The Last Representatives of Professions on the Brink of Extinction in Mustafakemalpaşa

One of the main principles in recognizing the people of a country and their community is to look into their culture. One of the popular culture activities that UNESCO wanted to protect within the scope of the “Preservance of the intangible cultural heritage” contract is the “Hand Crafts Tradition”. The social values and cultural structures are rapidly changing parallel with the technological advances. The traditional professions are now held by the last master craftsmen fighting against all difficulties and having trouble finding apprentices. Our aim is to be able to transfer our cultural wealth to the next generations. In our study we have focused on the almost extinct occupations like prosthetics, saddlery, matting and pottery.