crafts consist of manual work with raw materials, generally from the region or locality in which the artisan lives, using methods and techniques that are the intangible heritage of their specific cultural community.
1. Meaning of Crafts
What is Crafts:
As crafts we call the art and technique of making objects or products by hand, with little
or no intervention of machinery, and according to traditional methods .
In this sense, crafts consist of manual work with raw materials, generally from the region
or locality in which the artisan lives, using methods and techniques that are the
intangible heritage of their specific cultural community.
In craft work, rudimentary tools or instruments are often used, and machinery or
automated processes are rarely used. However, sometimes some mechanical function
processes are used that allow speeding up certain tasks.
2. Craft products have a unique value, as they are the expression of the symbolic or
ideological values
of a culture , and are made with particular quality and mastery using
very ancient techniques, which vary from region to region, from culture to culture, and ,
even, depending on the climate, resources or history of a place.
The crafts can have different uses, ranging from domestic and ornamental, to
ceremonial or symbolic uses, or as clothing or work tools.
Some branches of crafts are pottery, jewelry, ceramics, basketry, cabinetmaking,
goldsmithing, saddlery, wood carving or upholstery, among others.
Products made using industrial techniques and processes are the main competition for
handicrafts, since they have better distribution and are manufactured at a considerably
lower cost. The craft, however, has a greater symbolic and cultural value.
arts and crafts
3. Crafts should not be confused with handicrafts. Crafts are works done with the hands,
especially by schoolchildren to learn to work with different techniques and materials.
Craftsmanship, on the other hand, also made by hand, using a set of traditional
techniques, has a unique artistic, cultural and symbolic value.