Submitted by: Submitted by bethelehem7
Views: 85
Words: 6598
Pages: 27
Category: Science and Technology
Date Submitted: 02/28/2014 09:28 PM
TRADITIONAL CRAFT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:
LIVING FOSSIL OR LIVING ART?
Rod Ewins
This paper was first presented as a Keynote Address at the First South Pacific Arts Conference, Suva,
Fiji, 25-29 August 1980. It was published in the Conference Report, Suva, Fiji Ministry of Education, 1980,
pp.42-56. Small sections of it may be cited, with appropriate attribution, in a scholarly context, giving
either the Conference Report or this webpage as reference. It is copyright and may not be reproduced
in
full.
Preamble
Before launching into a topic with a title like that, I feel I'd better try and whittle it down to
'bite size', for my own sake at least, as I don't pretend to possess an encyclopaedic
knowledge of all 'Developing Countries' or of their whole range of crafts.
I have used the term 'Developing Countries' in a very loose sense, thinking particularly
of those countries presently dealing with the complexities of autonomy and
selfgovernment, generally after a century or more of playing 'host' to a foreign colonial
power of overwhelming financial, military, and industrial strength.
This definition, of course, fits most of the island countries of the Pacific Basin, that are
the focus of this Conference. It is because I suspect that they share many of their
concerns and dilemmas with other emerging countries (for instance those in Africa) that
I didn't merely entitle the talk 'Pacific Countries'; I hope this won't drag me into a lengthy
debate about the Third World, for not only do I not feel equipped to debate that, but nor
do I think it is really necessary to this paper. I use the term, as I say, loosely.
My knowledge is greater about Fiji than about any other developing country, having
family connections here for over 100 years, and having been born, raised, and educated
to School Leaving here. My interest in Fiji persists, and I am currently engaged in
independent research here. Thus I am really using Fiji as the basis for my...