PREFACE
The countries of the Third World are engaged in a fierce
struggle on all fronts to achieve self-reliant, harmonious and balanced
development. In this struggle, there is an urgent need for them to exploit their
natural resources to the full. This cannot be done, however, unless the methods
and means of exploiting them are rationalised by a general command of technology
that will enlist the active and effective participation of the population,
thereby equipping society as a whole to move forward and creating the internal
dynamic for an authentic process of development.
The new techniques play a fundamental role in the process of
development as they generate the innovations without which the economies of the
developing countries are likely to remain in a fragmented and precarious state
for a long time to come for lack of effective training that could inject true
dynamism into development.
The modern techniques made available by the developed countries
have merely been superimposed on traditional techniques in an artificial and
insular fashion without any attempt to penetrate and activate them so as to give
rise to training and to the creation of poles and foci of authentic development.
As a result, the traditional techniques have remained static and archaic,
following procedures based on routine, tricks of the trade and rule of thumb
with no recourse to scientific know-how or methods. These techniques are not
without interest but must nevertheless be rethought in terms of an appropriate
technology that is acceptable to and can be assimilated by the people as a whole
in an innovative technological leap forward.
Horn is a high-quality raw material that is abundant in
Madagascar, which can boast of having one zebu per inhabitant as others would
speak in terms of cars or television sets per household. The possibilities of
this raw material have long been neglected in favour of plastics, which horn
could advantageously replace in a number of everyday utilitarian or decorative
objects that do not require much mechanical strength.
Moreover, horn working is a many-sided technique comprising a
number of crafts that can lead to a sound division of labour in the organisation
of production.
The project for developing this craft, now being carried out at
the Malagasy National Craft Centre (CENAM), has attempted to describe the
different techniques of horn processing in this manual on the technology of the
craft. The manual is the result of collaboration between high-level technicians
and small-scale artisans, who have worked together to rationalise the
traditional techniques so as to develop an appropriate technology that will
eventually lead to product standardisation.
This publication, and the idea that inspired it, could be a
starting point for other constructive and fruitful meetings and could furnish a
model for the popular mastery of horn technology. It is, in this sense, a useful
innovation. It will not, of course, be directly addressed to the majority of
horn workers, but in any case it should encourage technicians to develop simple
manuals for use by the artisanal sector.
We are particularly grateful to the promoter of this work, the
development project for Malagasy crafts, to the Norwegian Government which
helped to fund it, and also to Mr. Randriamihajamanana Thomas, an artisan in
horn, who was kind enough to unveil and explain its secrets for posterity.
Jean Robiarivony,
Director General of Planning,
Chairman
of the Administrative Committee of the Malagasy National Craft
Centre
(CENAM)
