Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Preservation of Craftsmanship at National Level

Mark · 9th April 2005, 03:25 PM

This is actually a rather depressing issue. Traditional crafts, and dare I say pride in the craftsmanship per se, often gets dropped in favor of commercial considerations. As Antonio said, quantity over quality. I doubt that this is a conscious choice by the craftsment, but they have to feed themselves and their families. This is where some sort of institutional support would be of great benefit. The time was in Burma, Thailand and Laos (and I am sure other places, but these are the ones I happen to know a little about), it was royal patronage that kept the top-quality craftsmanship alive, essentially by commissioning and buying regular amounts of the stuff. Now, there are no patrons, and so the craftsman is left with little choice but to follow the actual market, which in the case of something like sword crafting is the tourist or martial arts market. Neither has much need for quality, aside from pleasing looks, and even then the standards can be pretty low.

From what I know about Aranyik, the people of that town gave their lives defending a strategically critical resource (the weapons industry, including the smiths themselves), during the last and most devastating Burmese invasion, fighting to the last while the capital surrendered. I should think that would merit some acknowledgement of the people, and the craft for which they sacrificed themselves. Perhaps this is an avenue by which to propose some sort of cultural heritage program to support the traditional (and quality) craft of sword making, at least in Thailand.

Of course, sword crafting is not the only industry to suffer. In Burma certain schools of ivory carving have completely died out for lack of patronage, and now their styles only survive through the work of imitators without a direct link to the tradition. Other schools remain, but are not what they once were in terms of quality.

I wish that I had an answer, but this is something that must come from within a culture, as Tom said, though outside help would certainly make it grow stronger once it has started.

9th April 2005, 03:25 PM	#8
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	This is actually a rather depressing issue. Traditional crafts, and dare I say pride in the craftsmanship per se, often gets dropped in favor of commercial considerations. As Antonio said, quantity over quality. I doubt that this is a conscious choice by the craftsment, but they have to feed themselves and their families. This is where some sort of institutional support would be of great benefit. The time was in Burma, Thailand and Laos (and I am sure other places, but these are the ones I happen to know a little about), it was royal patronage that kept the top-quality craftsmanship alive, essentially by commissioning and buying regular amounts of the stuff. Now, there are no patrons, and so the craftsman is left with little choice but to follow the actual market, which in the case of something like sword crafting is the tourist or martial arts market. Neither has much need for quality, aside from pleasing looks, and even then the standards can be pretty low. From what I know about Aranyik, the people of that town gave their lives defending a strategically critical resource (the weapons industry, including the smiths themselves), during the last and most devastating Burmese invasion, fighting to the last while the capital surrendered. I should think that would merit some acknowledgement of the people, and the craft for which they sacrificed themselves. Perhaps this is an avenue by which to propose some sort of cultural heritage program to support the traditional (and quality) craft of sword making, at least in Thailand. Of course, sword crafting is not the only industry to suffer. In Burma certain schools of ivory carving have completely died out for lack of patronage, and now their styles only survive through the work of imitators without a direct link to the tradition. Other schools remain, but are not what they once were in terms of quality. I wish that I had an answer, but this is something that must come from within a culture, as Tom said, though outside help would certainly make it grow stronger once it has started.