Artisanal Ethnography: Notes on the Making of Ethnographic Craft

Abstract

Whereas the arts have acquired a greater role in ethnographic practice as of late, artisanship has not; artisans regularly remain subjects of ethnographic analysis rather than educators or sources of epistemological and aesthetic inspiration for ethnographers. As students of material culture and aesthetic practices, we argue that ethnography has a lot to learn from artisans and advance a vision for an artisan-inspired ethnography. In particular, we ask, “what would an artisanal ethnography be like?” “What can we learn from artisans as ethnographic educators?” “How would the artisanship-inspired ethnographer work?” “What would be his or her styles, tools, goals, and guiding principles?” Through a methodological reflection on the production of our film A Time for Making, we engage with these questions.