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Crafts in the Contemporary Creative Economy

Citation: M. Friel (2020) Crafts in the
Contemporary Creative Economy. Ais- Martha Friel
thesis 13(1): 83-90. doi: 10.13128/Ais-
thesis-11599
Università IULM Milano

Copyright: © 2020 M. Friel. This is

an open access, peer-reviewed article Abstract. Speaking generically of crafts from an economic point of view means refer-
published by Firenze University Press ring to a field that encompasses different sectors and professions, an agglomeration of
(http://www.fupress.com/aisthesis) very different activities in terms of economic structure, performance and needs. This
and distributed under the terms of the paper, however, aims to analyse only some of the artisan worlds, i.e. traditional trades,
Creative Commons Attribution License, art & crafts which, even if manifesting themselves today in new ways, interest us more
which permits unrestricted use, distri- than others because of the genius loci they have subsumed. This is because this is the
bution, and reproduction in any medi- main feature that allows us to count on their survival in a present and in a future in
um, provided the original author and
which even large industries are looking with great interest at limited and customized
source are credited.
production, and where not only major companies but also local and regional entities
Data Availability Statement: All rel- are rediscovering activities closely related to the “sense of place”, such as crafts, and
evant data are within the paper and its including them in their identity branding policies. After an introductory look at the
Supporting Information files. role of craftsmanship today in the “creative economy”, the paper describes the prob-
lems facing this productive and cultural sector today and outlines the challenges for
Competing Interests: The authors
the near future.
have declared that no competing inter-
ests exist.
Keywords. Crafts, creative economy, globalization, innovation.

1. INTRODUCTION

It seems increasingly difficult, nowadays, to say what crafts are.

Difficult from many perspectives: economic, social, linguistic. Crafts
are a fundamental part of the culture of a community: the form of
its products and their functions are often the result of the local pres-
ence of specific raw materials, of traditional knowledge and behav-
iors, beliefs and convictions that the objects incorporate and bear
witness to. In this sense, there is the temptation of extending the cat-
egory to include any production in which an initial project is trans-
lated into a finished object, whether this comes out of the workshop
of a master ceramist, the factory of a luxury multinational or the
studio of a designer.
Also the use of man-held tools, which traditionally distinguished
crafts from industry, along with the size of the company, now seems
to have lost some of its importance. New developments in technol-
ogy, on the one hand, have generated a novel species of artisans, as

Aisthesis. Pratiche, linguaggi e saperi dell'estetico 13(1): 83-90, 2020

ISSN 2035-8466 (online) | DOI: 10.13128/Aisthesis-11599
84 Martha Friel

in the case of the makers, on the other hand, have Power of Making, held at the Victoria and Albert
helped establish a new “handmade” industry (as in Museum of London in 2011 is probably one of the
the case of 3D planning in artistic foundries), in best examples, as it is the 2018 edition of Homo
what some have called to be a new industrial revo- Faber at the prestigious Giorgio Cini Foundation
lution (Anderson [2012]). in Venice, which attracted more than 60 thou-
The complexity of the crafts realm is due not sand visitors from all over the world, as well as the
only to semantic and historical reasons - but also strong presence of crafts in the most prominent
has cultural and economic motivations, as wide- international Design Weeks around the world.
ly covered by academic literature (Pye [1968]; The reasons for this new vitality are many and
Bologna [1972]; Dormer [1997]; Risatti [2007]): result from the profound transformations that have
the terms craftsman, artisan and craft are used been characterizing the economic system: the tran-
throughout the world with different meanings and sition from a monolithic culture of industrialization
the socio-economic status of craftsmen also varies to a culture founded on differentiation and specific-
considerably. ity (De Giorgi, Germak [2008]), the crisis of certain
Defining the craft sector, at least from the eco- local systems of production on the one hand, and
nomic standpoint, in therefore a threefold prob- on the other hand the development of new indus-
lem as it regards the classification of crafts, crafts- trial systems based on interdependent relations
men and craft enterprises. Within the crafts realm of production and on outsourcing, the rise of the
we find economic subjects that differ greatly in knowledge economy and of the creative economy,
terms of activity and organizational structure. the changes in the domain of design and produc-
Therefore, to stake out the borders of this eco- tion. Furthermore, in the face of the homologation
nomic sector and its size it is particularly complex. brought about by mass production and globalization,
Even its visibility is sometimes uncertain given there has been a change in the taste and demands of
that while some top professions «are integrated in consumers towards products characterized by quality
large-sized productive filière [...], many have trans- and uniqueness. Taste and demands to which arti-
formed taking forms that make them unrecogniz- sans are in a better position to respond to.
able for those who look for them expecting their Within this context, crafts are gaining
usual aspect» (Colombo [2007]: 19). increased visibility and recognition thanks to their
Beyond the defining difficulties, however, in key features (Bramanti [2012]): value of work and
the new millennium crafts seem to have become individual quality of know-how; «culture-tradi-
of interest once again. This interest occurred at tion-innovation» triptych, that is, the capacity
many levels, and at a global scale. In the academia of the craftsman to «combine tacit and codified
and in research, a growing literature has dealt with knowledge, action and thought, experience and
the status of craftsmen in contemporary society abstract knowledge, production and creation»;
(Sennet [2008]), with the present and future role entrepreneurship and business risk, that is the
of crafts in global value chains (Micelli [2009], desire to face the challenges of the market.
[2011]), with the relevance and contribution of All these elements then found in the Web
the craft sector to the economy (Mignosa, Koti- Economy unprecedent for visibility and for access-
palli [2019]) on the relation between crafts, design ing the market, just think at marketplaces such as
and industry (Maffei [2011]; De Giorgi, Germak Etsy.com; Amazon Handmade and many others.
[2008]) and also with the crafts’ centrality to con-
temporary art (Adamson [2007]). 2. THE ROLE OF CRAFTS IN THE “CREATIVE
The renewed interest in crafts does not con- ECONOMY”
cern academics only but also a number of impor-
tant cultural institutions that have taken on the The complexity and variety of the craft’s world
role of calling attention to the issue: the exhibit made that even the measurement of its economic
Crafts in the Contemporary Creative Economy 85

importance has always been very difficult, this joined the debate, dedicating important surveys,
also hindering the possibility of good cross-coun- publications and programmatic documents to the
try analyses. creative economy both in an attempt to quantify
Data on production, in terms both of quanti- world trade in creative goods and services, and to
ties produced and of the labour force involved, are present their own institutional viewpoints on the
incomplete for many countries, and in many areas subject.
of the world a large part of the crafts’ production The problem of sourcing reliable data for
and trade still lies in the informal economy. crafts emerged immediately and, in an effort to
The greatest boost in the sourcing of up-to- bridge this knowledge gap, various projects were
date and reliable figures on crafts unquestion- launched, particularly by UNESCO and the UNC-
ably occurred with the growing interest, in recent TAD, both through greater sensitization of indi-
years, in the creative economy and in what are vidual countries with regard to the coding of
known as the “cultural industries”. artisan products, and through ad hoc studies of
According to the definition of Britain’s Depart- particular aspects of the crafts sector, such as, for
ment of Culture Media e Sport (2001), creative example, its relationship with the tourism sector
industries are «those industries which have their (UNESCO/UNCTAD-WTO, 1997) and with the
origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and intellectual property rights management (WIPO,
which have a potential for wealth and job crea- 2003).
tion through the generation and exploitation of The process has been slow and produced so
intellectual property». Moreover, creative indus- far contrasting results but which, in the end, made
tries include «advertising, architecture, the art and it possible to delimit and define the crafts sector
antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, more precisely and to compile a list of the most
film and video, interactive leisure software, music, commonly traded products at world level, the
the performing arts, publishing, software and economic importance of which are recognized
computer services, television and radio». by UNESCO and codified in accordance with an
Starting from the mid-nineties, the economic international classification system (Harmonized
value generated by the creative goods and services Commodity Description and Coding Systems).
production industries and the potential growth of According to the most recent data available
the macro-sector compared to others has turned when this paper was written, at global level, in
the spotlight onto the creative economy and driv- 2015, the international trade in art craft totalled
en the systemisation of knowledge of this macro 35 billion dollars. The global market for art craft
sector. This attention, starting from the English- was expanding with an annual average growth
speaking world, spread quickly to all the advanced rate of 4.42% during the period 2003-2015 and art
economies and to the developing countries dur- crafts continue to be among the most important
ing the 2000s, with the creation of a global debate creative industry for export earnings for develop-
and giving life to a myriad of studies intended to ing countries (UNCTAD, 2018).
delimit and quantify the creative economy: not These data offer a picture - albeit blurred - of
an easy operation given the considerable dyna- the international trade in crafts goods. As already
mism and variety of the industries that character- mentioned, however, the interest in the sector goes
ise it. Moreover, many international organisations beyond these numbers, and concerns more strate-
like UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, gic aspects relating to innovation processes in the
Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United production and consumption of goods and servic-
Nations Conference on Trade and Development, es with high added value.
UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Craftsmen often have a leading role also in
Trade and Development, and the UNDP – the the success of many important companies in the
United Nations Development Programme – have high-end industries (i.e. fashion, design etc.),
86 Martha Friel

which entrust to them not only the more delicate although potentially very lucrative, requires good
phases of production but also the promotion of marketing skills. The potential for artistic crafts
their image on international markets. This type of targeted at this developing market and these new
contribution of the culture of crafts to contempo- tendencies cannot be ignored and requires new
rary economy is much more complex to trace and solutions for accessing markets, enhancing local
quantify. reputation in the face of global competition, as
well as technological innovations capable of sus-
taining production and distribution (Santagata
3. SURVIVAL ISSUES IN THE GLOBALIZED and Friel [2007]). If these solutions are found,
ECONOMY elite artistic crafts and more traditional ones will
be able to capture significant market quotas. The
Despite these positive data and this renewed
question is therefore how to expand the mar-
interest, many craft businesses are currently
ket for crafts, favour access to new markets and
exposed to a series of threats which endanger
exploit global tendencies.
their survival. On the one hand, globalization has
There is also a third way to create innovative
given fresh impulse to the creation of a global
and modern products and gain access to markets
economy of culture and to mass consumption of
that is currently developing, largely stimulated by
cultural products, promoting also particular types
the changes in the domain of design. We are talk-
of traditional artisanal products and crafts. On the
ing about self-production, in which the designer
other hand, however, globalization has also led to
becomes the director of the whole process, from
fierce competition based on production costs, as
invention, to production, to distribution.
well as to the development of fake products that
Self-production is an interesting phenomenon
have critically undermined the revenues of many
and even though at the moment it has more to do
craft businesses (Friel and Santagata, 2007).
with design than with crafts, in the future it could
Alongside these macro factors and global ten-
become a bridge between these two worlds, com-
dencies, there are also a number of other factors,
bining the strategic and innovative capacities of
some of them cyclical and some of them struc-
designers with the manual and constructive skills
tural, which negatively affect the profitability and,
of artisans. For the time being, it is still unclear
in some cases, the survival of artisanal activities.
whether this is a transient phenomenon or a last-
These factors include (Friel and Saccone [2012]):
ing structural transformation. According to artist
- Access to markets. Traditionally, crafts and
Paolo Ulian, self-production and crafts will play
artistic crafts catered to local needs. Today,
an increasingly greater role in design in the com-
instead, with the development of globalization and
ing years, because the number of young designers
the integration of world markets, the local market
is increasing, while the number of design compa-
had been joined by the opportunity of accessing
nies is decreasing.
global markets. These changes, on the one hand,
- Information and qualification of the demand.
require new approaches and, on the other hand,
Even when there is a sufficient number of con-
require adapting products to the demands and
sumers with the right income level, the artistic
needs of a heterogeneous public, both in terms
and highly idiosyncratic nature of craft objects can
of income and of taste. Artistic craftsmanship is
limit the demand for them, since, their value, and
mostly targeted at a niche of consumers, who are
therefore their price, can only be recognized with
affluent and willing to purchase high-level prod-
an adequate cultural background and adequate
ucts, on a national and international level. How-
information. As noted by Bramanti (2012), «an
ever, a significant quota of artistic craftsmen is
uneducated customer is unlikely to accept a pre-
having difficulty with these new market challeng-
mium price for craft objects and / or will automat-
es. Not all are able to enter this market, which,
ically place it in the niche of luxury goods where
Crafts in the Contemporary Creative Economy 87

it competes (at a disadvantage) with branded new generations tend to be interested in differ-
goods». ent studies and professions. On the other hand,
The deadly effects on the crafts’ market pro- the more institutionalized forms of training have
duced by consumers’ incomplete information proven inadequate, especially when it comes to
on the quality of the products and on the tra- transmitting many uncodified skills and notions.
ditional knowledge that they embed, have been - Woskshops and spaces. Traditionally, at least
widely analysed by cultural economic literature in western countries, workshops were always
with regard for example to Murano glass produc- located in the historical centre of towns, charac-
tion in Venice, pashmina shawls and many others terized by the proximity of housing and work-
(Sthephen [1991]; Santagata [2002]; Russo, Segre place. Today, the cost of real estate, the coloniza-
[2005]). tion process by global retail chains to have their
The ability to know how to communicate the flagship stores in historical buildings in the most
products, and the choice of the best means to do central areas of cities is causing a decline in the
so, constitutes today a strategic issue that requires presence of workshops and traditional stores.
economic and human capital investments by indi- In some cases, entire productive activities
vidual craftsmen or their representatives. have been relocated to the periphery leaving only
- Access to credit. Typically, crafts’ businesses the store in the town centre. In other cases, small
are characterized by small size and little capital and extremely small workshops have chosen unof-
and, for this reason, access to credit is a greater ficial, less visible locations (Biondi [2011]). These
problem for them compared to other businesses. tendencies are changing the look of urban centres
Without the support of institutions that believe in and, more seriously, are diminishing the visibil-
crafts and their potential for economic growth, it ity of artisans, for whom workshops traditionally
is unlikely that crafts will be able to adapt to new serve also as windows through which they market
tendencies, given the capitals and investments their work.
required. An alternative is, for craftsmen without A partial answer to these problems has come
financial resources and access to credit, to become from the flourishing of coworking spaces and
providers and collaborators of luxury industries, makerspaces. This is an interesting phenomenon
which have greater access to credit and to global also due to the possible effects on product innova-
markets, and which have already shown a strong tion processes deriving from multidisciplinary col-
interest in the potential of artistic and traditional laborations. This is why many countries are study-
crafts. ing the phenomenon today with targeted research
- Knowledge transmission. One of the great activities (Sleigh, Stewart, Stokes [2015]).
elements of fragility in the world of crafts is that - Preserving originality. While traditional craft
of the transmission of technical and cultural objects are often the result of the cultural and
knowledge at the basis of this type of production. social identities of the communities that produce
The loss of skills not only undermines the survival them and incorporate century-old notions and
of these activities, but also weakens the produc- techniques, the appearance of the finished prod-
tion of instrumental goods for the craft sector (for uct can often be easily appropriated. Globalization
a detailed analysis see Paragraph 4), such as the has led to the widespread production of fakes and,
production of particular materials, pigments and once again, the cultural education of customers
tools etc. and their capacity to distinguish quality both in
The root of these problems lies in the pro- the production process and in the finished prod-
found social, economic and cultural changes that uct is fundamental to protect original crafts. There
have taken place in recent decades. On the one is also a need for greater protection of intellectual
hand, the handing down of artisanal know-how property and originality in artisanal know-how.
“from father to son” has been interrupted, since «Notwithstanding the fact that craft products are
88 Martha Friel

often assimilated to artistic creations, the major-

ity of people does not acknowledge their right to
intellectual property» (Howkins [2001]). Further-
more, in many artistic crafts there are no quality
labels that artisans can adhere to in order to cer-
tify and communicate to customers the value of
their creation.
- Dynamic innovation / tradition. Despite the
undisputed quality and value of artistic craft prod-
ucts, sometimes artisans, in their understand-
able desire to preserve tradition, remain faithful
to models that have changed little over time. This
can lead to a gap between the aesthetics of the
product and consumer taste. Tradition is not static
and the production of culture, in all its forms, is
a cumulative and innovative process, especially in
the case of goods and services that compete in a Figure 1. Crafts’ filière: support services and micro-services.
market where taste and demand are changing at
an increasingly rapid pace. This problem also sug-
gests the opportunity of a closer dialogue between in six macro-classes: conception and design; pro-
traditional artisans and designers, in which the duction; communication and promotion; commer-
latter could have the function of supporting the cialization; protection; historicization.
technical and artistic skills of artisans by provid- An examination of these categories will shed
ing new aesthetic forms, which would appeal also light on how interactions between activities that,
to the younger generations of customers. while disaggregated, are strongly interconnected,
plays an important role both from a cultural and
economic point of view (Bertacchini, Santagata
4. CRAFTS AND SUPPORT MICRO-SERVICES: [2012]:27).
A COMPLEX SYSTEM 1) Conception and design. The support system
to conception and design should be seen as a set
The above described problems highlight the of cultural infrastructures, services and activi-
profound connections that craft production has ties ranging from research and training centres to
not only with the territories on which production libraries and museums, from archives to territorial
insists and with global value chains, but also with cooperation networks. These places and services
a series of other production and service activities have the task on one hand of bringing out creative
that support the sector. These micro-services can and entrepreneurial talents, on the other of inspir-
be described as «the structure that makes creativity ing and supporting their activity.
and culture sustainable», including material culture, 2) Production. The production support system
«because they localize them and the benefits, they extends to include, in addition to other artisan
produce in a given area» (Bertacchini, Santagata businesses operating in coplanar fields (such as
[2012]: 27). Any consideration on the economic and an artistic foundry for sculpture or a furnace for
cultural importance of crafts today should therefore working with ceramics), a whole series of mold
also include an analysis of this wider world. makers, turners, plasticizers, computer scientists,
Figure 1 summarizes some of the most impor- etc. Then there is the wide world of makerspaces
tant services and micro-services supporting crafts’ and fablabs that often welcome and support the
value chain, which can be synthetically arranged production of traditional crafts.
Crafts in the Contemporary Creative Economy 89

3) - 4) Promo-commercialization. How is al not only to the historical settling and to the

craftsmanship communicated today? What ser- memorial maintenance of craftsmanship but also
vices does communication require? On this phase to its development.
we find both more traditional services and digital
and innovative tools. Among the first, there are
initiatives such as workshops, fairs but also exhi- CONCLUDING REMARKS
bitions hosted by cultural institutions. Among the
Today craftsmen are regarded, in many coun-
latter, we find the services related to the design
tries, as the model for economic resurgence,
and development of new tools and platforms of
thanks to their ability to combine local productive
online promotion and commerce (websites, apps
know how, technological research, knowledge of
etc.). Another interesting area to consider is that
materials, and the ability to personalize products.
of cross-sectoral collaborations such as those with
There is, however, no agreement on what the
the tourism industry with initiatives and projects
craftsman of the future should be. At least two
aimed at offering experiences to travellers in arti-
schools of thought exist (Friel, Saccone [2012]).
san shops and promoted through online booking
Some observers argue that, if left to themselves,
engines, online travel agencies and tourism profes-
craftsmen will be less and less able to meet market
sionals.
challenges, and thus foresee their gradual inclu-
5) Protection. Protection can be understood
sion as OEMs in small or middle-sized creative
in a broad way and involves the recognition and
companies, or absorption in the productive pro-
support of the professional figure of the craftsman,
cesses of the great luxury brands. Advocates of
through the work of the institutions and trade
this hypothesis cite many success stories around
associations.
the world. This debate, for example, appears to
At the local level, the services for the protec-
be particularly lively in countries such as Italy
tion of craftsmen are available in various forms,
(Micelli [2011]) where traditional craft practices
from law firms to services offered by chambers of
have been very much valorised by “Made in Italy”
commerce and trade associations. An important
fashion and furniture design companies.
role is also played, internationally, by some agen-
The second scenario, instead, is one of inde-
cies such as the United Nations Educational, Sci-
pendent artisanal workshops working on a short
entific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the
supply-chain. To survive, however, these crafts-
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
men must overcome the challenges described in
or the International Labour Organization (ILO).
the previous section, from the loss of traditional
The intellectual property protection services obvi-
knowledge to price competition and difficulties in
ously do not only concern the product but also
communicating the cultural and technical values
process or product innovations relating, for exam-
embodied in their products.
ple, to the use of new materials.
This alternative vision of the “craftsman of the
6) Historicization and cultural promotion. This
future” finds interesting echoes in the world of
is a relatively “new” phenomenon in the crafts’
design. The independent craftsman has become
world: some traditional products due to their his-
the hub of the new paradigm of design that we
toric value, to their idiosyncratic nature or aes-
mentioned above, which is cantered on self-
thetic value are being showcased in museums and
production. Over the last few years, design, also
exhibitions. A number of cultural institutions are
intended as a strategic approach to innovation, has
nowadays specifically committed in valorizing tra-
led to the rise of new manufacturing companies,
ditional knowledge and traditional craft’s practices.
the growth of small to middle-size companies
The role of these institutions, as places of
that started out as local workshops, and the trans-
inspiration and dialogue between past and future,
formation of artisanal activities, steering them
can be interpreted in a twofold way: function-
90 Martha Friel

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