Craftmaking Around the World: Where Culture Meets Creativity

Today’s travellers are seeking more than sights to see — they want experiences to feel. Beyond landmarks and itineraries, there is a hunger for authenticity: moments that immerse you in the culture, history and traditions of a place.

Craftmaking offers one of the most powerful ways to achieve this. Whether it’s learning the patience of Japanese kintsugi, painting pottery in the Peruvian Andes, or shaping a Tuscan fresco with your own hands, these experiences open a window into local life and allow guests to leave with more than a memory — with something they have created themselves. Luxury hotels are increasingly embracing this desire, curating workshops and encounters that transform a stay into a cultural journey.

Japan – Pattern Dyeing & the Art of Kintsugi

Japan’s cultural identity is deeply entwined with craftsmanship. From the delicate art of kintsugi — where broken ceramics are mended with gold to emphasise imperfection — to the meditative practice of ikebana, each craft embodies a philosophy of beauty, patience and respect for nature. In Kyoto, pattern dyeing once adorned the finest silks, transforming them into wearable works of art, while in Okinawa, bingata textiles tell stories in vivid dyes and symbolic patterns. These are not just decorative objects but expressions of resilience, impermanence, and the balance of nature.

At Aman Kyoto, guests can immerse themselves in this spirit through Colour your Journey: a private painting and dyeing session in a forest glade. Guided by a master artisan, travellers create hand-painted postcards, drawing inspiration from Kyoto’s serene landscapes — a moment of creativity rooted in centuries of Japanese tradition.

Peru – Pottery & Retablos of the Andes

The Andes are alive with creativity, where craftsmanship has long served as both utility and storytelling. Pottery once held sacred meaning, decorated with cosmological symbols, animal motifs, and depictions of the gods, while retablos — intricate wooden boxes filled with miniature figurines — continue to narrate scenes of daily life and spirituality in vivid detail. Each piece, shaped and painted by hand, can take months or years to complete, becoming a lasting testament to Andean resilience and cultural memory. These traditions endure as living art, with stories passed down through clay and wood from generation to generation.

At Palacio Nazarenas, A Belmond Hotel, Cusco, guests can experience this heritage firsthand with the Tater Vera Experience. Step into the UNESCO-certified workshop of renowned artist Tater Vera for a three-hour ceramics masterclass, where you’ll paint your own ceramic piece under his guidance or that of his apprentices. Available for individuals or small groups of up to four, the workshop includes personalized artistic direction, light refreshments, and the chance to take home a unique creation — a tangible piece of Andean tradition.

Italy – Painting, Perfume & Mosaics

Italy has long been a cradle of artistry, where craftsmanship is woven into daily life. In Tuscany, medieval workshops thrived with frescoes, ceramics and illuminated manuscripts, traditions that still echo across Siena’s stone streets. The region also nurtured Florence’s Renaissance, where perfumery became an alchemical art under the Medici, blending herbs and essences into fragrances that were as much memory and poetry as scent. Further north, Venice dazzled with its brilliance: mosaics of smalti and gold leaf shimmering in San Marco, and Murano’s glassblowers shaping fire and sand into chandeliers, beads and mirrors prized across the courts of Europe. These crafts endure not only as symbols of Italian style but as living testaments to patience, imagination and beauty.

At Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco, guests can step directly into Tuscany’s heritage with hands-on workshops in medieval painting and ceramics. Using authentic pigments, plaster and clay, you’ll recreate the techniques of Siena’s masters, bringing centuries of artistic tradition to life with your own hands. And in Venice, Hotel Danieli invites guests to discover the last operating mosaic furnace, Orsoni, Venezia 1888, where artisans hand-cut tesserae and maintain a Colour Library of over 3,500 tones — the very materials used for the Basilica di San Marco and Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia. Together, these experiences reveal the breadth of Italy’s craftsmanship, from Tuscany’s timeless hills to the glittering canals of Venice.

Vietnam – Lanterns of Light in Hoi An

Hoi An, once a vital stop on the Silk Road, is a city defined by its light. The colourful silk lanterns that glow across its streets each evening are more than decoration: they are symbols of prosperity, good fortune and welcome, crafted by hand through generations of family workshops. Each lantern tells a story in fabric and frame, embodying Vietnam’s history of trade, artistry and hospitality.

At Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai, guests can embrace this tradition with a private lantern-making workshop. Guided by local artisans, you’ll shape, stretch and decorate your own lantern, taking home a glowing reminder of Hoi An’s heritage and your time by the South China Sea.

Crafting Connections

In Japan, Peru, Italy and Vietnam, craft traditions are not static relics but living expressions of culture. They are philosophies written in clay, silk, glass and fragrance. Through carefully curated experiences at Aman, Belmond, Rosewood and Four Seasons, travellers can go beyond observation and become part of these traditions — carrying home not just a crafted object, but a story, a philosophy, and a memory that endures.

Let The Betesh Group help you create these experiences, bringing the artistry of the world’s great craft traditions into your journey.