Traditional Crafts

Creativity and folk art: A study of creative action in traditional craft

by Vlad Glaveanu

Forthcoming in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

The present article aims to explore creativity in craftwork using the case of Easter egg decoration, a folk art chosen... more The present article aims to explore creativity in craftwork using the case of Easter egg decoration, a folk art chosen for its traditional roots and diversity of artistic outcomes. The research presented here contributes to the literature at: a) a theoretical level, by conceptualising a pragmatist-inspired framework of creative activity, b) a methodological level, by using, beside observation and interview, subjective cameras to record activity, and c) at an empirical level, considering the fact that creativity in folk art has often been a neglected topic. The two studies included in the article employed the participation of 20 different egg decorators of various ages from the village of Ciocӑneşti in northern Romania. The first research was concerned with general stages of traditional egg decoration and their characteristics, while the second investigation took a closer look at variations associated with the activity path, the generalities and specificities of work and how they could be accounted for, particularly in terms of expert - novice differences. These studies revealed the many ways in which creativity is intrinsic to Easter egg decoration and the final discussion of the article summarises them with reference to processes of combination and change, copying and translation, personal style and creative identity. In the end, an understanding of “micro” moments of creativity in craft is achieved, one that can help us rethink the relation between tradition and creativity, between folk and fine art.

Keywords: folk art, Easter egg decoration, creative activity, pragmatism, subjective cameras

What can be done with an egg? Creativity, material objects and the theory of affordances

by Vlad Glaveanu

Forthcoming in Journal of Creative Behavior

The present article offers a reflection on the role of material objects in the creative process and explores the... more The present article offers a reflection on the role of material objects in the creative process and explores the potential links between creativity and the theory of affordances (Gibson, 1986), conceptualized from a socio-cultural perspective. From this standpoint creativity can be defined as a process of perceiving, exploiting and “generating” novel affordances during socially and materially situated activities. Illustrations are offered for each of the above from a research project investigating traditional Easter egg decoration activities in rural Romania. This brief case study exemplifies the discovery of existing action potentials, the generation of objects with novel affordances and the transgression of conventional procedures, all resulting in creative forms of expression. In the end some conclusions are drawn regarding the ways in which an affordance theory of creativity can enrich our understanding of the phenomenon and contribute to the development of a new program of research concerned with situated and distributed creative acts.

Keywords: material objects, affordance, intentionality, normativity, Easter egg decoration 

The nature of creativity in craft: Insights from Easter egg decoration

by Vlad Glaveanu

Forthcoming in International Journal of Creativity & Human Development

The present article explores the nature of creativity in craft and does so with the help of a case study of... more The present article explores the nature of creativity in craft and does so with the help of a case study of traditional Easter egg decoration. It starts by positioning the domain of folk art in relation to fine art and within a larger category of everyday life forms of creative expression. Then a cultural psychology approach to creativity is introduced and its framework used to unpack the actors and processes involved in craftwork. Analysing what is characteristic for folk art uses these particular lenses and requires paying attention to externalisation, integration, internalisation, and social interaction aspects. Findings reveal fundamental features of craft such as its materiality, the presence of a strong traditional background, the importance of continuous learning, and the role of family and community relations. Towards the end connections are made with the existing literature and final reflections offered on whether the characteristics above say something about creativity more generally, beyond the context of craft.

Key words: folk art, Easter eggs, everyday life, cultural psychology.

“Tiaris” di cjase. Terrecotte di casa

by Gabriele Caiazza

published in: Ceramiche, terrecotte, terraglie & porcellane, “Quaderni del Museo di Storia Contadina”, 5, ed. M. Mauro, Pagnacco (UD) 2006, pp. 7-11

From 20 May to 29 October 2006, the Museum of Rural History in Fontanabona of Pagnacco (Udine) is hosting the... more From 20 May to 29 October 2006, the Museum of Rural History in Fontanabona of Pagnacco (Udine) is hosting the exhibition "Faience, crockery, pottery & porcelain": so the fifth Notebook has the purpose to support the visitor in the expository path, but also the aim to catalog an important section of the museum assets, consisting of household goods obtained by processing of the clay. This short essay brings the reader back to the past where the kitchen was the main room of the friulian 'cjase' (home), including earthenware of every type, shape, size and function: unforgettable 'remnants' of a past much closer than you might think…

Dal 20 maggio al 29 ottobre del 2006 il Museo di Storia Contadina di Fontanabona di Pagnacco (Udine) ospita la mostra “Ceramiche, terrecotte, terraglie & porcellane”: il quinto Quaderno nasce allo scopo di affiancare il visitatore nel percorso espositivo, ma anche con l’intento di catalogare una sezione importante del patrimonio museale, composta di oggetti domestici ottenuti dalla lavorazione dell’argilla. Nel breve saggio, al lettore si propone un ritorno al tempo in cui la cucina era l’ambiente principale della 'cjase' friulana, fra stoviglie in terracotta d’ogni tipo, forma, dimensione e funzione: indimenticabili 'reperti' di un passato molto meno lontano di quanto s’immagini…

Tarring maintenance of Norwegian medieval stave churches: characterisation of pine tar during kiln-production, experimental coating procedures and …

by Inger Marie Egenberg

Milebrent tyritjære. Tekniske egenskaper og et historisk korrekt vedlikehold

by Inger Marie Egenberg

Paper in Norwegian about the development of knowledge in a Pine tar project managed by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Norway, 1991-2004

Higher Education in Crisis: Teaching Historic Preservation Trades on Diminishing Budgets

by Stephen Hartley

Textile Traditions Of India Contemporary Perspective

by Parul Bhatnagar

Lady Irwin College,Sanjam Randawa conference, Dept, of Textile and Clothing, Delhi, 7th-8th February 2003

Thesis on Craft’s Vlllage, Madhyapur Thimi (B.Arch)

by Rupesh Shrestha

A craft is a branch of profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense,... more A craft is a branch of profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods. The meaning of craft and its values are ever-changing with development of new techniques and methods. Craft village is a one-stop craft destination which offers visitors a unique variety of craft-related activities and programmes. It is intended to be a “must visit" tourist destination. In this village, visitors will learn about Nepali handicraft through craft demonstrations & hands-on interactive sessions. Visitors will experience the interactive handicraft making besides viewing the techniques in which they make such fine masterpieces. It also accommodates various trading units. This project intends to provide spaces with forms and functions to foster the development of crafts that Nepal is known for. The art and craft gallery housed in its premises displays wide collections of handicraft products/artefacts based on time-honoured Nepali craft traditions. The core concept of the Craft gallery is education and highlights the craft heritage of Nepal and local handicraft production technologies.

There are many handicrafts promoting agency in Nepal. They are private, semi-government and government agency with different scope and scale. But they lack adequate space which truly acknowledges the production, promotion and display of crafts. The project has opted for traditional principles in architectural design –character of a traditional settlement (tole).

Nation in a sheep's coat: The Icelandic sweater

by Gudrun Helgadottir

Published in FORMakademisk 4(2), 2011

The Icelandic sweater is presented and received as being traditional—even ancient—authentically Icelandic and hand... more The Icelandic sweater is presented and received as being traditional—even ancient—authentically Icelandic and hand made by Icelandic women from the wool of Icelandic sheep. Even so, the sweater type, the so-called ‘Icelandic sweater’ in English, only dates back to the mid-20th century and is not necessarily made in Iceland nor from indigenous wool. Nevertheless, the sweater is a successful invention of a tradition (Hobsbawm & Ranger, 1983), popular among Icelanders and tourists alike since its introduction in the mid-20th century. It has gained ground as a national symbol, particularly in times of crisis for example in the reconstruction of values in the aftermath of the Icelandic bank collapse of 2008. I traced the development of the discourse about wool and the origins of the Icelandic sweater by looking at publications of the Icelandic National Craft Association, current design discourse in Iceland and its effect on the development of the wool industry. I then tied these factors to notions of tradition, authenticity, national culture, image and souvenirs.

Keywords: Lopapeysa / The Icelandic sweater, textiles, souvenir, heritage, image

Izrada crepulja kod Vlaha u severoistočnoj Srbiji

by Svetlana Cirkovic

S. Ćirković: Izrada crepulja kod Vlaha u severoistočnoj Srbiji, Radovi simpozijuma „Banat – istorijska i kulturna prošlost“ VII, Novi Sad–Pančevo, 2005 [2006], 65–71.

Framings of a National Tradition Discourse on the Reinvention of Miniature Painting in Pakistan

by NADEEM OMAR TARAR

Ruled by the Pen: Literacy Orientalism, and Colonial Order in Punjab

by NADEEM OMAR TARAR

Ruled by the Pen: Literacy, Orientalism and Colonial Order in Punjab’, by Stephen Lyon and Iain R. Edgar, Shaping a Nation, An Examination of Education in Pakistan. (Karachi, 2010).

The colonial education in India served as an institution of social control, which was anchored in the western... more The colonial education in India served as an institution of social control, which was anchored in the western ethnocentric ideas of "orality" of non-western societies in contrast to European "literacy". The paper seeks to analyze the colonial anthropological construction of knowledge that served as a premise for launching mass literacy in the late nineteenth century colonial Punjab. The illiteracy of the Indian population was argued on the assumed "orality" of the social processes of knowledge transmission and provided the colonial justification for education of a "traditional" society, deemed lower in the scale of evolutionary development. Drawing on the literacy-orality debate, the paper questions the binarism of the dominant theoretical formulations of the oral and literate societies that continue to inform the history and pedagogy of education as well as anthropological approaches to the study of South Asian culture. Notwithstanding the liberal ideologies of education, school as a technology of discipline became critical to the normalization of the colonial rule to the vast majority of people. It also emerged as an institutional site for the use and elaboration of discipline as a general formula for domination and control. Schools became not only instruments for inculcating a "literate" consciousness, a Euro-centric awareness of the English grammar and visual norms but also as technologies of rule deployed as the key instrument for the technical transformation of individuals and societies through discipline and regulation

Shifting paradigms in the field of craft, its effect in the life of traditional craftsman and organizational framework of the traditional guilds

by Sharat Sunder Rajeev

I would like to thank all my classmates and faculty members at S.P.A, New Delhi, who have guided me, this work would not have materialized without their help and support.

Abstract: The objective of the paper is to study in detail the ‘guild system’ followed by the traditional craftsmen of... more Abstract: The objective of the paper is to study in detail the ‘guild system’ followed by the traditional craftsmen of Kerala, the modes they adopted for the transfer of traditional knowledge systems down the generations and the association the guilds maintained with the other communities in the social setup of a village. The study also will cover the changes brought about by the industrial revolution in the field of craft. Industrial revolution has both good and bad effects affecting the social setup of the craftsmen and their traditional guild system. The introduction of modern technologies and the factories aimed at mass production freed the craftsmen from their status of ‘village artisan’ and helped in improving their social status and economic profile. The industrial schools established in various parts of the country thus played an important role in determining the social status of the traditional craftsmen community.

Creating Creativity: Reflections from Fieldwork

by Vlad Glaveanu

Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 2011, 45(1), 100-115

The present article addresses the question of ‘When can we say something is creative?’ and, in answering it, takes a... more The present article addresses the question of ‘When can we say something is creative?’ and, in answering it, takes a critical stand towards past and present scientific definitions of creativity. It challenges an implicit assumption in much psychological theory and research that creativity exists as an ‘objective’ feature of persons or products, universally recognised and independent of social agreement and cultural systems of norms and beliefs. Focusing on everyday life creative outcomes, the article includes both theoretical accounts and empirical examples from a research exploring creativity evaluations in the context of folk art. In the end, a multi-layered perspective of creativity assessment emerges, integrating dimensions such as newness and originality, value and usefulness, subjective reception and cultural reception of creative products. Implications for how we understand and study creativity are discussed.

Key-words: creativity; assessment criteria; culture; folk art; Easter eggs; Romania

Habitual creativity: Revising habit, reconceptualising creativity

by Vlad Glaveanu

Review of General Psychology, Vol 16(1), Mar 2012, 78-92

Current psychological scholarship is based on a dichotomy between habit, associated with automatic reflex behaviour,... more Current psychological scholarship is based on a dichotomy between habit, associated with automatic reflex behaviour, and creativity, which involves deliberation, purpose and heuristic procedures. However, this account is problematic and contradicts everyday experience where mastery, for instance, is one of the highest levels of creative performance achieved within a habitual practice. This article argues that such a separation misrepresents both habit and creativity with important theoretical and practical consequences. A first step towards reconciling the two terms is made by revisiting a series of foundational strands of theory from psychology and related disciplines. In light of these sources, habit is reformulated as a social, situated and open system and habitual creativity defined as the intrinsically creative nature of customary action, reflected in the way habits adjust to dynamic contexts, the way they are used, combined and ultimately perfected. Further distinctions are then made between habit, improvisation and innovation. Both improvisational and innovative creativity are embedded in habitual forms and this is well illustrated by craftwork: a practiced type of activity on the basis of which artisans improvise, whenever obstacles or difficulties are encountered, and even get to innovate, when their intention is to generate novel artefacts or work techniques.

Keywords: creativity, habit, improvisation, innovation, pragmatism, folk art.

Железообработващи работилници в долната Дунавска област за времето между античност и ранното средновековие, in: Втори международен конгрес по Българистика, София 23. Маи / 3. Юни 1986, том 6 (доклади), (София 1987) pp. 177-186.

by Joachim Henning

Nga Tipu Raranga Mo Tua Ake: Weaving as a means of measuring wellness, TRRWoA Project TRRW0301

by Patricia Te Arapo Wallace

‘Nga Tipu Raranga Mo Tua Ake: Weaving as a means of measuring wellness, Te Ropu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa - Project TRRW0301’. Conference proceedings from Matauranga Taketake: Traditional Knowledge 2006: Indigenous Indicators of Well-Being: Perspectives, Practices, Solutions, Pub. Knowledge Exchange Programme of Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, 2007.  ISBN 0-9582610-4-0 

2008 The Durrington Maltsters

by Merryn Dineley

Published in British Archaeology, Issue 98, 2008, pages 30,31

This short article was not included in the on-line version of this issue of British Archaeology.

A recent excavation at an early neolithic site has revealed thousands of fragments of badly preserved carbonised grain within the remains of a building with a beaten earth floor, Because of this discovery, I thought it relevant to review the information that I had written about this article. I have been told not to talk about the specific site as it is not my intellectual property - I am neither the excavator nor am I the official archaeobotanist.

I want to introduce the ancient craft of the Maltster into discussions and interpretations of the Neolithic. Malt, malting floors and Maltsters have been neglected in the archaeological interpretation of buildings that had deliberately made smooth, plaster or beaten earth floors. Were some of these floors used for malting? I think it is possible.

Some buildings in the Neolithic were used for the processing and/or storage of grain, for example, Balbridie, Fife, Scotland where thousands of carbonised grains were found. Some had missing embryos; I think this might be an indicator for malt.

Buildings within Durrington Walls have been interpreted as 'houses' or 'cult buildings'. Some are described as having smooth plaster floors. Were these malting floors?

Was the grain malted on site? Or was it brought to the venue to be mashed and fermented into ale by the participants in the Feasts - just as they brought along their beast to be killed, cooked and eaten.

Tons of Grooved Ware sherds representing large vessels were found at Durrington Walls. What were these huge pots used for?

Professor Mike Parker Pearson suggests that they were making and drinking cider, not ale, on the basis of the discovery of a few crab-apple pips during excavations. Crab-apples are too sour; they do not have enough sugars for fermentation into alcohol.

Ale, fermented from the sweet wort obtained by mashing the crushed malt is a more likely possibility. Ale leaves minimal archaeological traces and the draff or spent grain, the only potential 'waste' product, would have been eaten by the livestock. Dental decay on the pig teeth from this site suggest that they were fed spent grain or draff.

Casa Malaparte: il cantiere, le tecnologie, i materiali

by Nicoletta Setola