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.
🇬🇱 Greenland and 3 moreDog sledding
An Arctic tradition of navigating snow and ice behind working dog teamsCraft
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDreamcatcherᐊᓴᐱᑫᔒᓐᐦ (asabikeshiinh)
A hand-woven hoop from Anishinaabe tradition, hung above a cradle to protect a childCraft
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBarn raising
A communal tradition where neighbours assemble to erect a farm barn in a few daysCraft · Lunch
🇲🇽 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
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreQuilting bee
A communal gathering where people stitch quilts together while sharing news and strengthening community bonds.Festival
🇺🇸 New York, United StatesWampum
Shell beads woven into belts by Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands for record-keeping and ceremony.Folklore
🇲🇽 Huamantla, Mexico and 4 moreSawdust carpettapete de aserrín
Colored sawdust designs laid on streets to greet religious processions in Latin America and beyond.Festival
🇧🇲 BermudaBermuda kite
Flying bright geometric kites on Good Friday across Bermuda to mark EasterCraft
🇺🇸 United StatesTalking stick
A carved staff that shows who may speak at a Northwest Coast gatheringCeremony
🇺🇸 New York, United StatesNavajo weavingdiyogí
Handwoven wool textiles and rugs made on continuous warps by Navajo artisansCraft
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreMedicine wheel
Sacred circular stone arrangements built across the plains of North AmericaSpiritual
🇲🇽 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
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreCalaca
Skull and skeleton figures made for the Day of the Dead, joyful rather than sadCraft
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 moreInuksuk
Stone markers raised by Inuit across the Arctic to guide, hunt and rememberCraft
🇨🇦 Montréal, CanadaCeinture fléchée
A fingerwoven woollen sash tied at the waist, worn by Québécois and Métis peoplesDress
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Talking stick: Sandra Hunt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dreamcatcher: Jorge Barrios, Public domain, source
- Barn raising: Alexander W. Galbraith, Public domain, source
- Night of the Radishes: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Piñata: No machine-readable author provided. JEDIKNIGHT1970 assumed (based on, Public domain, source
- Guelaguetza: A01321718, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Navajo weaving: Don Graham, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Medicine wheel: U.S. Forest Service Photo, Public domain, source
- Papel picado: Ferfive, CC BY 4.0, source
- Quilting bee: Carol M. Highsmith via Library of Congress, Commons, CC0, source
- Wampum: Museuvalenciaetnologia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sawdust carpet: Rosalba Muñoz RomeroLia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bermuda kite: Aodhdubh ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Inuksuk: Christina Chan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ceinture fléchée: Ceinture fléchée, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Calaca: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dog sledding: chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source