Handicrafts Versus the World 

 Mustafa Hammoud, 9C

Outline

Title: Handicrafts versus the world

I.                  Governments can support handicrafts through financial funding, protecting cultural handicrafts’ markets, and adhering to age-old customs and traditions.

II.    A. To start with, governments should support handicrafts financially.

1.           .Supporting handicrafts by adding them to the exports

2.      Creating a website to fund startups

     B. Furthermore, countries are responsible to protect their cultural handicrafts’ market.

1. establishing a yearly festival specialized for handicrafts

2. publishing various festivals to display handicrafts to the country and outside world

     C. In addition to that, countries should adhere to age-old customs and traditions. 

1. using traditional custom in work and internationally

2. using crafts in public areas

III.  Handicrafts are of great importance, but also with limitless weak spots, and should be cared of seriously and strictly

          “A glass pitcher, a wicker basket, a tunic of coarse cloth. Their beauty is inseparable from their function. Handicrafts belong to a world existing before the separation of the useful and the beautiful.” This quote asserts that handicrafts are a victim of globalization which blinded people and forced them to forget the efficient and beautiful crafts by fooling them with the cheap, limited using time, electronically produced products. From here, we conclude that handicrafts, the holders of culture, need support from the governments. Governments can support handicrafts through financial funding, protecting cultural handicrafts’ markets, and adhering to age-old customs and traditions.

          To start with, governments should support handicrafts financially. As known, craftsmen cannot produce their products without raw material and their tools, and with the development of cheaper products, craftsmen are becoming forced to deal with a limited budget. Belgium, a country of great development, has been supporting handicrafts by exporting it, and by that, not only craftsmen get paid by the country, but also the country also makes a profit. In 2008, Belgium exported handmade articles worth 2092 billion us dollars. Another example is the website The New Craftsmen, which has its headquarters in the European Union and aims towards funding startups, and it has made more than 578 thousand dollars.

          Furthermore, countries are responsible to protect their cultural handicrafts’ market. For instance, Saudi Arabia publishes the Jenadriyah Cultural Festival every spring and funds it, and this is considered one of the biggest cultural festivals where countries like India and Egypt attend it to see various crafts that represent the culture of Saudis. Another example is Lebanon, a rollercoaster of cultures, that although of the corruption its facing, the government still fund various festivals including Tyre, Tripoli, Saida festivals and most importantly Baalbek international festival that displays various crafts including pottery, glass, soap making, and woodworking crafts.

          In addition to that, countries should adhere to age old customs and traditions.  This can be considered one of the most efficient methods to support handicrafts and it consists of using cultural crafts as a must to be. For example, India, which is known for its remaining culture, displays its cultural heritage through politicians who wear the traditional custom when representing their country nationally and internationally. Another example is Saudi Arabia whose Skilled artisans have produced 132 designs and 4,400 craft items for Saudi hotels and airlines as part of the national handicrafts program (Bare’), introduced by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage to develop the craft sector.

          In the end, a lot of questions are to be considered. Will handicrafts be revived to reach its old success? Will globalization behalf of the cup which people will notice forgetting their culture? Are countries, allies, and enemies of handicrafts, going to complete their support. Handicrafts are of great importance, but also with limitless weak spots, and should be cared of seriously and strictly.