The world,
through its
materials.
A living archive of the fibres, barks, woods, earths and resins that communities turn into everyday life.
Launch collection · 36 documented entries · 6 continents
Open a record for its full credit and context.
THE MATERIALS INDEX
An atlas of making.
Begin with a material.
Follow it back to people and place.
Democratic Republic of the CongoMAT-001
Kuba textile makers
PhilippinesMAT-002
Aklan piña weavers
Jules Verne Times Two · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
PortugalMAT-003
Portuguese cork harvesters
UgandaMAT-004
Baganda barkcloth artisans
New ZealandMAT-005
Māori weavers
TunisiaMAT-006
Women potters of Sejnane
Cancillería Ecuador · CC BY-SA 2.0 ↗
EcuadorMAT-007
Ecuadorian toquilla growers & weavers
© Raimond Spekking (via Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
GreeceMAT-008
Mastic growers of Chios
Alancundall99 · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
CanadaMAT-009
Indigenous canoe builders in Canada
Kuebi = Armin Kübelbeck · CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗
ChinaMAT-010
Chinese sericulture & silk craftspeople
John Mackenzie Burke · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
United States of AmericaMAT-011
Taos Pueblo building tradition
SamoaMAT-012
Samoan fine-mat weavers
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Showing 12 of 36 records
MOVING IMAGES / LIVING KNOWLEDGE
Watch the material
become.
Documentary records from UNESCO.
Original films, original publisher credits.
Uganda / Bark & paper
Barkcloth making in Uganda
Watch on the publisher’s playerChina / Fibres & textiles
Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China
Watch on the publisher’s playerEcuador / Fibres & textiles
Traditional weaving of the Ecuadorian toquilla straw hat
Watch on the publisher’s playerFilms play through, or open on, the publisher’s player. Their rights remain with their credited producers.
A WORLDWIDE ARCHIVE, IN PROGRESS
Every place belongs
in the enquiry.
The directory includes 249 countries and areas. The launch collection documents 35 of them across six inhabited continents. Places awaiting their first entry remain visible.
Building a complete world archive takes ongoing research and relationships. This collection is a beginning.
documented material entries
countries with records
continents represented
Explore the country & area directory
Select a place to browse its records. “Awaiting research” means that no material record is included yet.
Geographical index: United Nations M49, supplemented by the ISO 3166 Taiwan entry. The directory is for finding places, rather than asserting exclusive cultural origins.
PROVENANCE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSSources are part of the story.
Photographers, makers and researchers have different roles. Each material record keeps them separate. Images show a material in raw, processed or finished form, and the caption explains which.
Photographs are credited individually below. Images have been resized and converted to WebP; gallery crops are made by the page layout. Full framing is available in each record. Image licences continue to apply to the images.
Film sources & credits
Barkcloth making in Uganda ↗
UNESCO · UNESCO Section for Intangible Heritage
Rights retained by the credited producer; use the publisher’s player.
Traditional weaving of the Ecuadorian toquilla straw hat ↗
Published by UNESCO · producer credits appear on the publisher’s video record
Rights retained by the credited producer; use the publisher’s player.
Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China ↗
China National Silk Museum, 2008 · published by UNESCO
Video streamed through the official publisher’s YouTube player; no copy is included.
Washi, craftsmanship of traditional Japanese hand-made paper ↗
Published by UNESCO · producer credits appear on the publisher’s video record
Rights retained by the credited producer; use the publisher’s player.
