Woodcraft Industries: Wooden Bridges From The Past

The woodcraft industries of Nepal, like those in many other developing countries, are made up of many small, family-owned woodcrafting businesses which may employ a handful of workers to assist them. And like the woodcraft industries in other parts of Asia--the Phillipines and India in particular--the Nepalese woodcraft industries are experiencing rapidly growing local and foreign demands for their products.

Most of the Nepalese woodcrafting industries today, however, have broken away from their centuries-old traditions of supplying magnificent pieces of religious and architectural artworks to meet the needs tourist seeking collectible small items like mirrors or miniature statures. But one of the woodcrafting industries in Nepal, although a small one, is still focused on restoration of the woodwork in the ancient cities of Katmandu, Lalitpur, and Khaktapur. Many Nepalese moastaries and temples are in need of new carved wooden windows, doors, and interior beams.

Lalitpur, in fact, is a region known for its woodcraft industries, with over three hundred woodcrafting families in Bungamati alone. The very best of the Lalitpur woodcrafters are famous for understanding the characteristics, like fragrance, color, and malleability, of the various woods available to them, and can produce highly-prized woodcraft statues. But the market for work of that quality is limited, and the vast majority of pieces from the Nepalese woodcraft industries are smaller pieces like frames, trivets, and miniature statues.

Many artisans working in the Nepalese woodcraft industries have only basic tools, producing pieces which are very fragile and difficult to ship, but those artisans are being helped by the Nepalese Handicraft Association and the Nepalese government, which is trying to bolster the country’s woodcraft industries with a training program for novice woodworkers.

The Ancient Art Of Woodcrafting

The Nepalese woodcraft industries are just one example of how the ancient art of woodcrafting has been survive through the centuries; people will still place a higher value on a handmade piece of wooden furniture than a factory-built one; and decorative wooden pieces are as popular as ever. The fragrances of sandalwood or cedar chests are lodged in millions of memories, and a well-cared for piece of antique wooden furniture with its trademark patina is one of the most highly desired collectibles. For more info see http://www.allthingswoodworking.com/Woodcraft_Furniture on Woodcraft Furniture.

The earliest of humankind’s shelters were of stone, earth, and wood. Wood has kept us warm of millennia, and has been shaped into the forms of our gods and goddesses through countless generations. The woodcraft industries in Nepal and other ancient countries are, and will remain, timeless.