Ta'arohan handcrafts and folk art

Ta'arohan handcrafts and folk art is a complex collection of items made with various materials and fashioned for utilitarian, decorative or other purposes, such as wall hangings, vases, toys and items created for celebrations, festivities and religious rites. Crafts in Ta'aroha created for utilitarian purposes and folk art are collectively known as "ñeʼã" as both have a similar history and both are a valued part of the national identity. Ta'aroha's ñeʼã tradition is a bled of Vatupayic and foreign (commonly Alutran) techniques and designs. This blending was particularly emphasized by Ta'aroha's political, intellectual, and artistic intelligentsia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries following the Ta'aroha Declaration. Today, Ta'arohan ñeʼã remains as a powerful link to the people's past.

Ñeʼã
These arts and crafts are collectively called "ñeʼã" (essence, heart) in Kanasa. The term was invented in the early 20th century to distinguish merchandise made by traditional methods versus those made by industrial/assembly line methods. The word is also used to promote traditional products as a source of Ta'arohan national identity. Ta'arohan ñeʼã has its foundations in the crafts of many cultures within the country, but many outside influences transformed it into a mixture of the two unique to that country. Most ñeʼã produced in Ta'aroha shows both Vatupayic and Alutran influences in the crafting, design, or both. Ñeʼã can be defined as those items created by common people, using traditional methods which are well-founded in the past. Most artisans do not have school-based training in their craft, but rather learn it through formal or informal apprenticeship. The term "common people" for Ta'aroha generally applies to people native to rural areas and those outside the upper and middle classes.

For Ta'aroha, ñeʼã is heavily tied to national identity as well as regional identities, and this idea is often played out in movies and television across the country. From the early 20th century to the modern day, folk art has inspired numerous famous artists. Many of these artists defined true ñeʼã as a blending of foreign and native traditions, with items produced for domestic consumption (mostly for the emerging middle class). This definition best applies to the production of pottery, leatherwork, textiles, and toys. This definition is founded in the early 20th century era when artists and intellectuals were concerned with creating a national identity for Ta'aroha, which revolved around the idea of pan-Kanasa ideology. Most of the ñeʼã produced in Ta'aroha is ordinary things made for daily use, but they are still considered to be artistic because most decorative details and/or are painted in bright colors for aesthetic purposes. The bold use of colors in crafts and other constructions extends back to pre-Aunic times. Temples, murals, textiles, and religious objects were painted or colored ochre red, bright green, burnt orange, various yellows, and turquoise. These would be joined by other colors introduced by outside contact, but always in bold tones.

Design motifs can vary from purely indigenous to mostly foreign with some other elements thrown in. Geometric designs are prevalent and the most directly connected to Ta'aroha's past and/or items made by the country's native communities. Motifs from nature are popular as well, especially in wall-hangings and ceramics.

Types of folk art in Ta'aroha
Handicrafts in Ta'aroha vary widely from materials used, techniques and employ, and styles preferred. The most prevalent of Ta'aroha's crafts is ceramics/pottery. Ceramics was considered to be one of the highest art forms during the Aunic Empire, which the knowledge of making pottery said to have been handed down to mankind from the divine. Pre-contact pottery was made by coiling the clay into a circle then up the sides, then scraping and molding the coiled work until the coils could no longer be detected. Foreign traders introduced the potters' wheel and new glazing techniques. Godenhaven glazed pottery was introduced by Eduran traders and artisans. Porâ in particular is a Province renowned for its variety of Godenhaven-style pottery, which is called Pó. One distinct feature of Porâ's cities is that many kitchens and buildings are decorated with intricately detailed Pó tiles. Tiles are a subset of ceramic pottery and were used extensively in the region prior to and after the Ta'aroha declaration and symbols of status and wealth. These tiles were first fired at a low temperature, then hand-painted with intricate designs, then fired at a high temperature to set the glaze. These are still made, but most decorative tiles used in Ta'aroha are factory made. Unglazed pottery is still made, but generally it is for decorative purposes only, and copies the designs of Aunic and pre-Aunic masters.

Metalworking in Vatupaya, especially of silver, gold, and bronze, was highly advanced prior to contact with the outside world. Gold was inlaid into copper and metals were hammered to paper thinness and cast using the tataindy method. Some iron tools were produced, but bronze was prized in tool making for its hardness. Outside traders introduced new techniques such as filigree work, where tiny threads of metal are strung together to make jewelry. During this period, the work of foreign jewelers was preferred by the upper classes, and local artisans suffered. Today, ancient designs have been revived with Apu'apopo Province being the center of silversmithing. Silverwork has became a small but growing industry in Ta'aroha, with copper work becoming popular again as well. A traditional copper object is a large vessel called a peteĩhaendy. Peteĩhaendy are traditionally used to render large amounts of fat for cooking (originally sloth, but today pork is common) or to caramelize sugar for making candy.

Many different fibers are twisted, knotted, and woven into textiles and other objects. Materials include rushes, reeds, thread, string, rope, and many more. Historically, fibers were dyed using pigments created from plants and animals. Synthetic dyes have replaced natural ones for many craftsmen, but there are still some, especially in the north of the country, that still use traditional dyes. Woven materials in Ta'aroha started with basketry and mat-making. Domesticated ground sloths were an important source of fibers and thread. Cotton was also used, spun into thread by itself or combined with feathers or animal fur to provide warmth. Traditional artisans still spin their own thread, which are made from cotton, wool, or sloth fur, and can be very fine or very coarse. Textiles have a long history of tradition. Brightly colored embroidered designs on female garments can identify enthic group, age, and martial status of the wearer. Woven textiles were known to pre-Aunic cultures for millenia, using a back-strap loom fastened between a tree and the wearer's back. Foreign trade introduced the treadle loom, which can make larger pieces of cloth.

Paper is both made and used to make crafts in Ta'aroha. Papermaking is a skill that goes back to pre-Aunic times. The bark of two trees are primarily used, that of the mulberry for white paper and that of the ficus or fig family for darker varieties. Traditionally, the bark was cut and scraped by men, but the making of the paper itself was done by women. The process begins by washing the bark, then boiling it with ashes. It is then rinsed and beaten until the fibers knit together, then dried in the sun. Cut-paper banners are hung in the streets for special occasions.

Leatherwork in Ta'aroha is closely tied to the northern part of the country, focusing on the creation of saddles, belts, and boots. However, leatherwork can also be seen in seat covers, such as those on chairs and on lampshades. Leatherwork is traditionally decorated with flowing patterns using the labor-intensive punch and tool method and colored with dye or varnish.

The palaces and noble homes of the Aunic nobility had ornate furniture. Entire pieces of hardwoods would be carved into benches and tables, and other items. Furniture was inlaid with gold and some covered in animal skins. A kind of shellac or lacquer existed in the Aunic empire and was used in many ceramics. It was a kind of waterproof oil extracted from a worm called "as" and mixed with oil from the prickly poppy or sage, which resulted in a paint. After trade began with the outside world, nobility demanded Alutran-style furniture, which was often made locally.

Ta'arohan handcrafted toys are mostly miniature representations of things in life, such as birds, furniture, carts, and more, made with materials on hand such as wood, cloth, clay, and lead. They were mostly made for children of the underclasses. They are considered artistic not because of their originality but rather their ingenuity of creating something special from practically nothing. These toys, most of which that survive are from the 19th and early 20th century are increasingly valued by collectors.

Maintaining the traditions
As in the past, most handcrafted products in Ta'aroha are still consumed domestically in everyday family life, especially items such as clothes, kitchen utensils, baskets, and pottery, as well as ceremonial and religion objections. Only five percent of Ta'aroha's artisans employ innovative methods in production, design, and promotion regularly. An estimated 65% continue making their crafts with little, if any, difference from their ancestors, and 30% are somewhere in between. Many organizations and state programs exist to help craftsmen and promote the production of ñeʼã. Many art schools in Ta'aroha have classes in certain crafts, and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature has a Crafts School. In various Provinces, artists have been invited to help redesign the decoration of ceramics and other aesthetic elements, which they did by adding human forms, animals, and others to the traditional images of flowers and curved designs.

The intervention of artists in the design process has been criticized by some experts, who claim that many artists "interfere" in the craft process by introducing ideas even though they have not studied the cultural traditions behind said crafts. They also claim that many college-educated designers believe that with innovative designs, they can help artisans escape poverty without understanding why the artisan is poor in the first place. Despite organizations and institutions, many Ta'arohan artisans are impoverished with little access to quality materials or designs. Artisans must also compete with goods manufactured in large factories. This keeps prices down, and the time it takes to make authentic ñeʼã puts the Ta'arohan craftsmen at an economic disadvantage. This is one reason why many in the younger generation have less interest in the craft tradition, but a dedicated core group have sworn to learn from the masters and keep the art alive.