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EveryParampara

Crafts and making

Weaving, pottery, carving and other handed-down skills.

Crafts and making are the skills of hand and eye that are handed down in families and workshops: weaving, pottery, carving, metalwork, embroidery, dyeing, basketry, paper, leather and wood. A craft tradition is also a tradition of knowledge, about plants, clays, tools and patterns, and of values such as patience and care. Here they are listed by country, with notes on where the craft is practised and how makers keep it alive.

Skill passed on

Most crafts are learnt by watching a parent or master for years. A weaver in Bonwire, a potter in Oaxaca, a lacquer worker in Kyoto and a carpenter in Norway all learn by doing. Some crafts are kept within a family or a caste, others are open to anyone willing to learn. The tools are often simple and the techniques ancient, though the best makers experiment within the tradition.

Craft in a changing world

Mass production and cheap imports have put many crafts under pressure, but there is also a revival, with designers, schools, cooperatives and fair trade shops supporting makers. UNESCO and national bodies list living treasures and protect skills. Buyers can help by choosing handmade pieces and asking who made them. A craft survives when someone still wants the object and someone still wants to learn to make it.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Crafts and making (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇷 Isfahan, Iran and 3 morePersian gardenباغ ایرانی An ancient tradition of creating walled, geometric sanctuaries of shade and flowing waterCraft 🇬🇭 Accra, GhanaFantasy coffinsAbebuu adekai Custom hand-carved burial caskets shaped as animals, tools and symbols in southern GhanaRite of passage 🇺🇬 Uganda and 4 moreBarkcloth Cloth beaten from tree bark across Africa, Asia and the PacificCraft 🇦🇲 Yerevan, ArmeniaArmenian carpetՀայկական գորգ A handwoven textile tradition of knotted pile rugs and sacred geometric symbolsCraft 🇵🇦 Panama City, PanamaMola Layered cloth panels hand-sewn by Guna women using reverse appliquéCraft 🇨🇳 Yixing, ChinaYixing clay teapot紫砂 Handcrafted Chinese purple clay teapots that season with every brewCraft · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies 🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft 🇰🇷 South KoreaHanji한지 The Korean craft of making durable paper from mulberry fiber and root mucilage.Craft 🇳🇿 New ZealandTivaevaetīvaevae A traditional Polynesian art of artistic quilting made by women for gifts and ceremonies.Craft 🇬🇲 Gambia and 4 moreKoraߞߐߙߊ A 21-string West African harp-lute played by hereditary storytellers and bardsPerformance 🇻🇳 Huế, VietnamNón lá𥶄蘿 A pointed leaf and bamboo hat worn across Vietnam for shelter, work and celebrationDress 🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreMedicine wheel Sacred circular stone arrangements built across the plains of North AmericaSpiritual 🇲🇽 San Salvador Huixcolotla, Mexico and 1 morePapel picado A Mexican folk art of cutting intricate designs into tissue paper for festive and spiritual displays.Festival 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreSteelpan A tuned percussion tradition forged from industrial steel containers in TrinidadPerformance 🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi Spiritual vessels and figures crafted to channel ancestral power, healing and justiceSpiritual 🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft 🇲🇳 Ölgii, Mongolia and 3 moreHunting with eagles The Central Asian tradition of hunting foxes and hares from horseback with golden eagles.Game 🇮🇳 Kolhapur, IndiaKolhapuri chappal Handcrafted braided leather slip-on sandals from western IndiaCraft 🇨🇳 Quanzhou, China and 3 moreGlove puppetry布袋戲 A traditional theatre of cloth-bodied puppets with carved wooden heads and live musicPerformance 🇺🇸 New York, United StatesNavajo weavingdiyogí Handwoven wool textiles and rugs made on continuous warps by Navajo artisansCraft 🇹🇳 Tunis, Tunisia and 2 moreBerber carpet Hand-woven wool rugs crafted by Amazigh communities across North AfricaCraft 🇮🇷 Shiraz, Iran and 1 moreKhatamخاتم A Persian inlay craft that builds geometric patterns from thousands of tiny cut piecesCraft 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea and 5 moreShell money Traditional currency made from cowries, ground clam beads, and carved sea shellsCraft 🇨🇳 China and 1 morePrayer wheelའཁོར་ལོ། A cylindrical wheel spun in Tibetan Buddhist practice to accumulate merit and wisdomSpiritual 🇲🇬 MadagascarValiha A bamboo tube zither from Madagascar, played for recreation and spirit ritualsPerformance 🇵🇬 Maprik, Papua New GuineaHaus Tambaran A sacred house of the Sepik peoples, used for ancestor worship and male initiationSpiritual 🇮🇳 IndiaWarli painting Sacred white rice paste murals made on red clay walls in western IndiaCraft 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreTush kyizтуш кийиз An embroidered wall hanging made for a child's wedding in Kyrgyz and Kazakh homesCraft 🇮🇪 Galway, Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde A cross of woven rushes or straw, made for Saint Brigid's Day on the first of FebruaryCraft 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDreamcatcherᐊᓴᐱᑫᔒᓐᐦ (asabikeshiinh) A hand-woven hoop from Anishinaabe tradition, hung above a cradle to protect a childCraft 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 1 moreBonsai盆栽 A Japanese craft of keeping small trees in shallow pots, shaped for contemplationCraft 🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineBanduraБандура A Ukrainian plucked string instrument played to accompany epic songs and folk balladsPerformance 🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese knotting中國結 (Zhōngguó jié) A folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsCraft 🇯🇵 JapanKadomatsu門松 A Japanese New Year gateway decoration of pine and bamboo where a visiting deity can restSeasonal 🇮🇩 Bali, Indonesia and 5 moreIkat A resist-dyeing craft from Southeast Asia, where yarns are tied and dyed before weavingCraft 🇳🇿 New ZealandKoru A spiral from the silver fern, central to Māori carving, painting and tattooCraft 🇦🇺 AustraliaBark painting Ochre pictures on flattened tree bark, an Aboriginal art form of northern AustraliaCraft 🇵🇾 Asunción, ParaguayÑandutí Paraguayan needle lace named for a spider's web, worked in thread and cut freeCraft 🇮🇳 India and 1 morePhulkariਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ Geometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.Craft 🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 5 moreVyshyvanka DayДень вишиванки An annual day for wearing traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts across the worldDress 🇺🇸 United StatesTalking stick A carved staff that shows who may speak at a Northwest Coast gatheringCeremony 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarn raising A communal tradition where neighbours assemble to erect a farm barn in a few daysCraft · Lunch 🇮🇳 Paithan, IndiaPaithani A handwoven silk sari from Maharashtra, with a squared border and a peacock palluDress 🇨🇳 Longquan, China and 4 moreCeladon青瓷 (qīngcí) Green-glazed pottery first made in China, valued for colours that echo jadeCraft 🇬🇭 Ntɔnso, Ghana and 1 moreAdinkra symbols Symbols of the Akan people, stamped on cloth, each one carrying a proverbCraft 🇵🇾 ParaguayParaguayan harp Paraguay's national harp, strung with 32 to 46 strings and plucked with long fingernailsPerformance 🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern A carved pumpkin lantern lit with a candle to brighten and protect Halloween nightsFolklore 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanYūzen友禅 A Japanese resist-dyeing craft that creates painterly patterns on fine kimonoCraft
More traditions

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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