Blog Post

_ December 5, 2022 _ HNL Design

Supplementing Local Crafts with 3D Printing

One of the cultural identities of every tribe and people is their local crafts. The crafts of every culture are deeply rooted in their history, spirituality, and religious beliefs. There are many local crafts in Nigeria which predate colonisation and modern civilisations. Popular ones include:

  • Leather Work,
  • Pottery,
  • Textile Making,
  • Mask Making,
  • Woodcarving,
  • Sculpture,
  • Tie and Dye Textile,
  • Ivory Carving,
  • Cloth Weaving,
  • Grass and Cane Weaving,
  • Painting, Glass and Metal Works, and
  • Brass and Bronze Casting.

While local crafts are an integral part of cultural expressions, they are also a source of income for the people and can serve as a tourist attraction when appropriately packaged. The great thing about handmade crafts is their uniqueness - every piece goes through a process of deep expression from the maker.

With the advent of industrialisation and modern civilisation, many handmade crafts became threatened by mass production. There is mass-production technology for almost every handmade craft. To worsen matters a bit, in Nigeria, most of these mass-produced items are imported.

This article explores how Prefabrication and 3D Printing can complement local crafts and not threaten them.

What is Digital Fabrication?

Fabrication is nothing new. Dating back to ancient civilisations, man has always fabricated items. Sculpting, for example, is a traditional fabrication process. Industrialisation brought about Digital Fabrication, whereby a product is first designed in 3D CAD software. After which, the design is converted to Numeric Codes that fabrication machines understand. The Numeric Codes give the fabrication machine a set of movement instructions in the x, y, and z axes to produce the physical version of the 3D Model.

Regarding Digital Fabrication, there is a Subtractive Method mimicking Traditional Fabrication - a popular example is CNC Machining. On the other hand, there is the Additive Method - popularly known as 3D Printing.

Additive Manufacturing or Fabrication is less wasteful than the Subtractive Methods. That is because the Subtractive Methods begin with a big mould and cut away from the mould to achieve the final product. In contrast, the Additive Methods stack up tiny layers of materials to achieve the final product.

Why 3D Printing for Local Crafts?

  1. 3D Printing is the best Fabrication Technique to achieve very complex forms. With 3D Printing, you can achieve very complex designs that are impossible to achieve with your hands.
  2. 3D Printing best suits one-off designs with intricate details - the beauty of local crafts lies in their uniqueness, unlike mass-produced items.
  3. Speed of production. With 3D Printing - and Digital Fabrication generally - you can develop a design idea and have the final physical product the same day.

Nonetheless, a significant shortcoming of 3D Printing is the available materials that the machines support. But as 3D Printing technology becomes more mainstream, more materials are being supported. The ideal scenario would be to take local materials, refine them a bit and use them for fabricating local craft items that can be exported and used anywhere.

3D Printing Companies in Nigeria

3D Printing is increasingly becoming common in Nigeria, and many companies are springing up across the country to provide 3D Printing services. Popular ones are 3D Place, Abuja and Stampar3D Ltd, Lagos.

Conclusion

Over the years, importation and mass production have threatened local crafts in Nigeria. But with the increased global demand for everything Afrocentric, 3D Printing can serve as the right technology to help craftspeople in Nigeria reawaken the relevance of craftsmanship and serve as a good source of income and tourist attraction to the country while meeting global demands.

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