Description

A handicraft, sometimes morepreciselyexpressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of awidevariety of types of work where useful and decorative objectsaremade completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It isatraditional main sector of craft, and applies to a wide rangeofcreative and design activities that are related to makingthingswith one's hands and skill, including work with textiles,moldableand rigid materials, paper, plant fibers, etc. Usually theterm isapplied to traditional techniques of creating items (whetherforpersonal use or as products) that are both practicalandaesthetic.Handicraft industries are those that produces thingswithhands to meet the needs of the people in theirlocality.Machinesare not used.[1][2][3]

Collective terms for handicrafts include artisanry,handicrafting,crafting, and handicraftsmanship. The term arts andcrafts is alsoapplied, especially in the United States and mostlyto hobbyists'and children's output rather than items crafted fordaily use, butthis distinction is not formal, and the term iseasily confusedwith the Arts and Crafts design movement, which isin fact aspractical as it is aesthetic.

Handicrafting has its roots in the rural crafts—thematerial-goodsnecessities—of ancient civilizations, and manyspecific crafts havebeen practiced for centuries, while others aremodern inventions,or popularizations of crafts which wereoriginally practiced in alimited geographic area.

Many handicrafters use natural, even entirely indigenous,materialswhile others may prefer modern, non-traditional materials,and evenupcycle industrial materials. The individual artisanship ofahandicrafted item is the paramount criterion; those made bymassproduction or machines are not handicraft goods.

Seen as developing the skills and creative interests ofstudents,generally and sometimes towards a particular craft ortrade,handicrafts are often integrated into educational systems,bothinformally and formally. Most crafts require the developmentofskill and the application of patience, but can be learnedbyvirtually anyone.

Like folk art, handicraft output often has cultural and/orreligioussignificance, and increasingly may have a politicalmessage as well,as in craftivism. Many crafts become very popularfor brief periodsof time (a few months, or a few years), spreadingrapidly among thecrafting population as everyone emulates thefirst examples, thentheir popularity wanes until a laterresurgence.