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Mission & Vision Statement

From Craftpedia
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This document defines Craftpedia’s core purpose, long-term direction, and foundational values. It applies to the entire Craftpedia ecosystem, including all regional portals, all languages, and all editorial processes.

Craftpedia functions simultaneously as a digital encyclopedia, a cross-cultural bridge, and a global museum of traditional crafts.

Mission

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Craftpedia’s mission is to document, preserve, and present the world’s traditional crafts and artisanal techniques with academic rigor, cultural respect, and open accessibility.

Craftpedia aims to:

  • provide accurate, reliable, and well-organized knowledge about global craft traditions;
  • create a multilingual resource accessible to learners, researchers, and educators;
  • present cultural heritage in a respectful and non-commercial way;
  • support cross-cultural understanding through clear and consistent documentation;
  • enable global collaboration among translators, proofreaders, fact-checkers, and contributors;
  • serve as a digital preservation platform for craft traditions facing decline or transformation;
  • follow museum-grade standards in classification, terminology, and editorial structure.

Craftpedia is committed to neutrality, accuracy, and cultural integrity in all its content.

Vision

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Craftpedia envisions a world where traditional crafts are recognized, understood, and valued as essential components of global cultural heritage.

Our long-term vision includes:

  • becoming the most comprehensive, multilingual digital encyclopedia of traditional crafts;
  • providing a permanent, well-structured reference for educators, museums, scholars, and communities;
  • enabling informed appreciation of craft traditions across cultures and languages;
  • acting as a digital companion to real-world museum collections and ethnographic archives;
  • ensuring that all craft traditions—major or minor—receive equal respect and documentation;
  • establishing standards that may be adopted by institutions, researchers, and cultural organizations.

Craftpedia seeks to be a bridge between cultures, emphasizing shared human creativity across geography and time.

Values

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Craftpedia is guided by the following core values:

  • Accuracy – Information must be factually correct and supported by reliable sources.
  • Accessibility – Knowledge must be readable and available in many languages.
  • Neutrality – Articles must be written without bias, judgment, or promotion.
  • Respect – Cultural traditions, terms, and communities must be represented with care.
  • Transparency – Sources and editorial decisions must be clear and traceable.
  • Collaboration – It is built by an open community of volunteers and contributors.
  • Preservation – It supports safeguarding intangible and material cultural heritage.
  • Consistency – The entire ecosystem must follow a uniform structure and editorial rules.

Scope

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The scope of Craftpedia includes:

  • traditional craft techniques;
  • artisanal production methods;
  • historical craft traditions;
  • regional schools and variations;
  • materials and tools used in craft-making;
  • object types with cultural or ritual functions;
  • biographies of significant artisans, workshops, or schools;
  • ethnographic and historical context when relevant.

Craftpedia does not cover:

  • industrial mass production;
  • purely contemporary design without traditional roots;
  • commercial product listings;
  • unsourced or speculative narratives.

Audience

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Craftpedia serves a diverse global audience, including:

  • researchers and scholars;
  • museum professionals and curators;
  • educators and students;
  • craft practitioners and artisans;
  • cultural organizations;
  • translators and linguists;
  • general readers interested in world heritage.

The editorial guidelines ensure that content remains accessible while maintaining academic and museum-level precision.

Long-term Objectives

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Craftpedia strives to:

  • expand coverage across continents, regions, and craft traditions;
  • develop a complete multilingual taxonomy of materials, techniques, periods, and regions;
  • collaborate with museums, universities, and cultural institutions;
  • build a permanent repository for endangered craft knowledge;
  • maintain an editorial infrastructure that supports translation and research workflows;
  • encourage contributions from local communities who hold traditional knowledge.

Institutional Position

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Craftpedia positions itself as:

  • a digital museum,
  • an academic reference,
  • an encyclopedia,
  • a multilingual educational platform.

It does not operate commercially, does not promote specific artisans or products, and does not express opinions about artistic value or market relevance.

Version History

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  • 1.0 – Initial release (English)