Overview

This book is an anthology of essays exploring craft production across diverse cultures. More than a celebration of individual artisanship, it responds to a world in flux—where education, employment, and climate are undergoing rapid transformation.  As the Fourth Industrial Revolution reshapes economies through emerging technologies, this book underscores the urgent need to redefine craft education. It advocates for craft training that supports both cultural preservation and future employment, aligning with UNESCO’s 2024 report on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), which calls for enhanced global skills development.  With 28 essays from 22 countries, the volume offers rich, practice-based insights into how crafts can be taught and sustained. Many contributors share personal stories of their own practices, presenting pathways for formal and informal learning that blend traditional techniques with modern innovations. By aligning craft education with UNESCO’s TVET recommendations, this book shows how crafts can offer viable, sustainable professions. It champions the value of skills transmission, cultural relevance, and entrepreneurship in the craft sector. Amid increasing cultural exchange and global uncertainty, many artisans turn to tradition for stability. Their voices in this volume express concerns about the erosion of heritage—and the need to actively safeguard it. These essays show how craft not only preserves culture but also strengthens communities, supports wellbeing, and fosters meaningful human connection. Craft – Tradition and Invention is an essential resource — where tradition meets transformation, and where craft education becomes a vital force for social and environmental change. Craft, as revealed here, is not only the making of things—it is the making of resilient, connected, and sustainable futures and a pathway to relevance, and renewal. Moving beyond admiration for the handmade, this volume engages deeply with the cultural, economic, and educational shifts shaping the future of work and creativity.

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9789819504848

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Author Information

Lindy Joubert was Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Melbourne for 28 years (semi-retired 2020 and now Senior Fellow). Lindy’s academic activities are action-based research with collaborative partners. With student and professional groups Lindy organised the concept design and development across 12 countries for education, health and cultural facilities and structures, including the Cook Islands; Mua Island, Torres Strait; Papua New Guinea; Gichocho, Kenya and for the Maasai Kenya. ‘Samiland’ for the Sami people in Finnish Lapland; the Tiwi Islands; Auroville, India; Los Palos cultural Centre, East Timor (Community Development Vice Chancellor’s Award and over one million dollars in funding granted in partnership with NGO).

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