Traditions

Crafts & Trades

Historic family trades — metalwork, woodwork, music and more.

Crafts & Trades
Peave — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

For centuries many Roma families were skilled itinerant craftspeople and traders — smiths and coppersmiths, woodworkers, sieve- and basket-makers, horse-dealers and musicians. These mobile professions suited their way of life and met real needs in rural economies.

Industrialisation eroded many of these trades, but their legacy survives in family names, in living craft traditions, and above all in professional music-making.

Sources & further reading: Council of Europe Roma history & culture factsheets and Wikipedia.

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