| Abstract from DBPedia | A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale production of goods, or their maintenance, for example by tinkers. The traditional term craftsman is nowadays often replaced by artisan and by craftsperson (craftspeople). Historically, the more specialized crafts with high-value products tended to concentrate in urban centers and formed guilds. The skill required by their professions and the need to be permanently involved in the exchange of goods often demanded a generally higher level of education, and craftsmen were usually in a more privileged position than the peasantry in societal hierarchy. The households of craftsmen were not as self-sufficient as those of people engaged in agricultural work, and therefore had to rely on the exchange of goods. Some crafts, especially in areas such as pottery, woodworking, and various stages of textile production, could be practiced on a part-time basis by those also working in agriculture, and often formed part of village life. When an apprentice finished his apprenticeship, he became a journeyman searching for a place to set up his own shop and make a living. After he set up his own shop, he could then call himself a master of his craft. This stepwise approach to mastery of a craft, which includes the attainment of some education and skill, has survived in some countries until today. But crafts have undergone deep structural changes since and during the era of the Industrial Revolution. The mass production of goods by large-scale industry has limited crafts to market segments in which industry's modes of functioning or its mass-produced goods do not satisfy the preferences of potential buyers. As an outcome of these changes, craftspeople today increasingly make use of semi-finished components or materials and adapt these to their customers' requirements or demands. Thus, they participate in a certain division of labour between industry and craft.工芸（こうげい）とは、高度の熟練技術を駆使して作られた美的器物またはそれを制作する分野。応用美術、装飾美術などともいう。材料や技術に指定はなく、全てが該当するが、工業生産と美術を結びつけ機能性を重視したものは「近代工芸」と呼ばれる。他、産業や工業につながらない鑑賞性を主体に美術面を重視した物は、絵画や彫刻と同様の展開をみせており、また両者のいずれの傾向にも加わらない古来の手工芸の分野も再評価され，世界的に盛行をみせている。 (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Craft) |
