Design and Craftsmanship: The Brazilian Experience

Abstract

Introduction According to the Brazilian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, about 8.5 million people are linked to the production of craftworks in Brazil.1 Various governmental programs encourage groups of small community businesses and craftspeople to develop partnerships and associations, to seek new solutions for increasing both the target audience reached and their entrepreneurial skills, and to add value to their crafted products. These different actions seek to bring significant contributions to the production processes characterized by craftsmanship—contributions that enhance economic and socio-cultural development in these production areas, and that often introduce design principles into the creation of traditional products. In most cases, designers start by meeting the group of craftspeople, developing proposals for new designs and incorporating innovations; they finish by providing the group with a series of new alternatives for production process. However, this process suffers from limitations that often translate into a return to the starting point. Introducing foreign elements to the population’s cultural tradition (e.g., new designs, different products, or advanced technologies) can also bring new problems. In this case, the former craft processes are displaced, and the effective improvement of community life conditions is not guaranteed. This situation persists despite the large number of programs developed and the strong institutional and financial support from various levels of Brazilian government. In our experience as a research group involved with communities of craftspeople and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Brazil, we have observed some common aspects, even in diverse situations, that can explain the relative failure in the intervention methodology adopted by governmental programs focused on craftsmanship. In these programs, we see a lack of continuity of actions, including a post-intervention assessment and the critical analysis arising there from, thus reducing the number of local references (e.g., traditional products) for new designs.2 Moreover, craftsmanship production suffers today from an apparent paradox: While the demand for handmade products grows quickly, the 1 Ana Luiza Cerqueira Freitas, Design e Artesanato: Uma Experiencia de Insercao da Metodologia de Projeto do Produto (Design and Craftsmanship: An Experience of Product Design Methodology Insertion) (Sao Paulo: Blucher Academico, 2011), 24. 2 Beatriz Martins da Costa Furtado de Oliveira “A Intervencao Governamental em Arranjos Produtivos Locais: Uma Analise a Partir da Engenharia de Producao.” (“The Governmental Intervention in Local Productive Arrangements: An Analyses on Industrial Engineering Approach”) (Master’s diss., Federal University of Minas Gerais, 2007).