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.
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.
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreTush kyizтуш кийиз
An embroidered wall hanging made for a child's wedding in Kyrgyz and Kazakh homesCraft
🇦🇲 Yerevan, ArmeniaArmenian carpetՀայկական գորգ
A handwoven textile tradition of knotted pile rugs and sacred geometric symbolsCraft
🇹🇲 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and 2 moreTurkmen rugTürkmen haly
Handmade textiles woven by Turkmen tribes, featuring geometric patterns and natural dyes.Craft
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaChichilakiჩიჩილაკი
A shaved hazelnut branch crafted as a Georgian Christmas tree and burned at EpiphanyFestival
🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia and 5 moreKhachkarխաչքար
A carved stone cross raised as a memorial, a grave marker and a prayer in stoneCraft
🇦🇿 Baku, AzerbaijanAzerbaijani carpetAzərbaycan xalçası
Handwoven floor and wall coverings from Azerbaijan, made by women in regional designsCraft
🇬🇪 Georgia and 2 moreKvevriქვევრი
A buried clay jar, and the Georgian way of making wine inside itCraft
🇺🇿 Tashkent, Uzbekistan and 1 moreDoppaدوپپا (Uyghur); doʻppi / дўппи / دوپا (Uzbek)
An embroidered cap, square or round, that Uyghurs and Uzbeks wear across Central AsiaDress
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreShyrdakшырдак (Kyrgyz); сырмақ (Kazakh)
A hand-stitched felt rug of contrasting colour, made by Kyrgyz and Kazakh familiesCraft
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 2 moreAla kiyizала кийиз
Patterned felt carpets pressed by hand for the tents of Central Asian herdersCraft
🇺🇿 Namangan, UzbekistanFlower Festival in UzbekistanGul bayrami
An annual spring celebration of floriculture and floral art held across several cities in Uzbekistan.Festival
🇰🇬 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreAk-kalpakАк калпак
A traditional Kyrgyz four-sided white wool felt hat worn by men across generationsDress
🇺🇿 Bukhara, UzbekistanAsrlar Sadosi
An annual outdoor festival celebrating Uzbek folk arts, sports, crafts, and heritageFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kvevri: Levan Totosashvili, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Doppa: Jasper Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chichilaki: Mostafameraji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tush kyiz: Photo User:Zenwort, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Armenian carpet: VincentKeers, Public domain, source
- Turkmen rug: AltynAsyr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shyrdak: Firespeaker, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ala kiyiz: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pbarry/, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Khachkar: Arantz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Azerbaijani carpet: Dmitri Yermakov, Public domain, source
- Ak-kalpak: Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Asrlar Sadosi: Patisserie, CC BY-SA 3.0, source