Part 5: What will happen with craft?

What will happen to craft? Is there a place for craftsmen and craftswomen in contemporary world in which buying new products is fast and easy, and you are competing literally against the whole world? As the stories of the people presented at the exhibition show us, the answer is yes. Craft has assets which are hard to beat. These comprise: authenticity, an individual approach to customers, the possibility to offer beautiful, unique objects in which you can sense personal involvement of the people who make them. Contemporary trends of conscientious consumption also give crafts a chance for survival, as they promote locality, authenticity and repairing old things instead of buying new ones.

Jobs in crafting have always had to be flexible, adapt to the changing conditions and find new development paths. This is what the people presented at the exhibition do to great effect.

Karol Rzeszutko, a bespoke tailor:

‘We do realise that it is our success that we have survived till this day. But an even greater success is the fact that out of a bunch of tailors who are still doing this in Poland, we are a workshop that you could say is recognisable.’

Grzegorz Lewandowski, a bookbinder:

‘Being ahead of others and finding solutions right before they become essential – this is how our business has survived for 100 years. This is why it is one of the few binderies that have made it through all kinds of transformations.’