Concept in Definition ABC

The word craftsmanship is used to denote all the various types of elements or items that are made with the hands, usually with a significant degree of creativity and originality.

Craftsmanship is one of the primordial creations of the human being when he discovered the possibility of work with the natural materials that surrounded it to transform them into something different, more complex and beautiful.

One of the basic elements of craftsmanship has to do with its originality

Unlike industrial products, made in a massive way, in the Format in series, and identical to each other, it can be said that no two handmade pieces are the same anymore that they are made by hand and finished with a greater or lesser degree of detail depending on the case. At the same time, the crafts represent in a magical and unique way the ideas and ways of feeling of a community as well as the environment that surrounds it and others. Each society has a particular type of crafts and artisan creations.

Link with ancestral uses and customs and culture

Then, crafts should be considered a branch and branch of art, although it is associated with processes and use of more materials. simple and framed as we indicated lines above in a cultural tradition that comes from the ancestors of the community in which it is develops.

There are certain types of crafts that are more popular, such as ceramics, looms, upholstery, pottery, enamelling, glass or metal work, design, goldsmithing or cabinetmaking, just to name a few. Obviously each of these types of production craft has particular characteristics, as well as methods and procedures specific that are established and copied so that the results (at least in the technical matter) are always as expected.

Some types of crafts from specific parts of the planet are especially recognized because they have to do with particular traditions, materials, and interests. For example, typical of Venice are the masks of delicate beauty, the tiles from Portugal, Spain or the coast of Africa, the regional products of Argentina such as mate, poncho, basketwork from different parts of America Central, etc.

A common activity in the beginnings of humanity that is relegated with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution

Since the beginning of mankind, crafts are present and were for a long time the most famous mode of production of objects and also the one that allowed many people to earn a living. Of course, in those remote and initiatory times, both the procedures and the materials used to carry it out were more basic.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution, which leads to a greater technification in the production and installation of the machine as the great part when producing goods, caused a relegation in crafts and although of course it continued to be deployed, it began to occupy a secondary role in the economic activity.

Even the lower costs of the introduction of machines in production led to handicraft products being more expensive compared to industrial ones. Ultimately the artisanal activity stopped being profitable.

However, beyond these contingencies that we indicated, crafts have not lost demand in some sectors that privilege and recognize more the value of artisan products than of those mass-produced. Especially handicraft consumers recognize the originality and dedication with which it is produced in this field. And neither can we ignore that normally the quality it is superior to industrial production.

The professional who is dedicated to craftsmanship is called a craftsman, to display the work that we have been commenting on. In any case, we must emphasize that there are artisans who are dedicated to producing objects as part of a recreational activity without seeking to receive a remuneration with it. Generally, the artisan sells his products directly to the consumer and without the intervention of intermediaries.