPENTRY
•Carpentry is important from the times of the castros (Celtic villages) like
the Celtic village of the Cebreiro. Carpenters made carts, clogs, furniture,
weapons, shoes, boats etc….
• Carts manufacturers were called FRAGUEIROS. It is a very important
feature in our material culture. Carts were used to transport grass, hay and
other goods and they were moved by cows. There is a song written by
Ramón Cabanillas about them:
• There are traditional carpenters and there are very modern, as well. At the
moment people prefer modern furniture so several factories have had to
close. Their machines became obsolete.
•We make kitchens and bedrooms as well. We sell them all around the
world.

6. MANSONRY
•These artisans build structures using stone.
•This form of construction lasts a long time.
•In Galicia you have beautiful examples of their skills since
the prehistoric times. You can still see their villages and walls
in every corner of the country.
•Craftsmen used to carve signs on their works.
• They were very simple marks: lines, dots, crosses, even the
initials or the artisan.
•These marks appeared on their tools, as well.
•They were used as signatures to recognise the work of
each artisan.
•You can find their work in every Galician village and path.
•Their most impressive works are the Galician cathedrals,
churches and manor houses.

7. JET
•It is a fossil which can be easily carved, polished and mounted.
•It has got an intense, bright black colour . It is fragile and smooth. It burns if
it gets close to the fire.
•People believed it had a magIcal power so it could fight witchcraft.
•It played an important role in the pilgrimages to Santiago. It was part of the
attire.
•Some typical shapes: figa (a fist; thischarm was forbidden for a long time;
scallop, , hamsa, (it diminishes your enemy’s force) necklaces, moons, stars,
chearts and so on.
•The mineral comes from mines in Asturias
•There are many legends about it. You cannot erase what you write with this
stone.. (Filgueira Valverda). When it is burning snakes go away.
•Crafmen made more elaborate figures for noblemen and for clergymen.

8. BLACKSMITHS
•When the XX Century finished, some traditional crafts finished, too. This is the case
of blacksmiths.
•Some blacksmiths left their jobs for another job in the industry, other retired and,
in all the cases, they became dispensable, mainly due to the mechanization of
farming.
•The history of this craft is impressive. It appears in the mythology of many cultures.
For instance, the god Vulcano who used a volcano to work with metal.
•Historically, it started in the Bronze Age in the Fertile Crescent (Iraq). It was
necessary in the traditional life of the village because they were the ones who
repaired and made tools for domestic and productive activities.
• Nowadays you can still find a few craftsmen in this field. Some of them work for
farms which breed horses. Others work in workshops where they fabricate different
household objects: beds, bookshelves, kitchenware ... Ramón Recuero Ibáñez is one
of the finest artisans in the area.

9. POTTERY
•This craft comes from the neolithic times (Celtic villages).
•It evolved from the objects made with vegetable fibers.
•They used reds and ochers and Celtic symbols. They dry the pieces in the
sun.
•The Romans brought two techniques: the potter’s wheel and the oven.
•The decoration became more simple: usefulness over beauty.
•In the XVI century this craft reached its cenit.
•There are different styles and they work all over the territory. Sometimes
you have whole hamlets working on it.
•We can distinguish three main areas: the coast ( Buño), Terra Cha (
Bonxe) and and the rivers Sil and Miño ( Niñodaguia and Gundías).
•Every household in Galicia still uses this kitchenware.
•Nowadays the forms and techniques have evolved being Sargadelos the
most important factory for chinaware. (since 1806)

10. LACE MAKING
•The popular name is Camariñas lace even if the area is
bigger than that town.
• It takes its name from one of the villages.
•The craft came probably from Flanders in the XVI or
XVII centuries.
•They soon became famous due to its great quality.
•Artisans use bobbins and a pillow. Carpenters make
the bobbins and the table where the finished lace is
kept.
•It was and still is mostly a female craft. They sit in
groups around a bench to work.
•In the old times they used Galician flax but now it
comes from Barcelona.

11. CABINET MAKING
Artisans in this field do the finest work of
carpentry.
They make furniture not only to be useful but
also to look beautiful.
They have special tools to do their job.
They were involved in the building of the
furniture for the parish churches and
cathedrals and for the pazos (country halls).
The ones in charge of making altarpieces
were true artists.

12. PERFORMING ARTS
MUSIC INSTRUMENTS
WORKSHOP DANCE

13. MUSIC
•Our ancestors used music and dance as a way to express their
feelings and ideas and to have fun.
• Life was hard in the past and these traditional arts were used as a
way to forget their sorrows and to celebrate life.
• Galician music presents a great variety of styles and according to
scholars, it has got strong Celtic connections.
•A few examples are: “alalás, “cantos de cego”, “cantar
de arriero”, “regueifa”“cantos de berce” and
“muiñeira”

14. MUSIC
The regueifa is a cantiga (medieval poem or song)
improvised between two or more persons (regueifos) .
It is a verbal challenge about a certain matter.
Each regueifo sings a stanza of verses of eight
syllables
• Alalás are the oldest and most characteristic form of Galician folk music.
•They are chants with no rhythm. Bagpipes are the main instrument accompanying
alalás. A chant of berce, arrolo ou anaina is a relaxed
•Two other forms of folksoft rhythm, used to help young children fall e “cantar de
song with music evolved from álalas. “cantos de cego”
arriero”. asleep.
•They are sung a “chapella” and theymatter varies : absence of the father,
The subject are very moving chants.
fear, daily concerns, the mother’s housework…. They
transmit the values of the culture they belong to.
The “muiñeira” is the best known type of Galician
folk music.
I t has variants all throughout the territory.
Scholars believe that its name comes from the word
“muiño” (mill).
It was the music and the dance that peasants
performed while they were waiting for the flour.

15. INSTRUMENTS
• One of these instruments was the
requinta.
• The requinta remains of one of the apostles, Saint James, were found in
In 810 the is a wooden tube with six
holes. in a place now known as Santiago de Compostela.
Galicia
• It is usually made of box, very strong
and beautiful wood. destination of an important pilgrimage across
This city became the
Europe in the Middle Ages.
• It is like a transverse flute.
• It The pilgrims brought with them new instruments and music styles.
accompanies the bagpipes .It is
probably the most original instrument
of We areahave many workshops where artisans fabricate instruments.
an still called Ulla (Pontevedra).
• There are several folk groups who are
trying a revival of this instrument.

16. INSTRUMENTS
• Cunchas (a pair of scallop shells)
• It is another very simple and natural percussion instrument.
• In Galicia there is a very old tradition of using all types of
objects, from the home and from nature to produce sound
and make music.
• Some scholars talk of some 150 different instruments used,
specially by children, to produce rhythm and melody.
• In this case, the shells are rubbed together and accompany
dancing.
• The tambourine is a percussion instrument.
• It is round and with ferreñas (pairs of small metal
jingles).
• It is made of leather and wood.
• It is a circular frame of wood with a drumhead.

17. INSTRUMENTS
• The bagpipe is, however, the most popular instrument.
• It has got a conical chanter and a bass drone
• It is part of every celebration.
• Most compositions are written for this instrument.

18. DANCE
•The “muiñeira” is the most popular type of dance in Galicia.
•The rhythm is fast and upbeat.
• It is usually danced by several couples.
•You have different sets of steps and turns.
•Several instruments are used for this dance: the bagpipe, the drum, the tambourine,
the bass drum and sometimes a clarinet-type of instrument called “requinta”.
•The “pandeirada”is older than the muiñeira.
•This dance is sung and accompanied by a single instrument called “pandeiro” .
•It is mostly sung by women and it is composed by 8-syllable verses.
• “Regueifa de voda” . It was danced at weddings.
•It was a competition to see which was the best couple of dancers.
•The winners got a delicious cake embelished with ribbons of different colours.
•“Danza do Molete”. It is a variant of the previous one.
•It was danced in the area of Santiago.
•Women danced with a loaf of bread on their heads.

19. MUSIC WORKSHOP
•We are going to learn several pieces. The
first one • aJosé Manuel Piñeiro is the teacher of the workshop.
is “muiñeira” called “Muiñeira
de Chao” by the musician Susana Seivane.
•This composer students are :
• The also has a workshop
where she fabricates bagpipes. She is one
- Cristina Cimadevila Bernárdez (3PDC) (bagpipe)
of the most famous luthiers in Galicia.
- Manuel Brey Pazos (bagpipe)(3B)
• We can- rehearse twice a week. The (3B)
Bárbara Fernández (scallops)
workshop isAngela Valladarescurriculum. (3B)
-
not part of the Witwer (flute)
•We rehearse in the music room. (3B) (drum)
- Rubén Servide Carballo
- Sonia Figueiras Ferreiro (3B) (tambourine)
- Eduardo Castro Prado (3A) (flute)
- Martín Rey Iglesias (3A) (drum)
- Noa Pampín Picallo (3A) (tambourine)
- Ana Cea García (3A) (tambourine)