This summer, lov.YATRA, created by LOV. Foundation in partnership with XTANT, offered a new way to experience Mallorca through contemporary craft. Bringing artists, artisans, researchers and cultural practitioners together, the programme explored the island’s cultural landscape through textile traditions, historic architecture, creative communities and its relationship with the land.
Inspired by the Sanskrit word yatra, meaning a purposeful journey or pilgrimage, the programme centred on direct encounters with the island. It launched alongside XTANT Nomad, an international gathering devoted to handcrafted textiles, bringing nearly 90 artists and craftspeople from more than 35 countries into dialogue around nomadism, ancestral knowledge, exchange and sustainability.
Contemporary craft as a living cultural language
LOV. Foundation and XTANT approach craftsmanship as an evolving practice, preserving traditional skills while creating space for new generations to reinterpret them. This philosophy extends to Craft Preservation: safeguarding not only techniques, but the knowledge, stories and relationships woven around them. Textiles become a universal language through which memory, identity and knowledge travel across generations and cultures.
The journey opened doors to Mallorca’s cultural landmarks. At the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, participants explored Miró’s studios, archives and sculpture garden, while a private visit to La Seu, the Cathedral of Mallorca, offered access to spaces rarely seen by the public. At Can Vivot, a 14th-century palace preserved by the same family for 21 generations, architecture, lineage and stewardship revealed another way cultural memory can endure.
From historic estates to a regenerative cultural landscape
The programme reached beyond cultural institutions into Mallorca’s agricultural landscape. At Son Moragues, a historic estate in the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana, participants explored regenerative agriculture, land stewardship and the links between environmental care and cultural memory.
The estate demonstrated how traditional knowledge can inform contemporary sustainability. Culinary encounters at Brut Restaurant and Bar LaSang extended the conversation through local ingredients, natural fermentation and independent food production.
XTANT Nomad and the future of Craft Preservation
XTANT Nomad formed a central part of lov.YATRA, bringing an international community of makers into conversation around contemporary textile culture. The gathering celebrated ancestral techniques while considering how craft can evolve through movement, collaboration and exchange.
The partnership also extends into research through the Wool Research Index, which investigates natural fibres and more sustainable production models, and XTANT’s Leadership Program, supporting a new generation of cultural leaders.
Photography courtesy of LOV. FOUNDATION
