Traditional Crafts Research Articles

A Study on the Socio-Economic Development of Western Rajasthan’s Craft Artisans

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the socio-economic development of craft artisans in Western Rajasthan, focusing on Jodhpur District. The region, renowned for its rich cultural heritage and traditional craftsmanship, faces significant challenges including inadequate market access, limited financial resources, and lack of modern tools. These issues, compounded by the diminishing interest of the younger generation in traditional crafts, threaten the sustainability of the industry. This research examines the artisans’ socio-economic profiles, income levels, education, living conditions, and gender dynamics. It evaluates the impact of government policies, identifies key challenges, and explores strategies for improvement. The mixed-methods approach includes literature reviews, case studies, data analysis, and stakeholder workshops to provide actionable recommendations for enhancing artisans’ livelihoods and preserving their craft heritage.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DESIGN THINKING PROCESS AND TRADITIONAL CRAFT PRACTICES OF RAJASTHAN

Design thinking and traditional craft practices, though seemingly distinct, share common elements of empathy, problem-solving, and iteration. This study explores the interdisciplinary collaboration between these two creative processes, using literature review, case studies, and expert interviews. Focusing on Rajasthani indigenous crafts, it examines how the integration of design thinking addresses challenges faced by the craft community. By investigating the relationship between design thinking and traditional craft, the study illuminates their potential for social transformation. It underscores craftsmanship as a dynamic human activity that, when combined with design, leads to innovative, culturally rich, and socially responsible solutions. The findings highlight the interconnectedness of craftsmanship and design, leads to the emergence of a new model; advocating for collaboration to create products that are both aesthetically pleasing and socio-economically viable, fostering sustainable production and consumption.

The Role of Cepagan Village Weaving in the Development of the Creative Economy in Warungasem District

This study examines the role of Cepagan Village weaving in the development of the creative economy in Warungasem District, Batang Regency, Central Java. Using a qualitative approach and case study design, this study explores the economic and social contributions of the weaving industry, the challenges faced, and development strategies in the context of the creative economy. The results of the study show that Cepagan weaving plays an important role in cultural heritage preservation, product innovation, and cross-sector collaboration. This industry has a significant impact on job creation, increasing regional income, and economic multiplier effects. However, challenges such as competition with modern products, regeneration of artisans, and limited market access need to be overcome. Development opportunities through digitalization, ecotourism, and collaboration with the fashion industry open up new prospects for the sustainability of the weaving industry. This research provides valuable insights into the integration of traditional crafts into the modern creative economy and can be a reference for the development of local wisdom-based community empowerment policies and programs.

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Goldsmiths of Suha Bazaar, Lahore, Pakistan

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are prevalent across various industries, significantly affecting workers' health and productivity. The intricate and repetitive tasks in goldsmithing, a traditional craft, pose a high risk for the development of MSDs, particularly in regions like Suha Bazaar, Lahore, where ergonomic practices are often overlooked. Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and specific areas of musculoskeletal discomfort among goldsmiths in Suha Bazaar, Lahore, and to identify potential ergonomic and workplace modifications to mitigate these disorders. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over six months, involving 122 professional goldsmiths selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Participants were aged 20 to 70 years, with at least three years of professional experience. Data were collected using the Modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire to evaluate musculoskeletal symptoms, with additional demographic and occupational information gathered. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 25, focusing on descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Ethical approval was obtained, and all participants provided informed consent. Results: The study found that 40.2% of participants experienced discomfort in the upper back, 38.0% in the neck, and 27.9% in both shoulders. The average age of participants was 39.52 years (SD = 12.16), and the majority (86.9%) worked between 40-45 hours per week. Most participants (35.2%) had over 20 years of experience in the field. Conclusion: The high prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort in critical areas such as the upper back and neck among goldsmiths in Suha Bazaar indicates an urgent need for ergonomic interventions and workplace improvements. Implementing ergonomic solutions and training on proper posture could significantly enhance occupational health and productivity in this traditional craft. Keywords: Musculoskeletal Disorders, Goldsmiths, Ergonomics, Occupational Health, Modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, SPSS Analysis, Suha Bazaar, Lahore, Cross-Sectional Study.

Research on Art Participation Models in the Protection and Inheritance of Traditional Crafts

This study explores the art participation models in the protection and inheritance of traditional crafts, aiming to analyze how these models effectively respond to the challenges brought by modernization and globalization and promote the sustainable development of traditional crafts. Through in-depth analysis, the study finds that traditional crafts face many challenges, including technological progress, changes in market demand, and social transformations. Innovative art participation models, especially the application of digital technology and the strengthening of community and education, provide new opportunities for the protection and dissemination of traditional crafts. Digital technology can overcome geographical restrictions, enabling global audiences to access these crafts, while community participation and educational projects help stimulate local communities and the younger generations interest and involvement in traditional crafts. This study suggests that future research should further explore the effectiveness of different art participation models, especially in the application in different cultural backgrounds, and proposes recommendations for policy and strategy formulation to promote the protection and inheritance of traditional crafts. Overall, through innovative participation models, we can find new ways to protect and inherit traditional crafts, ensuring the sustainable development of these precious cultural heritages and passing them on to future generations.

Research on Art Participation Models in the Protection and Inheritance of Traditional Crafts

This study explores the art participation models in the protection and inheritance of traditional crafts, aiming to analyze how these models effectively respond to the challenges brought by modernization and globalization and promote the sustainable development of traditional crafts. Through in-depth analysis, the study finds that traditional crafts face many challenges, including technological progress, changes in market demand, and social transformations. Innovative art participation models, especially the application of digital technology and the strengthening of community and education, provide new opportunities for the protection and dissemination of traditional crafts. Digital technology can overcome geographical restrictions, enabling global audiences to access these crafts, while community participation and educational projects help stimulate local communities and the younger generations interest and involvement in traditional crafts. This study suggests that future research should further explore the effectiveness of different art participation models, especially in the application in different cultural backgrounds, and proposes recommendations for policy and strategy formulation to promote the protection and inheritance of traditional crafts. Overall, through innovative participation models, we can find new ways to protect and inherit traditional crafts, ensuring the sustainable development of these precious cultural heritages and passing them on to future generations.

An investigation on the craft of Tianche: traditional timber salt well structures of the Sichuan Basin, China

This study investigates the craft of Tianche, an ancient towering timber structure used in well salt production in Sichuan Province, China. Originating in the Han Dynasty and maturing in the late Qing Dynasty, Tianches can reach heights of up to 110 m and represent a unique craft and structural system that is rare worldwide, yet remains largely unexplored in scholarly research. The Tianches are under threat due to a lack of maintenance and extinction of the craft. This study aims to document and elucidate the procedure and principles of the Tianche craft to help conserve this heritage. The key question is how to employ traditional craft to assemble over 100-m-tall structures from small-sized logs using pre-industrial technology. The study combines anthropological fieldwork and principles of mechanics to analyze the scientific validity and rationality of traditional crafts. The study reveals the principles of the Tianche craft, including mature craft procedure and reliable binding joints. Its advantages, namely self-locking structure, frictional force transmission, and hollow cylindrical columns, enhance the structure’s strength and stability and are fundamental for constructing 100-m-tall timber structures. Additionally, the study identifies two limitations of the craft: restricted column diameters and the tendency of the inverted dragon member’s tenon to break. This study investigated Tianche timber structures featuring hollow, bundle-like columns with frictional force transmission mechanism, presenting new possibilities beyond mainstream timber structural systems. The findings may contribute to enhancing research on the Tianche craft and could lay the foundation for future conservation practices related to Tianche heritage.

Visual Analysis of the Design Thinking Process of Yixing Zisha Teapots

Yixing Zisha teapots are an integral part of China's intangible cultural heritage, with their design traditions primarily relying on oral teaching and practice rather than systematic theoretical research. To address this research gap, this study engaged 10 expert practitioners in a design workshop, where numerous design sketches were produced. Using visual analysis, these sketches were thoroughly visually analyzed to explore the design processes and thinking patterns of Yixing Zisha teapot creation. The results reveal that the design process involves six distinct aspects: design form, design methods, design themes, design proportion, Classical Chinese philosophy, and decorative design. By systematically analyzing these aspects, this study preliminarily constructs a model of the design thinking process for Yixing Zisha teapots. This finding provides valuable perspectives and theoretical support for standardizing and systematizing the design processes of Yixing Zisha teapots, aiding in the education of new designers, and preserving the vitality of this traditional craft. These achievements not only open new research directions for the future development of Yixing Zisha teapot design but also offer insights and inspiration for the design research of other traditional crafts.

Vernacular Heritage and Craft Traditions: The Case of Handcrafted Athangudi Tiles in Chettinad, India

Vernacular Heritage and Craft Traditions: The Case of Handcrafted Athangudi Tiles in Chettinad, India

Ainu Art: From Craft to Fine Art

ditional and utilitarian. The modernity gives the boost to the development of the new forms of art. However, there are no studies in domestic or foreign historiography examining this issue. The purpose of this article is to analyze the problem of the formation and development of Ainu modern art as the adaptive mechanisms of traditional crafts. Based on field work and analysis of sources, using descriptive, historical-systemic, comparative-historical and visual methods, an attempt is made to understand the prerequisites for the transition of Ainu craft and decorative art to fine arts, and the conditions that led to the emergence of highly artistic works. The introduction of the results determined the novelty of this research. We found that the transition of the Ainu crafts to decorative and fine arts was facilitated by three factors: economic, cultural and the need for individual self-identification. This made possible to distinguish three stages in the development of Ainu art: the stage of acquaintance with the Ainu craft, the exhibition and market stages, which led to the development of sculpture, graphics, woodcuts and also to emphasize the importance of cultural exchange with neighboring peoples. The presented work allows us to conduct comparative studies with a similar phenomenon among the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation and to use it in museum projects.

Benefiting from Entrepreneurship to Develop Traditional Crafts in the Textile Industry

Benefiting from Entrepreneurship to Develop Traditional Crafts in the Textile Industry

Research on the Inheritance and Innovation of Traditional Elements in Modern Clothing

There are various traditional elements in clothing, including patterns, colors, patterns and so on. They not only have unique production techniques, but also contain cultural ideas and connotations of different places, from which you can also glimpse the local development and history. In modern design, traditional elements are often used in a variety of clothing to inherit local culture and create a strong sense of belonging. Therefore, clothing that combines traditional elements is deeply loved by people. The inheritance and innovation of traditional craft in modern clothing has a certain challenge. In order to protect and develop traditional crafts, in the process of inheritance and innovation, it is necessary to cultivate the interest and enthusiasm of the young generation, explore new marketing methods and apply new technologies, so that traditional crafts can be truly integrated into modern clothing. This paper will focus on the inheritance role of traditional elements in modern clothing and its innovative application in order to adapt to modern development.

Exporting Vietnam’s Coconut Products: Opportunities and Threats

After highlighting the importance of Vietnam’s coconut product export industries, the research summarizes the prominent features of Vietnam's coconut products, the export procedures, and the export turnover of these products. It also identifies the opportunities and threats for Vietnam's coconut products. Specifically, opportunities for exporting Vietnam's coconut products include: (i) Large-scale production; (ii) Broad consumer market; (iii) Product processing technology; (iv) Support from coconut associations and traditional craft villages. On the other hand, the threats for exporting Vietnam's coconut products include: (i) Food safety issues; (ii) Competition with foreign countries; (iii) Production technology; (iv) Raw material market - product consumption market. The research results serve as a basis for the research team to consider and propose solutions from the government, associations, and enterprises to promote the export of Vietnam's coconut products.

The Work of Craft in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: The Lai Xá Photography Village in Vietnam

In Lai Xá Village, Vietnam, studio photography is the village handicraft. Counter to Walter Benjamin’s characterization of the click of a button, privileging eye over hand, but typical of many craft traditions, photographers there describe painstaking apprenticeships through which they learned to master the tools and materials of their craft. They learned to compensate for the shifting properties of light, climate, humidity, and irregular supplies of electricity, chemicals and printing paper, and adapted to changing regimes of technique and labor organization. As in many other craft traditions, apprentices often acquired their most valuable knowledge by stealth. We argue that studio photography belongs within contemporary discussions of craft as a handed, adaptive, engaged, small-scale social practice, and that craft awareness enables a richer ethnographic understanding of the work of studio photographers, both material and social.

A frontier exploration of ancient craftsmanship: Effects of various tea products in traditional Chinese cuisine “tea flavored beef”

Modern science often overlooks to reveal the scientific essence of traditional crafts to promote their inheritance and development. In this work, five different types of tea products were prepared using the same variety of tea leaves referring to traditional methods. The analysis of their components and activities indicated that the processing reduced total catechin contents (from 172.8 mg/g to 48.2 mg/g) and promoted the synthesis of theaflavins (from 17.9 mg/g to 43.4 mg/g), reducing antioxidant and antimicrobial abilities of the resulting tea products. On this basis, the tea products were applied to “tea flavored beef” to reveal long-term effects. Within 15 days of storage, tea treatment showed remarkable antimicrobial and antioxidant activities on the beef. Also, the declines of sensory scores and texture of the treated beef were significantly suppressed. Meanwhile, protein degradation in the beef was inhibited, limiting the contents of various biogenic amines within relatively low levels.

Innovative Research on Traditional Tie-dye Craftsmanship under the Concept of Circular Design

As sustainable development becomes a global consensus, the concept of circular design has been widely applied and researched in various fields, especially in the innovation and inheritance of traditional crafts. The circular design concept offers a new perspective and method. This article, guided by the concept of circular design, discusses how to apply this concept to traditional tie-dye craftsmanship with the goal of achieving sustainable development and innovation in tie-dye techniques. Through an in-depth analysis of the traditional craft process, material use, and cultural significance of tie-dye, a series of innovative paths are proposed, exploring new design directions and market potential for tie-dye products. Introducing the concept of circular design into the exploration and practice of tie-dye craftsmanship not only helps to address current environmental and market challenges but also provides new ideas and methods for protecting and inheriting this traditional craft and promoting its development towards more sustainable and innovative directions.

Princely prisons, state exhibitions, and Muslim industrial authority in colonial India

Abstract This article analyses the prison industries and state industrial exhibitions of three Indian princely states in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tracing how princely elites sought to develop distinct labouring and industrial cultures. Drawing on examples from three Muslim-led princely states, namely Rampur, Bhopal, and Hyderabad, the article argues that state elites distinguished their forms of cultural and religious authority from that of the British Raj by coercing and displaying new industrial practices. They aimed to cultivate an industrial modernity that could compete with colonial projects while also promoting what they characterised as Indian Muslim characteristics and courtly traditions for artisan labourers and their work. The article asks how princely elites worked to conscript their subjects—including marginalised subjects such as convict labourers—into visions of regional industrial authority. Princely visions of Muslim and courtly industrial futures in Rampur, Bhopal, and Hyderabad were rooted in the attempts of state administrators to fashion distinctive regional identities and assert authority in a context of circumscribed, quasi-colonial rulership. Industrial cultures associated with princely prisons and exhibitions ultimately exceeded the bounds of these projects, placing pressure on other state subjects to adopt new material practices and engage with state-defined regional craft traditions.

SHIVARAPATNA STONE CRAFT IN KARNATAKA - EXPLORING THE TRANSFORMATIVE ROLE OF INNOVATION IN TRADITIONAL HANDICRAFT AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Handicraft sector is one of the most sustainable product sectors, because of the consumption of untreated raw materials received unswervingly from the nature. In many developing countries like India, there are a large number of livelihoods depending on handicraft business with an anticipated 17.79 million artisans associated with the sector in the year 2022. The previous studies indicate the relation between the handicrafts and innovation is both controversial and imperative. It is suggested that the sector must undergo incremental innovation for growth and survival in the present times. On contrary there are studies which dispute, considering cultural traditions as barriers to innovation. Innovation may be introduced in the technologies aiding to create the craft. While bringing innovation within the craft techniques and product creation might hinder its cultural identity. Innovation being one of the prime keyword of the 9th goal of the SDGs, the goal of this research is to study how introducing innovation in cultural craft production affects the identity of the traditional handicraft. For the findings, rapid ethnography was performed for the exquisite Shivarapatna stone craft. The craft uses ancient knowledge of Shilpashashtra to hand-craft the intricate Hindu idol statues from granite, and the associated community and the craftsmen are situated in the Kolar district of Karnataka, India. An experiment will be conducted to diversify the stone made craft products to analyse the outcome. The representational difference of the traditional craft products and the innovative craft products are then compared and presented with images. In addition to the comparative analysis, methodology also focuses on the descriptive approach in the handicraft.

Exploring the Socio-economic Realities of Shatranji Workers in Rangpur

The Shatranji industry in Rangpur, Bangladesh, is a vital traditional craft and a Geographical Indication (GI) product, supporting around 50,000 families. This study examines the socio-economic conditions of Shatranji workers based on a qualitative survey of 115 workers, all of whom are women. The findings reveal that most workers are 30–40 years old, have limited education, and belong to low-income families. They earn modest wages, with the majority earning less than 100 takas daily, and live in poor housing conditions. Financial insecurity is widespread, with 67% of workers lacking savings or loans. Despite these challenges, there is a strong emphasis on education for their children. Unemployment rates within families are high, yet workers generally perceive their workplaces as safe. However, improvements in living conditions have been minimal, and nutritional intake remains inadequate. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions, including wage increases, job security, improved healthcare, and financial literacy programs. These recommendations aim to enhance the socio-economic status of Shatranji workers and ensure the sustainability of this culturally significant industry.

The Application of Ancient Chinese Creation Wisdom in Contemporary Product Design

The creation activity is the product of culture. Human beings started the creation activity from the manufacture of tools and daily necessities. With the help of dexterous hands, the creator uses the surrounding materials to create exquisite daily necessities on the basis of personal life and cultural cultivation, and realizes the interaction between craft creation and real life. Chinese traditional craft and culture are inseparable, and the spirit of traditional creation has become an indispensable part of Chinese culture. These core features of traditional creative spirit are not only reflected in the technical level, but also contain rich cultural connotation and philosophical concepts. By studying and summarizing the characteristics of traditional Chinese creative wisdom, this paper understands the deep thinking of craftsmen in functional design in ancient creative culture, as well as the exquisite skills in material selection and form shaping period, and probes into the important significance and application value of traditional creative wisdom in contemporary product design, hoping to provide some reference and inspiration for today's contemporary design.