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Hello, I’m Mariel. Welcome to our information desk. When you click on a question below, you will see the answer. If you can’t find the information you want, please get in touch with us by clicking here or you can click "Contact us" in the menu above. Information about forming part of this village or taking part in the virtual fairs, you can find in the Spanish menu under "Punto de información". For the moment it is only available in Spanish. |
How does this virtual village work?
The most important feature of this Virtual Craft Village is, that all inhabitants open the doors of their workshops so you can come in and watch them at work. But this village offers a lot more, as you can see in the English (or Spanish!) menu above.
The page "Town Centre" shows you the four most important parts of our village, and you can visit them by clicking on the title of each section. You can also find them in the menu, along with several other options.
- Visit the workshops:
You will see that the village counts with many different streets. In every street you will find several workshops of artisans who work mainly with the material after which their street is named. When you enter with a click on their photograph, they will tell you a little about themselves and they will give you their contact details and links to web sites and/or social media. And, most important of all!, in the videos you can watch them at work.
- Visit the shops:
The shops are also lodged in different streets, but here we offer you two types of streetmaps: in one they are sorted according to the kind of products they sell (for example: bags, jewelry, paintings, etc.) and in the other they are sorted according to the raw material that they use to make their items (wood, metal, glass, etc.).
In the shops you can look at what they have made, there are links to their web sites and/or social media and they give you their contact details so you can place special orders or can buy from them when they don´t offer online facilities.
- Visit virtual fairs:
There are several virtual fairs, and in each one you will find 10 different artisans and their work. Each month we substitute the most ancient fair for a new one.
If you prefer to go to a real fair where you can talk to the artisans, you can find the information of when
and where Amata organises fairs in the coming months on the Amata web site (see above) or with a click here.
- Craft tutorials:
Here the artisans show you how to make something yourself with simple tools and (recycled) materials that most people have lying around in the house.
Other options you will only find in the menu:
- Contact us:
Here you can get in touch, not only with Amata, but also with the individual artisans (listed alphabetically) who have a shop and/or workshop in this Virtual Craft Village.
- Surprise houses:
Some of the inhabitants of our village are not just artisans, but also have other talents or hobbies. These they practise in the houses of this section. What you will find in each house is a surprise.
- Playground:
When you are tired from walking around the village, you can take a break and play some (or all!) of the games.
- News stand:
Here you can find news articles (not only in Spanish!) about our Virtual village, Amata and their fairs.
We hope you’ll have a nice time in our village!
The page "Town Centre" shows you the four most important parts of our village, and you can visit them by clicking on the title of each section. You can also find them in the menu, along with several other options.
- Visit the workshops:
You will see that the village counts with many different streets. In every street you will find several workshops of artisans who work mainly with the material after which their street is named. When you enter with a click on their photograph, they will tell you a little about themselves and they will give you their contact details and links to web sites and/or social media. And, most important of all!, in the videos you can watch them at work.
- Visit the shops:
The shops are also lodged in different streets, but here we offer you two types of streetmaps: in one they are sorted according to the kind of products they sell (for example: bags, jewelry, paintings, etc.) and in the other they are sorted according to the raw material that they use to make their items (wood, metal, glass, etc.).
In the shops you can look at what they have made, there are links to their web sites and/or social media and they give you their contact details so you can place special orders or can buy from them when they don´t offer online facilities.
- Visit virtual fairs:
There are several virtual fairs, and in each one you will find 10 different artisans and their work. Each month we substitute the most ancient fair for a new one.
If you prefer to go to a real fair where you can talk to the artisans, you can find the information of when
and where Amata organises fairs in the coming months on the Amata web site (see above) or with a click here.
- Craft tutorials:
Here the artisans show you how to make something yourself with simple tools and (recycled) materials that most people have lying around in the house.
Other options you will only find in the menu:
- Contact us:
Here you can get in touch, not only with Amata, but also with the individual artisans (listed alphabetically) who have a shop and/or workshop in this Virtual Craft Village.
- Surprise houses:
Some of the inhabitants of our village are not just artisans, but also have other talents or hobbies. These they practise in the houses of this section. What you will find in each house is a surprise.
- Playground:
When you are tired from walking around the village, you can take a break and play some (or all!) of the games.
- News stand:
Here you can find news articles (not only in Spanish!) about our Virtual village, Amata and their fairs.
We hope you’ll have a nice time in our village!
Why a virtual craft village?
The fairs that Amata organises all over Spain, are meant to be places where people looking for original craft work can meet the craftsmen and women who make it. Unfortunately, these fairs are held only once a year for two or three days in different villages and towns. We would rather be available the whole year round for everybody, wherever they live!
One option would be to create an Online store. But we want to offer something more: we want to share our skills and our love for our work with you. And, above all, we want to actually show you that everything we sell, we have made with our own hands!
That’s why we have built our Virtual Craft Village, where we open the doors of our workshops wide, so you can come and see with how much skill, patience and love we make our items. Not just a shopping area, but a village with room for giving classes, to organise virtual fairs and other events - a good home for our Artesanía de Autor®!
One option would be to create an Online store. But we want to offer something more: we want to share our skills and our love for our work with you. And, above all, we want to actually show you that everything we sell, we have made with our own hands!
That’s why we have built our Virtual Craft Village, where we open the doors of our workshops wide, so you can come and see with how much skill, patience and love we make our items. Not just a shopping area, but a village with room for giving classes, to organise virtual fairs and other events - a good home for our Artesanía de Autor®!
Who are we?
This virtual craft village is a project of AMATA (Asociación para la Mejora de la Artesanía Tradicional y Actual).
This craft association was founded in 1998 (*) and, as the official name in Spanish suggests, its main purpose is to promote traditional and modern crafts in all its aspects.
Up till now their main activity has been: organising craft fairs and medieval markets. To advertise their events, they use the words Artesanía de Autor®, so nobody will be in doubt about the authenticity of everything they sell in these markets, because the author is there in the stall.
If you want to know more about the history of Amata (sorry, only in Spanish) or the nice atmosphere in their markets, you can click here.
For more information you can visit the web site of Amata (see link above); here you will also find lots of photographs of their markets and their craft work.
*registered in the Registro de Asociaciones de la Generalidad Valenciana in Alicante, Sección 1ª, Nº 6200 del 5 de Marzo 1998. Their C.I.F. is G-53268892.
This craft association was founded in 1998 (*) and, as the official name in Spanish suggests, its main purpose is to promote traditional and modern crafts in all its aspects.
Up till now their main activity has been: organising craft fairs and medieval markets. To advertise their events, they use the words Artesanía de Autor®, so nobody will be in doubt about the authenticity of everything they sell in these markets, because the author is there in the stall.
If you want to know more about the history of Amata (sorry, only in Spanish) or the nice atmosphere in their markets, you can click here.
For more information you can visit the web site of Amata (see link above); here you will also find lots of photographs of their markets and their craft work.
*registered in the Registro de Asociaciones de la Generalidad Valenciana in Alicante, Sección 1ª, Nº 6200 del 5 de Marzo 1998. Their C.I.F. is G-53268892.
For whom is this village meant?
In principal our village is open to everyone, but you might be especially interested if:
- you like to watch artisans at work in their craft - click on: Visit workshops
- you want your kids to learn about arts and crafts - click on: Visit workshops or Craft tutorials
- you want to learn basic techniques to make your own artwork - click on: Craft tutorials
- you want to buy original handmade products - click on: Visit shops or Virtual fairs
- you´re looking for an original gift for a birthday, wedding, communion, baptism or simply to surprise a loved one - click on: Visit shops or Virtual fairs
- you want to get in touch with an artisan who can make you a specific item, that you can´t find anywhere else - click on: Visit workshops or Virtual fairs
- you like to watch artisans at work in their craft - click on: Visit workshops
- you want your kids to learn about arts and crafts - click on: Visit workshops or Craft tutorials
- you want to learn basic techniques to make your own artwork - click on: Craft tutorials
- you want to buy original handmade products - click on: Visit shops or Virtual fairs
- you´re looking for an original gift for a birthday, wedding, communion, baptism or simply to surprise a loved one - click on: Visit shops or Virtual fairs
- you want to get in touch with an artisan who can make you a specific item, that you can´t find anywhere else - click on: Visit workshops or Virtual fairs
How do I find the right artisan when I want something made to order?
The workshops of the artisans in our village are sorted by the raw materials they use. In our section Visit the workshops you will find the artisans that work with the material you are looking for (leather, glass, metal, wood, fabrics, etc.) and in their workshop you can look at the style of their work. You can find their contact details there and links to their shop, if they have one. Another possibility is to contact Amata (see the Contact us page in the menu above) and explain to us what you are looking for. We will then put you in contact with the most suitable artisan for your request. Remember: there are more than a thousand artisans from all over Spain in our data base!
