In times of need man relies on his resourcefulness and therefore produces. He chooses the materials most congenial to his need, or which are the easiest to find: he decides how to work with these raw materials. His initial efforts will concentrate on making this object practical, then later add a small decoration, a pattern…. he will choose material with a particular grain. The object will diverge from its purpose, but its shape will remain the same and become a work of art, the result of research and patient manual work.
This custom has been handed down almost unchanged for centuries; the economic-social changes which have taken place over the last fifty years have speeded up the cultural standardizing. Valle d’Aosta is no exception; thanks to the support of the Regional Administration and the endeavour of bodies such as IVAT and Comité des Traditions Valdotaines, handicraft has kept its vitality, despite moving a long way from the life style which created it. Furthermore continually changing market demands, tastes and trends have deeply transformed handicraft, but they still, however, conserve traces of the past, especially in the use of traditional materials such as wood, stone, wool… Typicality and continuity in time are guaranteed by the ever-growing number of hobbyists who relive the atmosphere of those past winter evenings, and by the Fair, rich in art, history and traditions.