Design for Grassroots Production in Eastern Turkey through the Revival of Traditional Handicrafts

This paper presents the results of research that investigates the barriers, restrictions, opportunities, and potential of crafts in Eastern Turkey and it brings design for sustainability principles to the future development of this sector. Field trips to Eastern Turkey revealed the challenges and issues of traditional handicrafts along with potential development opportunities. However, there are some contrary views - that design should not interfere with- and potentially would distort or destroy the genuine values inherent to traditional crafts. Therefore, this paper investigates -through practice-based design research- if and how design can contribute to the development of crafts sector. Three of the existing traditional handicrafts (Oltu-stone prayer beads, harik shoes, and felt sheets) in Eastern Turkey are selected to demonstrate the promising design interventions.