The Contemporary Relevance of Vernacular and Artisanal Knowledge
An exploration of the urgent need to recognize and document vernacular and artisanal knowledge as vital, contemporary cultural heritage.
Ana Clemente
Although formally recognized as cultural and intangible heritage, vernacular and artisanal knowledge continues to lack effective protection and full recognition of its contemporary potential. This concern is expressed in the document Design meets artisans, which states:
‘There is an urgent need to research, analyze, categorize, and document artisanal traditions in order to make this knowledge accessible to a wider audience.’ (UNESCO, 2005).
The gradual disappearance of the holders of this knowledge poses a threat not only to the preservation of protected assets, but also to the transmission of knowledge that is fundamental to current challenges, such as sustainability, resilience, and local income generation.
Valuing this knowledge as original creations would contribute to the deconstruction of prejudices and attract new generations. Researching, documenting, and disseminating these practices raises awareness of their cultural and utilitarian value, revealing their timelessness and importance in artistic creation and the development of innovative solutions today.
During my career as a researcher and author, several questions arose regarding authorship and these anonymous authors. One of them relates to the dichotomy between high culture and popular culture: while authorship in high culture (art, design, architecture) is commercially valued, authors in popular culture, who are connected to local communities and less exposed to commercial logic, preserve memory and cultural identity through adaptive practices. However, globalization has been reducing local recognition of this empirical knowledge, while contemporary debate, paradoxically, exalts identities.
The National Center for Handicrafts and Design has been implementing measures that contribute to the recognition of this knowledge as current and useful values.
Design competitions and creative residencies geared towards this have generated interesting results and attracted the attention of a wider audience. My participation in the Created in Cabo Verde Salon competitions between 2017 and 2022 will be told in another story : )
