An evening at Soho House Barcelona reflecting on the place of craft today, and on craft as a form of resistance. On April 15, Casa Maricruz hosted the first edition of its Craft Gathering in Barcelona, bringing together different voices to reflect on what craft means today and why it continues to matter as a form of resistance.

Held at Soho House Barcelona under the title Craft as Resistance, the gathering reflected on the values held within craft — time, attention, patience, skill, frustration, and the relationship between human and material — and on why these are not nostalgic values, but values we need as individuals, as a community, and as a planet, if we are to remain deeply connected to what makes us human.

Craft asks us to value not only the finished object, but the time, knowledge, and material intelligence behind it.

The conversation was moderated by María Estrada, co-founder and Creative Director of Casa Maricruz, and brought together Carlos Casillas, chef behind Barro and the youngest chef in Spain to receive a Michelin star, and Liliana Díaz, a multidisciplinary artist whose work brings traditional craft into a contemporary language through singular objects.

Although they work in different fields, both shared a similar approach to making: one rooted in process, direct engagement with materials, and respect for what cannot be rushed. From cooking to ceramics, the conversation returned again and again to practice, to the relationship with error, and to the importance of staying close to the material as a way of staying connected to oneself.

Throughout the evening, craft was discussed not as decoration or nostalgia, but as a way of thinking. A way of understanding that objects carry decisions, gestures, histories, and forms of knowledge. That materials are not neutral. That process shapes meaning. And that the handmade object still has a role to play today precisely because it resists the logic of sameness.

In this context, craft is not an aesthetic category. It is a way of relating to time, materials, and intention.

Some of the clearest ideas of the evening came through the words of the speakers themselves.

“Every process involved in working with ceramics holds learning, patience, life, cycles, recycling, death, and the experience of working with the elements. If you know how to listen, ceramics has a lot to say.”
— Liliana Díaz

Her reflection pointed to something central: that working with material teaches. It demands attention, patience, and an acceptance of transformation. It places the maker in direct relationship with change, fragility, and unpredictability.

Carlos Casillas brought the conversation back to a question that felt equally important:

“At Barro, we’ve always stood by one idea: learning to look differently at what has always been there.”
— Carlos Casillas

That idea framed much of the evening. Because part of the work today is not only preserving craft traditions, but learning how to read them again — understanding that what has long been seen as ordinary or inherited may still contain knowledge, value, and cultural relevance.

Part of protecting craft is learning to see it not as heritage alone, but as a living cultural practice. After the roundtable, that conversation continued over cocktails, with guests exchanging impressions, ideas, and new connections, before the evening closed with a live performance by La Tania, who offered an interpretation of ¡Ay, Maricruz!, a song deeply tied to the origins of Casa Maricruz and to the name of this house.