Eugénia Duarte is one of the newest artisans at the Palm Weaving shop.
Born in Monte Seco, Loulé (a land where palm weaving had a long tradition), everyone around her did it, from her grandmothers to her mother, aunts, cousins, and neighbors. She never learned how to do it, having emigrated to the United States at an early age. There she lived, studied, and graduated in Business Administration and Marketing. She returned to Portugal at 26, started a family, and became a banker, a profession to which she dedicated her entire working life. Recently, in her pre-retirement years, she attended a 42-hour Palm Weaving course at Loulé Criativo, where she learned the different techniques of palm weaving. Today, she is a member of the Palm Weaving Shop and sees it as a hobby.
She enjoys innovating and imagining new models and applications for palm, and she loves making hats. She enjoys teaching, and her main goal is to help ensure this art is not lost.