Importance of Handicraft Work

From stone carving to clay burning in fires, metal smelting and tanning the hides of prey that served as food, human beings have built up a vast compendium of knowledge about the potential for transformation that natural resources allow through artisanal work, obtaining from this close relationship the benefits of: 1) generating means of exchange, whether in the form of services or products, with which to obtain what is needed at the time, through barter or, more recently, money for sustenance;

2) provide themselves and others with utilitarian goods, such as tools, clothing and footwear, implements for processing and storing food, toys, furniture and even entire homes;

3) stimulate the creative potential of the human mind, thus promoting the evolutionary cognitive development of our species over the millennia;

4) develop art as a contemplative resource for the phenomena that surround us, materializing one’s own ideas and interpretations of what we are capable of feeling and imagining through what we perceive;

5) to grant a character of transgenerational continuity to a profession that enables the family to be supported over time;

6) perform a basic task on which many other professions are built, which gives it the ability to evolve on its own in accordance with social, cultural, pragmatic and aesthetic changes, guaranteeing the artisan the continuity and relevance of his trade;

7) Experiment and create in an unlimited way with the transformation of various materials and resources, in a process that constantly guides towards innovation, self-exploration of the Being and the generation of new knowledge, providing a level of personal growth and introspection that only a craftsman can understand, as he confers to each piece the trait of authenticity that defines his work.

The process of development and expansion of humanity demonstrates the transcendental importance that arts and crafts have had as direct stimulants of the use of motor and cognitive skills of our species, being that from the primitive ideas that gave rise to the first tools used by humanity, the first artisans emerged to create with their own hands what even today we recognize as the worthy activity of performing a job.

True financial freedom

Turning craft work into more than just a source of money, into a true way of life, guides the craftsman towards being, in what modern terms define, a Business Owner, giving himself the luxury of letting himself be carried away by his creative devotion appreciated for the originality of the results, above the productive demand of the automated masses, which gives him the permanent fluctuation between art, craftsmanship and manual work, present in every creator and which shields him with the stupendous flexibility of becoming adaptable to any circumstance, however adverse it may be, having among his talents everything necessary to overcome crises, being thanks to this that, entire nations have managed to recover after the various devastations they may have suffered, with the full effort of their hard-working craftsmen, while they have managed by themselves, to maintain the livelihood of their families and communities.

Cultural identity of families to villages

The preservation of cultural legacies through the identification of the semiotic patterns of each artisanal product is another of the great benefits of manual trades. In this sense, the imprint of personal identity through aesthetic elements, techniques and materials allows for the recognition of its creators, the interpretation of historical contexts and the reconstruction of the events that guided the creation of the craft, as can be seen through the evolution of porcelain in the Dynasties of the Chinese Empire, the jewelry of the Egyptians, the textiles of the American aborigines and the glazing of Murano Art.

This cultural identification in turn allows for discrimination between one source of origin of artisanal work and another within the same culture, through the particular imprint that each original artisan has destined to make his products stand out among the competition offered by his colleagues, which through the generations has fostered the continuity of the work, passing the legacy of knowledge from one generation to another, forming authentic artisanal brand houses that stand as icons of a trade, which in not so distant times even conditioned the origin of multiple surnames, assigned referential qualities to the peoples and have served as support for overcoming the various social, political and economic crises experienced in recent centuries.

Sustainable lives and activities

The authenticity of handcrafted work also pays homage to quality, since when producing each piece directly, the artisan’s observation, sharpened by the meticulousness of his performance, focuses on providing the greatest possible perfection to his work, a factor that undoubtedly continues to make the handcrafted product desirable above any industrialized product, to which is added the value of the exclusivity of the piece, as in Persian rugs, the customization to the client’s taste, as in ceramic tableware sets, and the satisfying simplicity of owning something made with all the passion and love in the world, as in rag dolls.

All these and many other excuses support, and will continue to support, artisanal work over time, allowing those who venture into the wonderful life of being independent and free creators of their own destinies, the quality of exploring the infinite possibilities they have to develop their skills, talents and businesses, while offering those who decide to acquire an artisanal product, an unlimited world of opportunities for emotional connection with its creator, with the elements of nature that have been used and with themselves, by identifying a fraction of their own essence, seen through the hands of another.