By virtue of their centuries of geographic isolation, Fogo Islanders have become masters of making things by hand, recycling, and devising local solutions to all manner of challenges. Since the beginning of European settlement in the late 1600s, Fogo Islanders have been building their own wooden boats, houses, tools, and furniture. In keeping with this handmade tradition, nearly all of the furniture and furnishings inside Fogo Island Inn were designed and created on Fogo Island specifically for use in the Inn. The furniture of Fogo Island Inn is the result of an innovative collaborative process between artists and designers from away, and skilled rural artisans from Fogo Island and Change Islands. Contemporary designers worked side-by-side with local craftspeople to create furniture and furnishings that embodied a “new outport aesthetic”—weaving the new from the fabric of the old.
