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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
🇮🇷 Tabriz, IranPersian carpetفرش ایرانی Hand-woven knotted rugs and flat textiles crafted across the towns and tribes of IranCraft 🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaKofar Mata Dye Pits Hand-dyed indigo cloth from centuries-old earthen pits in the heart of KanoCraft 🇲🇽 Oaxaca, MexicoNight of the RadishesNoche de Rábanos An annual festival of intricate sculptures carved from oversized radishes in OaxacaCraft 🇲🇽 Acolman, Mexico and 1 morePiñata A festive decorated container broken open with a stick to scatter treats and fruitFestival 🇲🇽 Oaxaca, Mexico and 1 moreGuelaguetza An annual Oaxacan festival of indigenous dance, music, costumes and communal sharingFestival 🇮🇳 India and 2 morePandal Temporary decorated pavilions and arches built for festivals and gatheringsFestival 🇮🇳 IndiaSanjhi Autumn devotion honoring a mother goddess and sacred floor art of Radha and KrishnaSpiritual 🇻🇺 VanuatuSand drawingsandroing One unbroken line drawn in sand with a finger, used to tell stories in VanuatuCraft 🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreKitenge A printed cloth tied at the waist or chest, worn as a wrap, head cover or baby slingDress 🇸🇾 Aleppo, SyriaAleppo soapصابون غَار (ṣābūn ghar) A hard olive-oil and laurel soap, hand-made in Aleppo and aged for monthsCraft 🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreChulloch'ullu An earflapped Andean hat in alpaca or llama wool, worn against the coldDress 🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, Indonesia and 4 moreKebayaꦏꦼꦧꦪ A front-opening blouse and wrapped cloth, worn by women across Southeast AsiaDress 🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 5 moreKurtaکرته (Persian), कुरता (Hindi) A loose collarless tunic from South Asia, worn plain or embroidered over pyjamas or jeansDress 🇷🇺 Pavlovsky Posad, RussiaPavlovo Posad shawlПавловопосадский платок A woolen Russian shawl printed with flowers, made in the town of Pavlovsky PosadDress 🇵🇦 Las Tablas, Panama and 2 morePollera A handmade skirt and outfit worn in Panama, Bolivia and Peru, and a marker of identityDress 🇵🇰 Multan, Pakistan and 3 moreShalwar kameez Loose trousers and a long tunic, worn as one outfit across South AsiaDress 🇨🇷 San Antonio de Escazú, Costa RicaCosta Rican oxcartscarretas Oxen-drawn carts, hand-painted in bright patterns, kept as a national symbol of Costa RicaCraft 🇯🇵 JapanKintsugi金継ぎ Mending broken pottery with lacquer and gold, so the repair stays visibleCraft 🇷🇺 Dymkovo, RussiaDymkovo toysДымковская игрушка Painted clay people, animals and whistles, shaped by women in Dymkovo near KirovCraft 🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা A white Assamese cloth with a red border, worn, gifted and laid under sacred textsDress 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese paper cutting剪紙 / 剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ) Chinese cut paper pictures, pasted on windows and doors for luck at New YearCraft 🇬🇹 GuatemalaWorry dollMuñecas quitapenas Hand-made dolls from highland Guatemala that children tell their worries to at nightFolklore 🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreDjellabaجلابة A long, loose hooded robe worn by men and women across North AfricaDress 🇲🇲 Myanmar and 1 moreLongyiလုံချည် A tube of cloth worn from waist to feet in Myanmar, folded shut with no knotDress 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreKiltfèileadh A pleated knee-length skirt in tartan wool, worn as Scottish Highland dressDress 🇨🇦 Canada and 2 moreInuksuk Stone markers raised by Inuit across the Arctic to guide, hunt and rememberCraft 🇰🇭 Cambodia and 2 moreSampotសំពត់ A length of cloth wrapped at the waist, the everyday and ceremonial dress of CambodiaDress 🇮🇹 Naples, Italy and 5 moreNativity scene A seasonal set of figures showing Jesus's birth, put up by Christians at ChristmasFestival 🇪🇸 Seville, Spain and 5 moreAzulejo Painted, tin-glazed ceramic tiles that cover walls and floors across Portugal and SpainCraft 🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 1 moreVyshyvankaвишиванка (Ukrainian), вышыванка (Belarusian) An embroidered shirt of Ukraine and Belarus, its patterns marking region and familyDress 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreShyrdakшырдак (Kyrgyz); сырмақ (Kazakh) A hand-stitched felt rug of contrasting colour, made by Kyrgyz and Kazakh familiesCraft 🇮🇳 Srinagar, India and 3 morePashmina Ultra-fine wool of Himalayan goats, hand-woven in Kashmir into shawls of rankDress 🇬🇭 Bonwire, Ghana and 1 moreKente clothNwentoma Hand-woven Ghanaian cloth of silk and cotton strips, worn for ceremonies and graduationsDress 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreTopping out A builders' rite for the day the last beam goes up, marked with a tree, a flag and a toastCraft 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 2 moreAla kiyizала кийиз Patterned felt carpets pressed by hand for the tents of Central Asian herdersCraft 🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia and 5 moreKhachkarխաչքար A carved stone cross raised as a memorial, a grave marker and a prayer in stoneCraft 🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaWayangꦮꦪꦁ A night-long puppet theatre from Java, where a dalang tells epics behind a lit screenPerformance 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress 🇭🇷 Zagreb, Croatia and 1 moreLicitarlicitarska srca A hand-painted honey biscuit given as a gift at weddings and on Valentine's DayCraft · Sweets given and shared 🇮🇳 Bhuj, India and 1 moreBandhani Tie-dye cloth from India, knotted by hand and dipped in dye to leave dot patternsCraft 🇦🇿 Baku, AzerbaijanAzerbaijani carpetAzərbaycan xalçası Handwoven floor and wall coverings from Azerbaijan, made by women in regional designsCraft 🇯🇵 Takasaki, JapanDaruma doll達磨 (daruma) A round Japanese wishing doll: fill one eye to set a goal, the other to mark it done.Folklore 🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptAncient Egyptian funerary practices Rites for the dead in ancient Egypt: preserving the body, spells and grave goodsRite of passage 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKimono着物 Japan's national dress: a wrapped robe with square sleeves, tied with a wide sashDress 🇷🇺 Palekh, RussiaPalekh miniatureПалехская миниатюра Tiny tempera paintings on lacquered papier-mâché, made in the Russian town of PalekhCraft 🇨🇦 Montréal, CanadaCeinture fléchée A fingerwoven woollen sash tied at the waist, worn by Québécois and Métis peoplesDress 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreManeki-neko招き猫 A lucky cat figurine, paw raised, kept by shop doors and in homes across JapanFolklore 🇲🇳 MongoliaMorin khuurморин хуур (Mongolian Cyrillic); ᠮᠣᠷᠢᠨ ᠬᠣᠭᠣᠷ (traditional Mongol script) Mongolia's two-string horsehead fiddle, played with a horsehair bowPerformance
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The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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