Presenting Casa Cicuta, a showcase of craftsmanship in the centre of Bogotá

Adriana Gallego gathers together the best of Colombian craft design within a beautiful concept store that accommodates workshops by different artists, its name represents a declaration of intent.

Casa Cicuta is a very special concept store located within the Candelaria neighbourhood, in the historic centre of Bogotá. The space is a charming old colonial style house dating from the 17th Century, that today brings together sustainable designer and crafts based brands, all made in Colombia.

The name of his beautiful establishment comes from a Colombian expression: to emphasise that something is really handsome and that it must be enjoyed slowly to really appreciate it, they say “de muerte lenta”, which means to die slowly.

Just like the cicuta (hemlock in English), a venom that acts in precisely that way, provoking a slow death, the crafted artistic pieces that are showcased at the Casa Cicuta are all handmade, over time, with patience, skill and care, made to be enjoyed at a leisurely pace.

A one-off unique shop

All the pieces on sale at Casa Cicuta have soul, carefully chosen one by one by Adriana Gallego, owner of the establishment and a great connoisseur of the country’s crafts.

Gifted with a great artistic sensitivity, Adriana only selects pieces that reflect creators who firmly believe in the importance of craft and the preservation of these age-old techniques; that pay equal attention to the design as well as the use of natural raw materials.

Jewellery, clothes, ceramics, decoration

Among these selected brands put together by Adriana are clothing garments by the visual artist Olga Piedrahita; jewellery by Danielle Lafaurie, jeweller, who makes and produces unique individual pieces inspired by Colombia’s native crafts; objects made from natural clay from the Salvaje brand; and last but not least, a collection of Let’s Pause lamps.

In addition, Taller Vivo, Adriana’s own brand, provides an opportunity to find unique objects representative of Colombian crafts, chosen one by one. Among them are the contemporary fire and clay pieces by Pato y Cruz; Cursiva, where graphic art is expressed through paper; the bound papers of Contenido; Pi project, contemporary jewelry; the ancient drink Viche arte and the artisan creations of Albeiro.

Where talent and creativity come together

The space also includes several workshops belonging to artists, designers, jewellers and craftsmen and women.

Among these resident artists at Casa Cicuta are Andrés Caro, jeweller by profession and a trained visual artist, as well as Daniel Nyström, architect, visual artist and designer, who creates fascinating hats and has a prolific body of artist works to his name. In addition, it’s worth noting that the artist Xandra Uribe will be moving her Life laboratory here shortly where she recreates and develops her living jewellery: ByXan.

Let’s Pause at Casa Cicuta

Among all these crafted pieces that are more like works of art, the collection of Nus pendant lamps from Let’s Pause have their own space. Made by local Colombian craftsmen and women they follow our design philosophy, chosen by Adriana herself for their extraordinary beauty.

The Nus lamps represent an homage to age-old slow crafts, which is why they are a perfect fit for the philosophy of the Cicuta: simple yet stunning pieces that are woven by hand using fibres from the native Andes plant, fique, featuring the crochet technique.

You have been advised: when in Bogotá, check out Casa Cicuta it’s a must

Colombia

back to stories