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.
🇳🇪 Agadez, NigerAgadez Crosstanaghilt
A silver pendant cast by Tuareg blacksmiths in Niger, worn as jewelry and a symbol of protection.Dress
🇲🇱 San, Mali and 1 moreBògòlanfinibɔgɔlanfini
A handmade Malian cotton textile dyed with iron-rich mud, worn for protection and identity.Dress
🇹🇿 Zanzibar City, Tanzania and 2 moreSwahili doorMlango wa Kiswahili
A carved wooden entrance from the East African coast, adorned with metal studs and intricate motifs.Craft
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the CongoKuba textiles
Elaborate raffia cloths from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known for their complex geometric embroidery and velvCraft
🇹🇿 Zanzibar, Tanzania and 1 moreNgalawa
A traditional double-outrigger sailing canoe of the Swahili coastCraft
🇬🇭 Ntɔnso, Ghana and 1 moreAdinkra symbols
Symbols of the Akan people, stamped on cloth, each one carrying a proverbCraft
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
Spiritual vessels and figures crafted to channel ancestral power, healing and justiceSpiritual
🇬🇲 Gambia and 4 moreKoraߞߐߙߊ
A 21-string West African harp-lute played by hereditary storytellers and bardsPerformance
🇲🇬 MadagascarValiha
A bamboo tube zither from Madagascar, played for recreation and spirit ritualsPerformance
🇺🇬 Uganda and 4 moreBarkcloth
Cloth beaten from tree bark across Africa, Asia and the PacificCraft
🇬🇭 Accra, GhanaFantasy coffinsAbebuu adekai
Custom hand-carved burial caskets shaped as animals, tools and symbols in southern GhanaRite of passage
🇬🇭 Bonwire, Ghana and 1 moreKente clothNwentoma
Hand-woven Ghanaian cloth of silk and cotton strips, worn for ceremonies and graduationsDress
🇲🇬 MadagascarLamba
A rectangular cloth wrapped around the body, worn across Madagascar and at burialsDress
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreKitenge
A printed cloth tied at the waist or chest, worn as a wrap, head cover or baby slingDress
🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaKofar Mata Dye Pits
Hand-dyed indigo cloth from centuries-old earthen pits in the heart of KanoCraft
🇦🇴 Angola and 2 moreLusona
Sand drawings from Angola and Zambia that carry proverbs, fables and animalsCraft
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreGeleGèlè
A voluminous sculpted headwrap worn by Yoruba women for gatherings and daily lifeDress
🇺🇬 UgandaEkisaakaate
A Buganda youth retreat teaching traditional manners, crafts and life skillsEtiquette
🇺🇬 Mengo, UgandaEkisaakaate
A royal Buganda cultural retreat teaching heritage, crafts, and manners to the youngRite of passage
🇿🇦 South AfricaIsidwaba
A knee-length leather skirt of cowhide or goatskin, worn by married Zulu womenDress
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreAso Olona
A patterned Yoruba cloth, woven with symbols and worn as a mark of rank and identityDress
🇹🇿 Tanzania and 4 moreKanga
A colourful printed cotton wrap bearing proverbs, worn across East AfricaDress
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Gele: Royalesignature, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lamba: Lemurbaby at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Adinkra symbols: Bosomba Amosah other versions=, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kofar Mata Dye Pits: Solasly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kora: kevinzim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Valiha: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Barkcloth: Hiart, CC0, source
- Fantasy coffins: Regula Tschumi, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Kitenge: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bògòlanfini: BluesyPete, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Swahili door: Halidtz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kuba textiles: Hiart, CC0, source
- Agadez Cross: Amadouibrahim2, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ngalawa: Zenith4237, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kente cloth: ZSM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Isidwaba: USBSMG1, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aso Olona: Oramfe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kanga: Petr Berka ( Petrberka ), Public domain, source