Appliqué
Dyeing
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Fiber
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Needlework
Printing
Tapestry
WeavingDiscover heritage & contemporary crafts
The Craft Atlas is an open access platform for global craft knowledge, techniques & makers. Discover different ways of making by browsing the map & our collections.
A Digital Atlas of Crafts
The Craft Atlas is a map to the curious and the common.
We collect and disseminate resources, knowledge and visual communications. We connect people for trade, production and creative collaborations, craft-based supply chains and artistic intercultural exchange – for more cultural appreciation and less appropriation.
Craft reflects our connections.
It weaves a thread of community, memory and creative expression through our human experience, along trade routes, across continents, in small villages and big cities. Embroidery patterns, weaving techniques, symbols – among all uniqueness set by human hand, recurring patterns can be found in craft products throughout the world.
The global artisan economy employs millions.
The handicraft sector is the 2nd largest employer in the developing world, with a majority of women artisans. It is a driver for entrepreneurship and trade on the one hand, for artistic expression and intangible cultural heritage on the other. Handicraft has an impact – on livelihoods, on everyday life and on the shaping of culture.
Latest Craft techniques, dyes & materials
Akwete cloth
Akwete cloth is a handwoven textile from Igboland, Nigeria, using sisal, hemp, raffia and cotton.
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Bògòlanfini
Bògòlanfini is a handmade Malian cotton fabric traditionally dyed with fermented mud, also called mud cloth.
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Kente
Kente is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan tribe in Ghana.
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Shibori
Shibori is a Japanese manual resist dyeing technique, which produces patterns on fabric.
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