How 11 Ancient Crafts Survived For Centuries | Still Standing | Insider Business

From mole ground with a traditional tool in Mexico to metal art forged with

ancient

wax casting techniques in India and shea butter made by artisans in Ghana, we got a peek inside companies around the world to see how their Centuries-old traditions

still

stand. This is camel skin. It takes at least two days to clean it manually so that it can be turned into works of art like this lamp. This

centuries

-old craft is a characteristic feature of the

ancient

city of Multan in Pakistan and this is one of the last.

business

es that

still

make them Rahman Nakash is proud to still be in

business

.

In fact, his grandfather began making camel skin lamps in the early 20th century and is credited with turning it into a major business for this city, but the younger generations are not interested in learning.

crafts

and businesses have been closing, so what does it take to make these lamps and how does this craft still stand? Cleaning and preparing the skins properly is crucial, it takes hours of manual labor using just this knife called a rami um, work side by side, well one cleans the heights until they are white white the other scrapes off the excess until it is almost thin paper they save all the excess skin they can um so it's time to shape the lamps Muhammad places the thin layers on these clay molds today he's working with a classic lampshade uses the ground excess to cover the holes, the layer Top is thin so that light can pass through the final product.

He gets these molds from a potter who makes them by hand using plaster and they come in all shapes and sizes. Muhammad seals the piece with a mixture made of glue and baking soda and lets it dry in the sun for up to four days. Finally, it is time to paint it. It takes around 10 days to finish a single lamp and Malik has to be precise and patient as one mistake can ruin the entire design color scheme design um this technique is called nakashi and is more than 900 years old Multan artists painted designs like these in buildings monuments and masks Malik learned the technique from his father storing oil Malik's grandfather began making nakashi art on camel skin lamps in 1910 After the arrival of electricity in South Asia and passed the skill on to his son Malik Ashik Nakash, at one point there were at least 40 families involved in this business and people from all over the country came to Multan to buy them, but the trade has declined.

As tourism declined in Pakistan in recent decades and raw materials became more expensive, Malik began selling them online and managed to keep the business running. Small lamps sell for around 1,500 rupees or seven dollars, larger ones for around two hundred dollars, he says these lamps can last. up to one hundred years, but they need to varnish each one thoroughly to get there, this increases their shine and durability. Both Malik and Ashfak say that the younger generations are not entering this business and are instead choosing more profitable careers, waiting with educational programs and money. support a new generation will join the craft area foreign women in West Africa have been turning shea nuts into butter for

centuries

the process is difficult requires at least three women to mix a pot the yellow paste is often called shea gold women and for many in northern Ghana it is the only source of income, that is why we are doing this.

People across Africa have used it as food and medicine for skin and hair care for at least 700 years and in recent decades it has become a global sensation. International customers often buy larger quantities from companies that can produce it faster, making things more difficult for traditional farmers, but the biggest threat is right in their backyard; For the last four decades, men have been cutting down the tree that provides sustenance for many families. We travel to Ghana to find out how, despite the challenges, this group of women artisans is still

standing

The day begins with a two-hour walk to the forest For many women in the town of Yandudi the journey can be dangerous, they have to travel by groups to avoid armed robbers who lurk in the forest and risk being bitten. by snakes when you walk on the grass if you are just one or two women who set out to pick you are likely to return the shea tree grows along a dry belt of savanna stretching from east to west Africa Only the mature shea The Nuts that have fallen from the tree are ready.

Returning home can also be physically exhausting. The women carry more than 25 kilograms of seeds on their heads. First they wash the seeds and let them dry for a week. Then it's time to crack the nuts. ready when the kernel starts to rattle against the shell, only the good ones are turned into butter, the bad nuts are used to make a special food called kanwoo and as fertilizer on their farms, this attention to detail, like traditional shea butter, apart from those commercially manufactured. With machinery everything is poured into the machine, so if there is a bad one you won't be able to identify it.

Porsche assumes that he has led an organization called titiaca boresa for the past three years. The group provides cooking pots and training to shea farmers in Talency district. It also teaches them how to choose the best quality nuts for their product. They break them into smaller pieces with a brick and then roast them over an open fire until they become fragrant. This helps release the oils that give shea butter its nutty flavor and strange smell. is teaching her daughter that she has been making shea butter for more than half of her life. She grinds the shea nut pieces by hand.

Some shea farmers have invested in grinding food to facilitate this step, but Acuña prides himself on following techniques that date back to the 14th century Extranjero, the perfect workspace. The women only produce small batches at a time to ensure quality is consistent. It's all hands on deck when it comes to mixing the shea paste. The work can be exhausting and requires a lot of strength. Foreign. They do this for an hour to get the right consistency. The water activates the deer slowly separates and floats to the surface. Acuña melts the butter on another fire using wood that was harvested in the forest.

Wait until it turns a deep chocolate color strange to the oil. of shea will be cooled and sold as unrefined butter. The first accounts of the use of shea butter date back to the 14th century in Burkina Faso. It has been used in West African homes as a cooking fat and as a moisturizing skin ointment. Legend has it that even the Egyptian queen Cleopatra appreciated butter for its moisturizing power in recent decades. Global demand for shea butter has increased dramatically. Its healing properties and high levels of vitamins have made it the ultimate ingredient for skin care products around the world.

In the last 20 years alone, annual exports have increased. 600 percent, but with new demand have come new challenges, deforestation, competition from larger companies and a global pandemic have threatened the livelihoods of small shea producers. We used to get supplies from other countries like Canada, USA, UK, but when Covid-19 hit, we never had them. Other faster mechanical processing plants in Ghana have also begun to take over the market, making it difficult for this group of women to keep up. It takes them a whole month to produce what a large factory can do in three days. Deforestation is also an ongoing problem. battle foreign men have been cutting down sheena trees to make charcoal for commercial use.

About 8 million trees are cut down every year, the amount we used to get now, we don't get it that way anymore, it has been drastically reduced. The production of shea butter has sustained generations of Today, women in Ghana many depend on it as their only source of income, mainly in this group, most of them are widows. They used to say that widows can't do anything for themselves, but now that they have their own manual labor, they can do it. something and put an end to the money and take home organizations such as Porsches teach traditional shea farmers how to produce better quality butter and understand its value in the local market.

With this knowledge, they can take home a greater profit from their foreign sales. The organization is also working to combat. deforestation In the last two years 7,000 shea trees have been planted in the hope of repopulating the parks, although there are many challenges. Portia sees a bright future ahead, that's our business, that's what we do even though it's difficult to produce, but that's where we make our money that's where we make our income. Young women are still interested in learning The Craft and she hopes that the expansion of her business will provide more opportunities for people looking to learn the skill in her traditional way.

We like to have our own plantations. we like to have our own warehouses where we can store our stock notes there for the women here shea butter is a symbol of prosperity and independence and they are determined to pass it on to the younger generation, peel off the surface of these shells and reveal a layer shiny called mother-of-pearl and in Thailand it has been used to make ornaments that decorate palaces and temples for more than seven centuries. it can take half a year and up to 20,000 pieces to complete an inlay at 57 years old he is one of the last artisans Preserving these traditional arts, it almost disappeared during the Burmese-Siamese War in the 18th century, so what makes mother of pearl unique And how does the centuries-old

crafts

manship remain

standing

?

Repton is the basis of every embed. It is light and easy to shape when it was about my arts and I like to create in playful ways when I have something serious. I look around for the natural thing that could help me. He used to be a rice farmer, but today he finds inspiration in the nature around his quiet workshop in Buapakta. Working with the shells poses the biggest challenges: it can take 30 minutes to clean and smooth the rough surface of a shell and get to the mother-of-pearl. jukit uses turban snail shells, but they are not always easy to get, so he buys them from In India and Indonesia, a kilogram of shells can cost up to 1700 Thai baht or about fifty dollars, so back up, he says they last longer and hide a Impressive surface inside.

He is careful to shape the shells without damaging them. This task can be dangerous, but jukit is used to it after doing it for 30 years, so it's time to carve it. It may take more than 6 hours to carve these designs into the mother of pearl, but you don't mind the work, even when you worked in the rice fields. He says that he has always been interested in art. Nowadays he likes to carve in solitude, he cuts 213 pieces for this design and places them one by one on the exterior sketch. This black mixture will serve as glue and drink.

He does it himself by combining the sap of the lacquer tree with burnt banana leaves and this technique is traditional. What I learned. He makes sure that the carbon from the banana leaves is jet black, then crushes it finely with a stone mortar and then strains the liquid with a fine white cloth to remove the sap from impurities. contains toxic oils that can cause allergic reactions, so jukit wear gloves to protect your skin, cover the whole design with a thin layer of foreign paste with soft wet sandpaper, wipe off the excess mother of pearl lacquer, polish it and will coat several times. times until the lacquer and mother-of-pearl pieces are leveled to a smooth surface, the final touch is a coat of oil that adds a shiny appearance.

Art that combined lacquer and mother-of-pearl flourished in Thailand during the Ayutthaya period, between the 14th and 18th centuries. Buddhist. Temples like Boram Putharam had mother-of-pearl door panels. The temple was destroyed when the Burmese attacked the ancient capital of Thailand in 1767. Some doors and inlays were saved and in 2007 Princess Maha Chakrish Sirendon assigned a group of artists to make new ones. for the Temple of the Emerald Buddha Hall of Scriptures ucit says he was one of those craftsmen today he is one of the last in Thailand who focuses on the conservation of mother of pearl it takes him a month to finish a small piece larger ones can take six months to a year and can cost more than two thousand dollars.

He sells them primarily through custom orders. This ancient technique requires a lot of time and work. The younger generations are not interested in the craft, but Jukit is teaching the art to his nephew. Foreign statue. Artisans built the mold from clay and spent hours crafting intricate details using beeswax threads, eventually all of this would be lost to make way for metal. Tribes in India have practiced this art for 4,500 years. RegendraHe was just 10 years old when he started learning The Craft, but many artisans were forced to quit when India implemented a controversial economic reform that threatened their livelihoods.

Now many are looking for more sustainable careers. We travel to Chatasca in India to see how the ancient tradition of this century still stands. Doccra art is more than a job for Rajendra. It's a passion and his workshop has been a staple in Kondagao City for over 10 years. He starts each day by mixing rice husks with black soil to make clay. This mixture prevents the model from cracking for two days. This layer of moist river bed. The dirt helps soften the bumps, so it's time to prepare the wax. Regendra uses beeswax because it is strong and allows him to create intricate designs.

He melts it and strains it in cold water. The canvas traps impurities like bee wings. Fire makes the wax more flexible and easier. To shape the logs, Regendra adds it to this pressing machine that he inherited from his grandfather. The press stretches the wax into meter-long threads. This was once done entirely by hand. Some other communities still use that method, but it takes a long time. Pretendra prepares the model for the wax, smoothes the surface with a file and rubs it with a bean leaf, slowly winds the ropes around the model to bring his ideas to life, the design he makes with the wax is imprinted on the moist earth below.

Be careful not to leave gaps between the strings. The design is Regendra's favorite part of the process which took him years to master and precision is key here. He can spend a full day working on a single sculpture. He uses his designs on a whim and improvises as he goes. well uh foreign sculptures depict animals and deities from tribal folklore nandi is a sacred bowl in hindu culture and one of rajendra's most popular designs many believe it brings peace and prosperity to the home he has created regen hundreds of these sculptures throughout The years cover the model with another layer of dirt.

This method of creating two layers on both sides of the wax is called hollow casting. Regendra makes two holes in the base that will allow the wax to melt and make way for the The molten metal covers the model with another layer of termite soil and creates a funnel around the wax strip. ES regendra starts a fire in this brick oven and uses wood from a nearby forest. Monitor the temperature at all times keeping it at around 1300 degrees where the model sits. heat for two hours until all the wax melts if it is too hot the model will crack and mar a foreign object with a metal rod, melt pieces of scrap metal including utensils and old machine parts, then pour the molten mixture into the channel and wait for it to cool.

Dokra art gets its name from the Dokra Demar, the nomadic tribe who popularized the craft throughout the country. Legend has it that the tribe went from town to town selling metal figures of Hindu gods and goddesses in exchange for food. The art form continued to thrive in the 2000s, but everything changed in 2016. When India demonetized much of its currency in an effort to eliminate illegal money in counterfeit notes overnight, nearly 90 percent of the cash and circulation lost their value, many customers stopped buying docra. money-saving art, it took the Indian government eight months to replace banknotes in remote areas of Chatterstar.

When it did, many doker artists who relied on cash sales had to leave the craft to make a living, yes, while dokra remains popular, many artisans. They are still fighting Super Gendra recognizes the importance of their work every time they break a mold and reveal their new creations The rising costs of raw materials force them to sell their sculptures at higher prices The number of artisans working in the trade It's shrunk by almost a third in the last three decades um, but it's not just about the money for Rajendra. His uncle Jidev Bagel was recognized as a master Doker craftsman by the Indian government and even won a statue in Kondagao for his work abroad and continues the legacy in which he was trained. 200 people and helps them sell their work despite the difficulties he has managed to keep afloat his business sells mainly in government-funded showrooms and earns around 40,000 rupees or 500 US dollars a month he has shown his work in exhibitions across India and has won two foreign national awards, but that is not the reality for most small-scale artisans who earn around Rs 7,000 a month, less than half the monthly average for most workers and many families who make Joker are encouraging their children to work in different jobs abroad, they believe that their Traditions shaped them and want to do the same for future generations.

Foreign weaving of silk threads from cocoons is a tradition that dates back more than 1,000 years in Cambodia, but about 50 years ago it almost disappeared. A brutal regime killed and tortured intellectuals, including artisans specialized in this subject. The craft that calls itself pH set out to revive silkworm farming and Cambodian weaving. She has spent 20 years teaching people how to raise worms and turn their silk into textiles using an ancient technique called Ikat in honor of our ancestors. We visited Ph Silk Farm and Boutique in Siem Reap to see how a new generation is making sure this ancient craft is still alive.

Silk manufacturing starts from scratch. Farmers plant fields of mulberry trees for golden silkworms to feast on. This was once a popular tree throughout Cambodia, but most were uprooted by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s to make way for the rice plantations. The country's famous golden silkworms lost their habitat and were almost extinct. Once the leaves are harvested, workers transfer them to breeding sheds. Silkworms feast on crushed leaves for 12 days before they can eat them whole. one is important to keep this space clean foreign after 25 days they turn yellow and are ready to spin the workers hang them on this structure that allows air flow the worms take about four days to build their yellow cocoons the best ones go to a hatchery and the rest of the cocoons will become silk.

Workers drop them into boiling water to release the fibers. They use a spatula to catch them and then insert them into the spindle. They unwind the silk slowly in a continuous motion so that it does not break. The outside of the yarn is rough like horse hair and is used for cheaper scarves. Craftsmen scrape it to get to the inner layer and make sure the threads are even. This is the best part of silk and what you need for your Ikat textiles. washing, stretching and softening the yarn by hand and hanging it to dry designing and weaving just one two-meter piece of fabric can take three years, so I am, who goes through crime, was an orphan when she started working here 18 years ago , today he has mastered every step. foreigner, she says the most difficult part is the tie-dye technique.

The artisans essentially create the images using head movements. Different colored plastics represent each color in the final design. They spend up to a year just tying the threads. In the past, people in Cambodia used banana trunks. To do this, they prepare the material for dyeing using natural and native ingredients, such as tree bark, turmeric, and insect eggs. YouTube workers add them to boiling water, strain the mixture to create a smooth consistency, and then dip the knotted silk into the steaming batch. Plastic knots protect the pattern sections from the foreign die. This resistant dyeing variety is called Ikat from the Indonesian word for binding or Thai when part of the diet is dry.

Workers cover themselves with new knots and cut the plastic wrap from the next section we call. If it is foreign, they will repeat this process hundreds of times with different colors and threads, move the threads to the spinning trip and prepare them for the loom. Silk weaving in Cambodia dates back to the 7th century, it was on the Maritime Silk Road between China. and India and diplomats from all over Asia used the textiles, marveling at their quality. The craft

survived

hundreds of years, but was almost completely lost when the communist Khmer Rouge regime took control in the mid-1970s in its campaign for a peasant utopia.

The regime targeted the elite and educated, which included silk artisans; almost a quarter of the population was murdered in what became known as the Cambodian genocide. Crom was just a child during the regime, but she remembers her family's struggle. My nightmare got one for laptop. You know, we just admire them um she says that working here has changed her life today every time she sets up a loom and weaves a new piece she feels proud pH says that the loom she is using is similar to those used in the 12th century Setting it up takes a month.

She adjusts the shuttle regularly to make sure it lines up with the dyed Ikat pattern, adds the threads to small spindles and moves the shuttle from one side of the loom to the other to create the design, but BH sees it as a commitment to its history and culture. Two decades ago, she put everything she had into starting her company Golden Silk pH overseas. There are five other silk farms in Cambodia that follow these traditional techniques. pH sells these silk products in its boutique to museums and art collectors because it takes years to make them. A piece that often sells for tens of thousands of dollars today employs 42 people who make shawls and tapestries.

She says it is her way of strengthening the dignity and pride of the Cambodian people. She is foreign. It will take 1,000 sheets of pure gold to cover this mask. From the mythical Demon King Ravana, she is the main character in Tai Khan, a traditional dance that represents a battle between good and evil for 600 years. Artisans have dedicated their lives to making these masks, but the popularity of the dance has been fading since the 1950s. Today Pratip Rat Boy is helping to keep the art alive We went to Angtong Thailand to see how the tradition of making these masks still stands the paper forms the base of each mask with um and this clay mold will give it shape each mask requires a different types and pradeep has made dozens over the years he covers them with Vaseline so that the paper does not stick to him it takes two hours to build 10 layers of paper there are four main characters in Khan Heroes heroines monkeys and demons representing characters From the battle between Rama and Ravana, two kings representing monkeys of good and evil form Rama's army of warriors who fight to save the heroine from Ravana.

Today, Pratip is making the demon king's mask for a performance. He shapes the face with strips of white cement. prepared abroad is a discomfort that pratip has become accustomed to. He learned to do masses from his uncle when he was 14 years old. To this day, many of his family members still represent Khan with the masks he creates. Deep shapes, the decorative details of the crown, one by one. using a foreign template this pattern is common in all architecture often seen in Buddhist temples and monasteries there are over 300 variations of corn masks and pradeep has memorized them all foreign so it's time to cover the crown with gold other creators of masses use paint but he only uses pure leaves of 0.03 carats every Tuesday this technique is called gold gilding for a mask of this size it can cost 10,000 Thai baht or 260 dollars pratib is careful not to waste the brush helps him reach tight corners takes up to three hours Guild One Mask Foreign in his small workshop Pradeep uses wooden boards to make the exterior details like the ears, then it's time to paint.

The colors should be vibrant so that the audience can clearly see even the smallest details on the stage. Foreign skin is usually green or dark blue. has fierce facial features in the past Mass manufacturers made paint from flower extracts and tree barks, but now most opt ​​for waterproof acrylic paint to save time. Jewelry like these can be used to represent the power of the con. crown the two heads represent his ten heads and his connection with the Hindu god Brahma finally the mask is ready for presentation Khan originally it was only performed during royal ceremonies in the Ayutthaya period from the 14th to the 18th century the craft almost disappeared when cinema and Television became a more popular form of entertainment in the 1950s, regained some popularity in the 1990s when the Thai Queen City kit promoted it, but never fully returned.

Today, performing arts schools teach dance throughout the country. Khan combines multiple artistic traditions in Thailand, including the sword. wrestling and shadow puppetry, he draws inspiration from Buddhism and the Hindu story of Ramayana. Students begin at age 8 and must endure years of training in classical dance, martial arts and acting. He has dedicated most of his life to come, but there wasa time when you would not be allowed to do this at all until the 18th century, only men were allowed to act even in female roles. Mani Prabha learned from his grandfather, who is a teacher. His group dances mainly at school events, cultural festivals and funerals.

Pratib thinks he is the only one. The way to save his craft is to preserve the tradition, but the last few years have been difficult as all live performances stopped during the pandemic. Pradeep received no new orders for months and was forced to move his workshop out of Bangkok to save it. money, but he managed to stay afloat today he sells about two or three masks a month mainly to tourists, but he is still worried that his craft will not survive another crisis like the pandemic, which is why it is so important for him to pass it on to the next generation.

He is trained. dozens of people over 40 years and hopes his masks will continue to tell the story of Thailand's rich foreign culture. This is an ancient kitchen tool called an ametate. Women in Mexico have been using it for over 7,000 years to prepare traditional dishes. They spend hours grinding chilies. and herbs for just one batch of mole Mole is a thick, rich sauce that comes in many variations, contains dozens of ingredients, and can take days to cook. It is also one of the most popular dishes at La Cocina de Evangelina restaurant, Nana Vida, today is preparing an unusual type. of mole called chichilo but it is not on the menu because they only make it for people who are in mourning Yvonne Helena has dedicated her life to preserving these types of traditions and methods but over the years she has seen the cooks of those days commit blunders and we even resort to packaged sauces from the supermarket.

We visited Oaxaca, known as the land of seven moles, to see how the ancient ways of preparing this classic Mexican dish are still maintained. Evangelina buys all fresh ingredients at a local market. Good morning Chilean show The black ancho chiles are kind of dried poblano chiles that have a smoky flavor Ed oregano thank you see you later in your restaurant Evangelina prepares the onions, garlic and sesame for roasting she is part of the Zapotec indigenous group that has lived in the Valley from Oaxaca for thousands of years when someone dies in the family she usually prepares chichilo together Evangelina made this batch especially so that we can show the whole process she puts the meat to boil in a handmade pot because the meat takes the longest to cook In the state of Oaxaca there are seven types of mole and each family has its own variation in the recipes it is a strange stomach a gentle griddle to highlight the smoky flavors the ancho chiles are first placed over high heat the importance of the ingredients when they are roasted perfect soak them for about 30 minutes to rehydrate and soften them Evangelina's waste in no time roast everything quickly since this mole has to be made faster than other types so that it arrives in time for a wake the matate has been in evangelina's family for 46 years old these grinding stones are carved whole from a quarry and can weigh more than 50 kilos practiced by some commercial chefs.

I switched to blenders to speed up the process, but Evangelina says that grinding the ingredients by hand makes the paste smoother and helps it stand out. the intense flavors of the spices. This is the most physically exhausting step and can take two hours just to grind the ingredients. Rico The Armasi As indigenous groups in Mesoamerica have used matate to make mole since pre-Hispanic times, it is believed to have originated here in Oaxaca or just north in what is now known as the state of Puebla. The Spanish arrived in the 15th century and the people. He began mixing indigenous ingredients like native chiles with other foods brought by the Spanish, so today's mole is a fusion of pre-Hispanic and European cuisines, but the authentic way of preparing it has fallen out of favor.

Premade mole paste hit the market in the 1940s. Blenders became popular in the following decades and eventually replaced matate entirely, so you know, it says that traditional mole still beats the kind made in a blender. Lard is one of the final ingredients you add, you melt it in a pot and add a ground paste. to fry then beef broth and corn dough to make the mole thicker, stir until the sauce has the perfect consistency. The fiesta moles that are served at celebrations like one called Colorado are brighter and sweeter and some even say they taste happier, but this is a funerary mole, so it has a more subdued and dull flavor.

Iván's grandmother Helena told him taught how to cook mole when she was only seven years old at the age of 20 she learned how to make mole chichilo from the women in her community at first making mole chichila was a heavy task for van halena because it reminded her of the loss, but when she realized that she had the opportunity to preserve and share his culinary knowledge, took on a new meaning: in 2017 he registered the Nanavita brand named after his grandmother and exports his mole and chocolate to the United States and sells them online and Iván Helena's work is being noticed This year her mole chichilo won the award for best ceremonial dish and another for best decoration at a traditional food festival in Oaxaca a restaurant is open for groups of tourists and locals who want to eat traditional food is important abroad, she hopes May her children fall in love with cooking the same way she does and, if they do, they have her recipe and, of course, her traditional matate um.

This dried pumpkin shell will be sanded, cut, decorated and transformed into One of the most important instruments in Indian classical music is called a tanpura and for hundreds of years, craftsmen such as Farook Abdul Majeed, a sitar maker, have carved them. by hand on gourds instead of wood. His family has been making musical instruments like tanpuras and sitars for seven years. generations in her hometown of Mirage, this city of more than 500,000 people in western India is known as a center for classical musicians and as the birthplace of the craft. It takes at least three weeks to make just one and costs almost three times as much.

Like the smaller electronic versions, we went to Mirage to discover how the art of turning pumpkin shells into instruments is still alive and well. She says the secret to a Mirage tanpura is the peel of a bottle gourd. This variety is specially grown for making instruments and must be hung. to dry and harden it for a year, you soak it in water for up to two days and scrape it to clean it inside and out. Imtia started this work when she was just 13 years old and now, at 44, she works alongside seven members of her family making tanpuras and sitars by hand.

She cuts the shell about a quarter of the way in and scrapes away any remaining remains. This will become the grave. The tanpura wood body will form other parts of the instrument, such as the soundboard and the neck, ensuring its good quality is crucial. They season it for three years to strengthen it. They take their time to craft the wood, carve it and file it. Just shaping the pieces can take up to 12 days, but after 31 years, carpentry has become India's specialty. He prepares the top of the grave for the neck. joint known as Gulu, connects the tomb with the rest of the instrument and must fit perfectly to ensure the best sound.

He uses bamboo nails that he makes himself, saying they blend well with the grave and give it a more finished look. These sticks of wood preserve the shape of the tombs while drying for two or three days depending on how sunny it is to make the tabli or soundboard. Imtiaz traces the shape of the halotomb on a piece of wood and cuts it. He spends a day carving and shaping. the tablet takes at least a day to make the neck of the tanpura known as Dand Yas uses a block plane to hollow out a 40 inch piece of wood, assembles the tanpura and glues the pieces with wood adhesive and taps to check the sound He has been designing the family instruments for more than 40 years and it is a group effort.

Eight of his family members work together to preserve the legacy. Hours of usefulness carving peacock flowers and vines out of wood and strips of foreign white plastic, but the government Indian banned the use In the late 1980s, Farook mixes charcoal powder with wood glue to make the black polish all together, but it comes at a price: He adds a natural resin called Gum kopal as a top coat and scrapes off any excess. of polish I can take. up to three weeks to make a tanpura and the family's techniques have not changed in almost 200 years. If someone asks Farook what he does, all he has to say is his last name.

The name of the sitar maker is used by the descendants of the instrument-making man. Credited with introducing the gourd tanpura, some say the idea of ​​using gourds as instruments came to siddar maker Fareed sahib in 1850. After seeing Hindu monks use the shells to store water, some say which arose from seeing African ships using them to transport jars of honey while in other parts of India tanpura was made from jack wood. Farid discovered that the gourd gave him a stronger vibration and a better sound. The instrument became a staple for classical singers across India in the late 19th century and its popularity put Mirage on the map as the home of the best. handmade instruments, but when electronic tanpuras hit the market in 1979, demand for the handmade ones decreased, the family now sells only half of what they used to sell 25 years ago.

The foreigner is manufactured with precision: he drills four holes in the top of the Dand, this is where the pegs will go, you say, um, the strings are made of Japanese steel that he buys at a market in Mumbai, he threads them through these little ones beads called manka, are used to tune the instrument and the bridge made of camel bone holds the strings these cotton threads called Javari help enrich the sound which is needed to master the tuning of athanpura by simple factors such as ambient temperature and Humidity can affect the sound, so craftsmen must have a trained ear.

Farooq sits for three hours tightening and loosening the strings until they sound pristine. The reputation of foreign manufacturers for their high-quality hand-made instruments has helped them. to stay afloat. That is why singers like Subhadra Desai still wear the tanpuras made by them. Foreign classical music for more than four decades. When he was just 13 years old, he got his first tanpura, which was made by Farooq. foreign familiar apps, but subhadra says that while digital options may be practical, they don't match the authentic tones of the original. A foreigner costs up to 33,000 rupees or about 400 foreign dollars a month and they split the profits between themselves, they worry that apathy and modernity The alternatives may make the family business obsolete abroad, but their deep love for music has helped them continue the family legacy.

The salt from Bali's beaches is one of the rarest in the world and is also one of the most natural, but harvesting it requires patience and a lot of effort. Gangapura is 45 years old and one of the last salt farmers here in the coastal town of Kusamba. She spends her days carrying baskets full of seawater and pouring it onto volcanic sand to filter out the salt, but farmers produce very little salt. that most have abandoned the business to seek better-paying jobs in nearby hotels and foreign tourist spots to see how the tradition of salt farming continues.

Tourists visit Kusamba and nearby regions for its famous volcanic sands, but for Nunga's family they have been an essential source. of income for at least four generations she starts her day at six in the morning leveling sand for about an hour it is not an easy task even for nanga, who has been doing this since she was just 15 years old she and her husband make up to 40 trips back and forth every day to collect water from the ocean, seawater baskets can weigh 66 pounds, even on a calm day like today, it's hard to balance against a rising tide, so try collecting water from larger waves. small, after 30 years it can return and for hours without rest, even when temperatures reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit, manual labor led some farmers to replace buckets with machines that can pump as much water in just minutes, but Nunga has not yet has installed one.

This fine volcanic sand hardens. Kusamba farm salt, apart from other types such as that from salt ponds or rock deposits, absorbs water quickly like a natural sieve, leaving sun-baked salt flakes on the surface. Nanga is careful to distribute the water evenly because the salt will not crystallize if there is too much water in one area on a sunny day like today, the water will dry up in the afternoon and she collects it immediately. Most of the tools she uses are made from local resources like this rakeof wood, but it is an industry that depends on the fickle climate. spending weeks without income during the rainy season between October and April an erosion is slowly swallowing this foreign beach it was reduced by 32.74 meters in just seven years, that is, almost five meters per year, the second worst rate in this region of Bali has forced many farmers to rely on man-made sea defenses and all this risk and uncertainty is why Nanga's husband took a second job in construction and why the couple doesn't want their two children follow them to the salt fields, yet Nanga says he enjoys it and works hard to maintain the business he inherited from his ancestors, Nanga filters the salt in his hut, uses sea water to remove all the salt from the sand and passes it through a filtration system three times until the salt is pure, pours the concentrated salt water into these troughs.

They are called balloons and are what give the salt its name. The traditional ones are made from coconut tree trunks. Banunga also uses these. Synthetic sheets that help water dry faster This is the only part of the process that has become increasingly modernized. more Farmers have been switching to these because they are cheaper and do not leak, but farmers like to think that it is important to stick with this traditional balloon. Foreign balloons like these can last up to 30 years. This type of solar evaporation is one of the oldest and with most traditional salt collection techniques, in about a day or two the water will be gone, leaving pyramid-shaped crystals.

Natural sea salt is said to have a higher nutritional value than average table salt, which is often highly refined. Farmers describe the flavor as subtle and not overwhelmingly salty and this is the only nanga salt they grew up eating yes while Indonesia has one of the longest coastlines in the world bad weather and coastal changes have affected the production of kusamba salt Farmers usually produce between 300 and 600 kilograms of salt a month, but Indonesia imports around 2 million tonnes of cheaper salt each year, meaning farmers have tough competition. Farmers sell a kilo of dried balloon-shaped salt for about two US dollars, which is more than three times the price of mass-produced salt sold in most grocery stores, making it a luxury item for most people leaving farmers with unsold stock why Young leads a network for local salt producers and helps artisans like Nanga sell their salts salt Farmers have been turning to tourists who They are willing to pay for more than just the salt itself Abroad, the decline in tourism during the pandemic was a big setback for them and, without the promise of a consistent living wage, this generation of farmers could be the last to continue with this trade.

The farmers received a geographical indication certificate from the Indonesian government in early 2022, he acknowledges. that a product comes from a particular place and has a unique reputation because of that. Farmers hope the international prestige of the certificate will boost export sales. Thank you. This golden fiber is considered one of the most important crops in India. It is called jute and is often used for manufacturing. bags for coffee, sugar and cereals, women of the Raj Banshi ethnic group have been weaving floors and prayer rugs for generations. Sanjita Sarkar learned the craft of dhokra weaving when she was 12 years old.

Abroad, cheaper alternatives have flooded the market in recent decades, forcing many weaving families out of business. We visited the village of Mohishbathan to see how despite the challenges, this ancient craft is still standing strong. . Eighty percent of India's jute grows in the hot, humid lands of West Bengal. Farmers cut the stock once a year during the rainy season in In July they tie the jute to the wet soil to soak it, the bark becomes soft and the plant changes from green to brown. On this journey, the plant exposes the loose chewed fibers and rinses it with water, drying it in the sun for up to three days before it dries out. sold to artisans like Sangeeta, the women in her family have practiced the craft for at least four generations.

Foreign pulls the loose fibers and separates them, avoids the dark fibers and instead, for its jute which is a shiny golden brown, the water smoothes and prepares the fibers for rolling, it rolls it over this old piece of tire in his leg to prepare for the next step. This technique is called handstand and helps keep the threads the same thickness, otherwise the mat may become uneven. The threads are wrapped around this homemade spindle called a dowel. You can sit for hours manually winding the parachute while some weavers buy pre-rolled jute from the market. Sanjita prefers to do it herself.

She wraps the thread around her legs to form the paper called Lachi and prepares them to die. She works abroad with her sisters-in-law to prepare the threads. Weaving has been a task reserved for the women of the Rajpanchi tribe, The community comprises 3 million people worldwide. In India they make their living mainly from agriculture, but for centuries rajbon tree women were not allowed to work outside the home, so doing and selling math was the only way to make money. Nowadays, many divide their time between agricultural household chores and knitting, so it's not always easy to juggle everything, they get together to bleach and color yarns once a month to save time.

The best dye comes from a native fruit, but it has been difficult to find foreign ones, so they buy the colors at a Calcutta market and hang the jute. The threads dried for a day. People in India have used jute to weave mats since 3000 BC. Demand for these crops took off in the mid-19th century, when companies around the world began using gunny sacks to package products such as coffee, sugar and cereals, providing employment for millions. of people in rural West Bengal, but when power looms entered the market in the late 19th century, the need for skilled hand weavers declined.

Today, less than 20 percent of India's textiles are woven by hand. handloom and from 1995 to 2010 the handloom industry lost 2.2 million artisans. Dokra mats are an essential part of Raj banshi's daily life, people use them to sit for prayer and sleep. Foreign products made from cheaper materials are now competing. Sanjita uses a traditional loom made of bamboo and wood that she inherited from her mother. law that she built it 60 years ago setting it up is an important step that requires precision and experience. Spend hours winding and securing two or three rolls of jute through the loom pattern. He can take a day and a half to knit and is a complete body. activity abroad, but years of weaving have taken a toll on his body.

Sanjita sells his mats for 400 rupees, about $5, but plastic mats can cost less than half of what jute mats cost. He earns around Rs 60,000 selling his mats at craft fairs. Across India, that costs $730 a year, but traveling there is expensive and she can't afford to do it alone, so nonprofit groups help her sell her products. Her family still depends mainly on her husband's income from farming. Sanjida uses it. money for crazy sales to pay for her two children's education she goes to workshops three or four times a year to learn ways to improve our math and make other products like bags and jackets and with the skills she is learning, she hopes she will mentor other women in her community. more people will see the beauty of art.

The secret to making some of the best bonsai shears in the world lies in learning how to forge samurai swords. Hirakawa Yasuhiro is one of the only blacksmiths in Japan who still makes these scissors using methods dating back to the 5th century. Professional gardeners are willing to pay thousands and wait an entire year to get their hands on a pair of yasu. Hero's family workshop. Sasuke has been around for 155 years, but he's worried that he might end up when he visits me. We went to Sakai Japan to see how this craft of making Bonsai scissors is still going strong.

Yasu Hero's family business is one of the last in Sakai that specializes in Bonsai scissors in addition to knives like knives. These scissors start with a small piece of yasuhiro metal, cut it to about 10 centimeters, this Japanese yasugi steel because it is more durable and helps the blades stay sharp, it starts with a softer type to make the handle and base of the sheet. It's the metal from an old wood-burning oven rather than a modern gas burner. he thinks the heat is more concentrated that way it takes about an hour to reach the perfect temperature strange to stretch it then he switches to a manual one to perfect the round shape of the handle it's strange to make the blade he forges a hard piece of steel on the softer base he started with, this is called forge welding, it is one of the oldest and most essential skills in blacksmithing, the hero yasu uses powdered borax and iron oxide to join them together and help prevent rust, heats the metal once more and hammers it.

Again to flatten it into a sheet shape, these short low temperature taps make the particles finer and smaller and the metal denser and stronger. Little by little it will start to look like scissors. Yasu Hero files the handle to make it slightly rough and uneven. It will help people hold them firmly Use this mold to bend the handle into its signature butterfly shape File a straight line on the blade to complete Sasuke's signature look The most crucial part is a technique called cooling Yasuhiro Heats up the blade Last time At 780 degrees Celsius you can tell it's the right temperature just by looking at the color of the fire and immediately submerge it in water.

The sudden change in temperature will make the bleeding harder. He prefers to do it in the morning before the sun rises. If done incorrectly, the metal can become brittle. Today, he is the only person in his family who has mastered all the steps and often works alone. He polishes the scissors to make them smooth. Yasuhiro says this can be exhausting. It's strange. Both sides have to fit perfectly. Together, bonsai scissors have to be as sharp as a razor to make clean, precise cuts. It may take you a month to make a pair, but they can last a lifetime.

Yasuhiro also repairs scissors that are over 100 years old. Foreigner has been famous for the metal of it. work since the 5th century, people from all over the country came here in search of knives, swords and even guns. Yasuhiro himself comes from a long line of blacksmiths spanning 22 generations, but it was his great-great-grandfather Satajiro who made scissors the center of the family business in 1867. And when Yasuhiro took over in the late '60s, he was determined to make grow the business, but it was not always easy to find new foreign customers who manufactured such high-quality scissors. Bonsai specialist yoshikawa masakazu was willing to wait a year to get his hands on a pair of S without Clean Cuts, the needles can turn brown and the branches can wither and sometimes bad leaves can prevent them from growing small buds.

Using good scissors is also essential for masakazu because bonsai are an important symbol in Japanese and Buddhism. Iro says that he is always learning. His foreign clients are very proud of this pair of 26,000 units that took him three years to make and is decorated with gold. He dreams of making another similar one coated with a wine-red lacquer, but it would take at least four years and orders continue to pile up. Foreigners can order custom scissors online or visit their workshop in person, but there may not be another successor to the brand. Yasu Hero has two children, but he is not sure if they will follow in his footsteps.

Meanwhile, he has the responsibility to create. best scissors on his account Mike um foreigner foreigner