> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: [[Joseph Lo]] [[Rosy Greenlees]] > Reference:: Lo, J. & Greenlees, R. (2023, November 1). The role of craft in crisis. _Garland Magazine_. https://garlandmag.com/the-role-of-craft-in-crisis/ > Date:: 2023 > Tags:: #warp > WeftLinks:: [[Disaster recovery value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft provides a livelihood with dignity through market access]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > Craft plays a vital role responding to crisis by connecting people, sharing skills, and creating local solutions during challenging times. ### Highlights #### The Handicraft Project > *The Handicraft Project* was initiated under Oxfam GB as a wartime occupational therapy project: to provide displaced women with a means of livelihood while creating a space for solidarity and social support. It started out with weaving and knitting, and as women gathered, counselling sessions were also provided to those who needed it. > > The women participating in this project soon came together officially to establish a local NGO – BOSFAM (from *Bos*nia *Fam*ily) and today, they make traditional carpets, knit and crochet products such as sweaters, scarves and soft furnishings for the home. These products are sold online as well as in the local Tuzla bazaar. Other activities included making memorial textiles (quilts and cushions) to commemorate the lives lost or missing during these traumatic times. > > Significantly, BOSFAM recognises that beyond generating an income from craft sales and making commemorative pieces, the activity itself – making with hands – has the ability to heal and relax the mind, and to re-orientate the self after disturbing episodes. Socially, coming together as a group on a daily basis to weave and knit provided emotional and psychological support. #### Borobudur volcanic ash products > From UNESCO, Mr Masanori Nagaoka cited Mount Merapi’s eruption in 1994 (Indonesia). After the eruption, the tourism industry in Borobudur a UNESCO World Heritage Site – collapsed. During the post-eruption clean-up period, the community found that there was an abundance of volcanic ash rocks. The community took advantage of this downturn period to learn new crafts skills and made new products from this material. The motif adopted on many of these products was a Borobudur design of a mystical lion to symbolise the community’s strength and tenacity to re-build their lives. #### Bamboo construction in Nepal > In Nepal, Mr Nripal Adhikary elaborated on his experimentation of using low cost bamboo and mud to build public buildings such as schools and homes. > > The use of these natural materials and traditional building techniques proved to be resilient to earthquakes. #### Handmade furniture after Tohoku earthquake > The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan demonstrated how a craft – handmade furniture – responded to the crisis. Ms Rebekah Cheng from Ishinomaki Laboratory explained that after the disaster, public workshops were set-up to assist communities to access to tools and expertise in order for them to rebuild homes and make new furniture. > > It both enabled people to sit together to relax and chat after a day’s work – the bench could be sat on or used as a table – but also this furniture was self-made by the community, serving as a therapy to heal and rebuild. #### Conclusions > it might be wise for the craft sector to inculcate and develop localism (in terms of supply and value chain networks and also markets for the craft sector’s products), in parallel when engaging with the global economies. > The local building industry in Nepal demonstrated this case in point. > > craft skills are democratic. They are based on hands-on skills which are not limited or restricted to race, class or beliefs. They are accessible, highly replicable and relatable. Anyone can participate in the making of things. The logic is that if a community has a hands-on approach to making things, as and when disaster strikes, the community will be more resilient in building back. > > it is in the nature of craft– working with one’s hands, either individually or collectively – that it is able to bring solace and comfort as well as empowerment to individual victims whilst providing a means to gather communities together in solidarity.