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92 techniques from 44 countries; by risk level: 16 critically endangered, 34 endangered, 25 vulnerable, 15 stable, 2 thriving. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.
Nastaliq is a style of Islamic calligraphy formalized in the 14th century, traditionally credited to the master calligrapher Mir 'Ali Tabrizi, combining elements of two earlier styles, Naskh and Ta'liq ('hanging') — the latter naming the…
A monastic tradition of hand-painted and gilded manuscript illustration reaching back to the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 CE, most celebrated in the work of 13th-century master Toros Roslin — called "the Michelangelo of…
The design and hand-fabrication of contemporary jewelry from corrugated cardboard and paper straws by Austrian artist Monica Peksa, part of the same wider international coiled/compressed cardboard jewelry movement documented in Italy,…
The Viennese bookbinding tradition — the production of the distinctive full leather bindings with gold-tooled decoration that were the defining luxury book objects of the Habsburg Imperial court library, and the broader tradition of fine…
Dzo-sho (རྫོང་ཤོག — 'dzong paper') is Bhutan's traditional handmade paper — produced from the bark of Daphne species shrubs (Daphne bholua and Edgeworthia gardneri — locally called re in Dzongkha) using a technique structurally similar to…
A relief printmaking technique in which an Inuit printmaker carves away the surface of a flattened stone block to leave a raised design translated from an artist's original drawing, then inks and hand-prints the design onto paper,…
Huimò (徽墨) — Huizhou ink stick — is one of the Four Treasures of the Chinese Scholar's Studio (文房四宝 wénfáng sìbǎo), produced in Shexian County, Anhui, for over 1,000 years.
Chinese paper cutting (剪纸) is the folk art of cutting intricate designs from a single sheet of paper using scissors or a knife, creating negative-space patterns that are applied to windows, walls, and ritual objects for festivals,…
Chinese paper-cutting (剪纸 jianzhi) — inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List in 2009 — is the most widely practiced folk craft in China, used to decorate windows for New Year and festivals, as wedding decorations, and as protective…
Huipai woodblock printing (徽派版画) is the refined illustration and text printing tradition developed in Huizhou (now southern Anhui province) during the Ming and Qing dynasties — and recognized as the apex of Chinese woodblock printing…
Huzhou writing brushes (湖笔) are China's pre-eminent calligraphy and painting brushes — one of the Four Treasures of the Scholar's Studio alongside ink (CRAFT-0349), inkstone, and paper — produced in Shanwuli Town, Huzhou, Zhejiang for over…
The hand-engraving and ink-printing of Buddhist scriptures onto knot-free pear wood blocks, practiced at the Jinling Sutra Printing House in Nanjing (historically called Jinling) since Buddhist revivalist Yang Renshan founded it in 1866 —…
The Luzhou oil paper umbrella (泸州油纸伞) is a fully functional waterproof umbrella constructed from bamboo ribs, hand-made xuan paper, and tung oil — without a single nail or screw, held together entirely by silk thread lashing and the…
Dongba paper is the handmade paper of the Naxi people of Lijiang, Yunnan — used exclusively for writing Dongba pictographic script, the only pictographic writing system still in active use in the world.
Naxi Dongba paper (东巴纸) is the ritual paper made by the Naxi people (纳西族 Nàxīzú) of Lijiang, Yunnan, specifically for the Dongba religious manuscripts — the pictographic scripture tradition of Naxi shamanism, inscribed on UNESCO's Memory…
Taohuawu nianhua (桃花坞年画) is the Suzhou school of Chinese New Year woodblock printing — historically the most commercially important print tradition in China, distributing millions of prints annually across the country during the Qing…
Teochew zhizha (纸扎) is the ritual craft of constructing elaborate three-dimensional paper effigies — houses, cars, servants, electronics, luxury goods — to be burned as offerings at funerals and ancestral rites in the Teochew (Chaoshan)…
Yangliuqing nianhua (杨柳青年画) is the Chinese New Year woodblock print tradition of Yangliuqing town, Tianjin — one of the four canonical New Year print centers alongside Weifang, Foshan, and Taohuawu — and the tradition that most…
Traditional stone lithography, woodcut, and metal-plate etching printmaking centered on the Taller Experimental de Gráfica de La Habana (TEG), Cuba's oldest and premier printmaking studio, founded in 1962.
The production of papyrus sheets from the pith of the Cyperus papyrus sedge, a technique invented in Egypt around 3000 BCE and used essentially unchanged for roughly 4,000 years until the eleventh century CE, producing the world's first…
The making of rag paper (papier chiffon) in the Charente mills — a tradition that made Angoulême the center of French paper production for three centuries and supplied the Paris publishing and printing industry.
Woodblock-printed popular images produced in Épinal since 1796, hand-colored by stencil (pochoir) in vivid flat colors.
Wallpaper printed by hand from relief-carved wooden blocks, one block for each color and each part of the design, onto paper that has first been brushed with a solid ground color.
A contemporary studio practice by Karine, working as La Dentellière de Carton near Mougins on the French Riviera.
The making of luxury art bookbindings in the Paris tradition — hand-sewn book blocks; goatskin or calfskin leather covers tooled or inlaid with mosaic designs; gold-tooled spines; marbled endpapers (CRAFT-0998 cross-reference); gilded…
The French binding style (reliure à la française) — full leather cover over sewn text block with tight back, marbled endpapers, and gilt tooling — established Paris as the world capital of decorative bookbinding from the 17th century.
The making of marbled paper — patterns formed by floating oil-based or water-based inks on a size (carrageenan or gum tragacanth solution) and manipulating them with combs and styluses before transferring to paper.
The Frankfurt bookbinding tradition — specifically the historical binding structures (Coptic bindings, medieval Romanesque bindings, early printed book bindings) maintained as a heritage craft in the context of the Frankfurt Buchmesse…
A contemporary Berlin studio practice associated with Shiori Aiba: paper is compressed into layered material, then cut and sanded to produce geometric pendants and earrings with a smooth but structurally resilient surface.
A contemporary German studio practice associated with Lydia Hirte in Dresden, in which cardboard is cut and drawn into sculptural wearable forms through tension, bending and the material's resistance.
The conservation of the Heidelberg manuscript collection — centered on the Codex Manesse (c.1300–1340), the largest and most lavishly illuminated medieval German-language manuscript in existence, containing 137 full-page miniature…
The conservation of Gutenberg Bibles and other early printed books (incunabula) at the Gutenberg Museum Mainz — the world center for the documentation and conservation of Johann Gutenberg's moveable type printing tradition.
The hand book binding tradition of North Germany's Hanseatic cities — a commercial craft serving the extensive print publishing and trade documentation culture of Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen from the 16th century, producing both luxury…
Barriletes gigantes are the colossal tissue-paper-and-bamboo kites constructed annually by community teams in Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango, Kaqchikel Maya towns roughly 30–40 kilometers from Guatemala City, and raised each All…
The Budapest bookbinding tradition — the production of hand-bound books using the traditional Hungarian binding vocabulary including leather-covered boards, gold spine lettering, and the characteristic Hungarian marbled paper (ebru —…
Handmade paper formed from the pseudostems (the 'trunks') of banana plants that have already fruited, developed in Bali from 1998 for interiors rather than writing.
A writing and ceremonial material made by beating the inner bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) rather than by forming a sheet from pulp, which places it closer to tapa and barkcloth than to true paper.
Vessels, translucent wall panels, lamps, table surfaces and framed images made from plant fibers formed in water (banana, waru and gamal, chosen according to the piece), related in principle to the Asian practice of forming a sheet from…
A contemporary practice of Arabic calligraphy that moves from the manuscript, the building and the hand-lettered sign into painting: words rendered in many colors against a white ground, blending calligraphy and painting into one form.
The Irish bookbinding tradition — the production of the hand-bound books in the Irish heritage style drawing on the Celtic interlace and knotwork vocabulary inspired by the Irish monastic illuminated manuscripts (Book of Kells, Book of…
The cutting of paper into intricate decorative designs, a popular Jewish folk art practiced for hundreds of years.
The creation of patterned paper by floating pigments on a size (carrageenan or ox gall solution), manipulating them into patterns with combs and styluses, and transferring the design to paper by contact — producing unique, unrepeatable…
A contemporary Italian jewelry-making method developed by Marcella Stilo under the Cartalana name: recovered paper is hand-spun using a spindle into a workable fiber-like material, then formed into lightweight jewelry and combined where…
A contemporary Italian studio practice exemplified by Rome-based artist Sandra Di Giacinto: recycled corrugated cardboard is cut, shaped, layered and pleated into lightweight wearable forms, then finished with metallic pigment.
The hand-binding of books using traditional techniques — sewing on cords or tapes, case-making in leather or cloth, gold tooling, and marbled paper — in a tradition associated with Milan's publishing and printing industry and the…
A tradition of fine hand bookbinding and hand printing in Rome — centered on the historic printing establishments of the Via del Governo Vecchio and the Vatican typography — producing hand-set letterpress printing, fine binding in full…
Echizen Washi (越前和紙) is the premier Japanese paper-making tradition of Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture — producing hosho (奉書) paper for woodblock printing, calligraphy, and document certification since the Heian period (794–1185 CE), and…
Gifu Wagasa (岐阜和傘) is the traditional Japanese umbrella of Gifu City's Kano district, built from a washi paper canopy pulled taut over 30-70 carved bamboo ribs radiating from a wooden hub (rokuro) atop a bamboo shaft.
Kyō-Sensu (京扇子) is the Japanese folding fan tradition of Kyoto — the origin of the folding fan itself (invented in Japan c.
Kyō-Washi (京和紙) is the handmade paper tradition supplying Kyoto's Buddhist manuscript, screen painting, and calligraphy needs — closely linked to the paper-making centers of Echizen (Fukui Prefecture) and Ogawa (Saitama Prefecture) that…
The hand-forming of washi paper in Mino, Gifu Prefecture, along a 1,300-year tradition traced to a surviving 702 CE household register document, still preserved in Nara's Shosoin Repository, made from paper mulberry (kozo) fiber grown…
Two textiles made from washi in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture.
Shoji (障子) is the translucent paper screen used in traditional Japanese rooms as partitions and window coverings — combining the joinery tradition of the wooden lattice frame (組子 kumiko — joined wood) with the paper-hanging tradition using…
Suminagashi ("floating ink") is a Japanese paper-marbling technique in which sumi ink and a surfactant are alternately touched to the surface of plain, unsized water to form concentric rings, which are gently manipulated by breath or fan…
Ukiyo-e nishiki-e (浮世絵錦絵 — 'floating world brocade picture') is the multi-color woodblock printing tradition of Edo (Tokyo) — developed from 1765 by Suzuki Harunobu and producing the iconic prints of the Edo period that transformed…
The practice of Arabic calligraphy (khatt) in Kuwait, a revered art form directly showcasing the beauty of Arabic script and highly skilled in creating intricate designs that adorn mosques, government buildings, and public spaces.
Lao sa paper (ກະດາດສາ kradaat sa) is the traditional handmade paper of Laos, produced from the bark of the sa tree (Broussonetia papyrifera — paper mulberry) using a technique closely related to Thai saa paper and ultimately descended from…
The construction of ritual paper effigies and paper sculptures over lightweight bamboo or wire frameworks for Chinese funerals, temples, ancestor observances, and traditional festivals in Penang.
The generational family custodianship, hand-binding, and physical preservation of centuries-old Arabic manuscripts in Chinguetti, a UNESCO World Heritage caravan city in the Mauritanian Sahara historically known as 'The City of Libraries.'…
A chisel-and-mallet paper-cutting technique developed in San Salvador Huixcolotla, Puebla, in which artisans stack up to fifty sheets of colored tissue paper and punch elaborate symmetrical designs through the entire stack at once,…
A nearly 2,000-year-old bark-paper making technique in which inner tree bark is boiled with lime and ash, then hand-pounded on a wooden board with a flat stone into a single continuous sheet, preserved after the Spanish colonial…
At-Tasfir, the art of Moroccan leather bookbinding, practiced in Fes and combining three distinct component crafts: papermaking, binding the text block, and decorating and covering the finished book with leather.
The Burmese parabaik (ပုရပိုက်) is the traditional accordion-fold manuscript book of Myanmar — a long strip of Shan sa paper (CRAFT-0444) or lacquered cloth folded into pages and painted with Buddhist manuscript text (in traditional…
Pathein hti (ထီး — 'umbrella/parasol') is the traditional paper umbrella making tradition of Pathein (Bassein) in Ayeyarwady Region — Myanmar's primary umbrella-making center for over 200 years.
Shan paper making (ရှမ်းစာ shan sa) is the handmade bark paper tradition of Shan State — using mulberry (sa tree, Broussonetia papyrifera) and local plant fiber to produce paper for Buddhist manuscript copying, folded book (parabaik)…
Lokta Kagaj (लोक्ता कागज) is Nepal's traditional handmade paper produced from the bark of Daphne bholua and Daphne papyracea shrubs (called lokta in Nepali) — the same botanical genus as Bhutanese dzo-sho (CRAFT-0538) but using a…
Abstract painting built on Arabic letterforms, the approach of the wider Arab art movement known as hurufiyya, as developed in Oman by Anwar Sonya, directly credited as one of the founders of the Omani Art Movement and considered the…
Borlas de Pastillas is one of the Philippines' most endangered and least known crafts — the traditional art of cutting and folding the paper wrappers of pastillas de leche (Philippine milk candy) into intricate lace-like designs using only…
The Kurpie wycinanki tradition of the Puszcza (forest) region of Mazovia — a distinct variant from the Łowicz wycinanki (CRAFT-1362), typically single-color (green or black, referencing the forest environment) and characterized by more…
The Łowicz wycinanki tradition — the making of the distinctive multi-layered colored paper cut decorations of the Łowicz region of Mazovia, whose characteristic circular (gwiazda — star) and cockerel (kogutek) forms in vivid contrasting…
The practice of Arabic calligraphy in Qatar, a venerated art form across the Arab world that gained particular popularity through the rise of Islam; when transcribing the Holy Quran, scholars sought to adorn the sacred text without…
The illumination of pages with gold and color on a framework of geometric pattern drawn by hand with a two-legged compass and a straight ruler.
Chinese paper effigy making (zhi zha) is the craft of constructing three-dimensional paper objects — houses, cars, electronic devices, clothing, food, luxury goods — to be burned as offerings for the deceased in Chinese Taoist and Buddhist…
Hanji is the traditional Korean handmade paper produced from paper mulberry bark (dak — Broussonetia papyrifera) using a distinctive Korean technique (oebal tteugi — single-mold shaking) that produces paper of extraordinary strength and…
Lidded bowls and rounded vessels built from hanji scraps: waste paper is finely torn, soaked in water, mixed with glue and kneaded into a clay-like paste, which is laid onto a mold or frame in repeated layers, each dried before the next,…
Hanji, Korean mulberry paper, cut into strips, twisted into tight cords and twined like basketry into vessels, lanterns, shoes, quivers, brush holders and trays.
The hand making of rag paper (paper de trapo) in the Catalan paper mill tradition — one of the oldest paper production traditions in western Europe, with Catalan paper mills documented from 1282 (the Xàtiva mill in Valencia being the first…
The making of paper from esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima) — a paper-making tradition that was Spain's primary industrial paper source from the 1850s to the 1970s before wood pulp replaced it, but which survives as an artisan paper…
A contemporary Mallorca-based jewelry practice by industrial designer Alejandra Epifani under the Cartonpia name.
Ola pat (ඔල පත් — 'palmyra leaf') is the preparation of talipot palm leaves (Corypha umbraculifera) as the writing substrate for Sri Lanka's ancient manuscript tradition — the medium on which the entire Pali Buddhist canon and thousands of…
Jianzhi (剪紙 — 'scissor paper') is the Chinese paper-cutting tradition maintained in Taiwan by Hokkien and Hakka communities — a tradition brought from Fujian Province and adapted to Taiwanese Buddhist, Taoist, and folk religious contexts.
Handmade paper produced from the inner bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera — saa tree) using a fixed-frame floating sheet formation technique.
Tibetan woodblock printing of texts by a two-person hand method: one person inks the carved block, the other applies the paper and rubs.
The illumination of manuscripts, calligraphic panels and documents with gold and color.
The Turkish hat sanatı (calligraphy art) tradition — the Ottoman Islamic calligraphy tradition using the specific reed pen (kamış kalem) cut to the hattat's personal specifications, writing in the six classical scripts (sülüs, nesih,…
The Turkish ebru water marbling tradition — the creation of marbled patterns on paper or other surfaces by floating natural pigments on a gum tragacanth size and manipulating them before transfer to paper, whose specific combination of ox…
A contemporary practice transforming Arabic calligraphy into monumental architectural and sculptural form, developed by Emirati painter, calligrapher, photographer, sculptor, and designer Mattar Bin Lahej, whose work has become an integral…
The handmade paper tradition of Turkey Mill, Maidstone, Kent — the mill of James Whatman the Elder and Younger (18th century) where the wove mold (a paper-making mold woven from fine wire rather than laid wires, producing the smooth…
The design and hand-fabrication of water-resistant earrings and bangles from recycled newspaper and cardboard by American designer Luda, working under the name Alla Maude in Long Beach, New York, part of the same wider international…
A colorful illuminated folk-art tradition combining an angular German blackletter script with hand-painted watercolor motifs — tulips, birds, hearts, and scrolls — used by Pennsylvania Germans primarily to create and decorate birth and…
Samarkand paper (Самарқанд қоғози) was the finest paper in the medieval Islamic world — mentioned by Arab geographers as early as 751 CE following the Battle of Talas, when Chinese papermakers captured by Arab forces introduced the…
Dong Ho woodblock printing is the traditional Vietnamese folk painting tradition of Dong Ho village in Bac Ninh province near Hanoi — producing bold, colorful images on paper made from bark using hand-carved woodblocks and natural pigments.