A 27-Year Journey into the Heart of Global Artistry
For nearly three decades, Craft World Tours (CWT) served as a bridge between the Western world and the remote workshops of the world’s most skilled artisans. Founded and directed by Tom Muir Wilson (RIT Professor and Photographer) and Sherry Clark Wilson (Textile Designer and Manager), CWT was born from a singular mission: to document, preserve, and celebrate traditional lifeways that were—and are—rapidly disappearing.
The Wilson Methodology: Beyond Tourism
Unlike standard travel companies, every CWT expedition was a deep-dive ethnographic study.
- The Travel Years: Spanning hundreds of expeditions across six continents, these “Travel Years” were dedicated to building personal relationships with artisans in their own homes and villages.
- The Documentation: Every mile of the journey was recorded through Tom’s lens, resulting in a monumental archive of tens of thousands of Ektachrome slides and negatives.
- The Curation: Under Sherry’s expert eye, only the most authentic, Tier-1 examples of folk art were selected for the Wilson’s personal collection—pieces that are now being released through the Wilson Global Archive.
Our Global Footprint: The Expedition Regions
Derived from the original Craft World Tours field records
Eastern Europe & The Balkans
In Romania, we explored the “living ethnographic museum” of Maramures and Transylvania, focusing on sheepskin coatmakers, maskmakers, and the scribed terracotta potters of the rural north. In Bulgaria, expeditions wound through the southern mountains to document Muslim Bulgarian weavers and the architectural treasures of Plovdiv.
The Silk Road & Central Asia
The legendary 1991 Silk Road Expedition was part of a broader commitment to the northwestern frontiers of China and the ancient cities of Uzbekistan (Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva). Here, we documented the ancient handcrafts of silk weaving, feltmaking, and the production of traditional suzani.
The Andean Highlands
From the “Avenue of the Volcanoes” in Ecuador to the high-altitude world of Bolivia, CWT trekked through the Andes to meet Jalq’a weavers and backstrap loom artists. In Oaxaca, Mexico, we established a decades-long connection with Zapotec and Mixtec potters and woodcarvers.
South & Southeast Asia
Expeditions into Bhutan, Sikkim, and Myanmar focused on sacred ritual dances and the “kalaga” tapestry workshops of the Pagan plain. In India, rotating tours through Rajasthan and Gujarat documented the world’s finest block-printing and bronze foundry traditions.
The Digital Archive Project (2026)
Today, the work of Craft World Tours continues through the Byron-to-Rochester Rescue. We are currently in the process of bulk-scanning and OCR-processing decades of monthly newsletters and field notes. This “Digital Asset Management” project will eventually link every item in our boutique to its specific trip date, location, and the original artisan who created it.
CWT Brochure Transcription: Page 1 [Scan 3.jpeg]
ROMANIA Join us as we explore the rich and varied folklife of Romania’s traditional regions of Transylvania, Moldavia (Bucovina) and Maramures. Focusing on people and village life we meet sheepskin coatmakers and embroiderers, weavers and potters, a family of egg painters, a maskmaker and a folk artist. Beautiful mountainous countryside dotted with haystacks, traditional lifeways, and most of all… the incredible warm hospitality of the Romanian people!
WINTER FESTIVAL of MARAMURES, Romania For persons with an interest in traditional folklife, Transylvania’s mountainous region of Maramures is truly a living ethnographic museum. Connected with the Winter Solstice, the dances with masks in Maramures are visible remnants of pagan processions of the past… the country’s Romanian Orthodox background blended with pagan remnants manifests itself in the colorful winter traditions of today celebrated between Christmas and the New Year.
BULGARIA A land of rich folk traditions, ancient cities & towns with beautifully restored old Bulgarian architecture and outstanding monasteries! Visit Sofia, the living museum town of Koprivshtitsa, Troyan, Turnovo, Zheravna, Plovdiv, Melnik and the Muslim Bulgarian villages of the southern mountains. Visit the workshops of traditional craftsmen & women… knitters, weavers, potters, blacksmiths, woodworkers.
PORTUGAL Journeying from Lisbon, we venture into the plains of the Alentejo, exploring the old walled town of Evora and nearby embroidered rug and ceramic workshops, the medieval village of Marvao, and the mountains of the Montermuro where we visit knitting & weaving cooperatives. Continue to Barcelos and the medieval town of Guimaraes, visiting nearby village workshops including a blacksmith, woodworker, weaver and a lace school.
ECUADOR Traditional handcrafts & villages, colorful Indian markets, and the magnificent mountainous countryside of the Andean Highlands! Visit Old Quito, and excursion to the famous Otavalo Market. Drive through the “Avenue of the Volcanoes” to provincial Cuenca with its cultural and architectural treasures. Journeying through the Andean countryside we visit villages, homes & workshops of naive painters, potters, felt hatmakers, backstrap and ikat weavers.
BOLIVIA Travel in the high altitude world of the Bolivian Highlands is overwhelming, awesome, exhausting, haunting, humbling. Beginning with visits to handcraft workshops near Cochabamba, we continue to the colonial city of Sucre with its whitewashed buildings, old churches and narrow streets. Excursions into the countryside to see traditional textiles of the Jalq’a people… and to Tarabuco for the Sunday market. Continue to Potosi, and La Paz, visiting Lake Titicaca and Tiahuanaco.
OAXACA, MEXICO Explore the charming colonial city of Oaxaca with its Spanish architecture and indigenous culture, museums, the lively Zocalo (plaza) and local markets. Using Oaxaca as our base, we fill our days with excursions to regional villages specializing in handcrafts… visit ceramic artists and potters, woodcarvers, papermakers, rug and backstrap weavers. Oaxaca is the ancient homeland of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations, builders of Monte Alban and Mitla. The overwhelming site of Monte Alban, located on a hill overlooking Oaxaca, flourished as a religious, political and commercial center for more than 1200 years.
CWT Brochure Transcription: Page 2 [Scan 4.jpeg]
TURKEY Anatolia! Located on a peninsula that spans two continents, Asia and Europe. For thousands of years a crossroads of history and culture… the lands of the Tigris and Euphrates, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. Visit Istanbul and its historic sites. Travel through the plateau of central Anatolia to see the incredible world of Cappadocia, the Mevlana (whirling dervish) center of Konya and the carpet and pottery workshops and feltmakers of rural villages.
MOROCCO Ancient medinas (walled cities), colorful Berber markets and the mountain villages of the High Atlas. We visit the workshops of the masters of Moroccan handcrafts… carpet weavers, wool dyers, woodworkers, potters, brass and copper workers. Explore the labyrinthine world of the medinas of ancient Fes and Marrakech, coastal Essaouira and traditional weekly markets where the rural people of the countryside come to buy and sell.
INDIA The enormous diversity of people, religions, architecture and tradition of the Indian subcontinent is overwhelming! Over the years we have offered tours focusing on the craft traditions of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa and West Bengal. Visiting regional village workshops of weavers, blockprinters, embroiderers, bronze and ceramic artisans.
BHUTAN, SIKKIM & DARJEELING Explore the mountain kingdom of Bhutan and the northeastern Indian highlands of Sikkim and Darjeeling. In Bhutan we visit the valleys of Bumthang and Punakha to witness traditional festivals. Costumed and masked dancers perform sacred ritual dances to the accompaniment of traditional music in the courtyards of the great dzongs (fortress monasteries).
CHINA—THE SILK & CRAFT ROUTE For persons with an interest in exploring the lesser traveled regions of China, our journey to the northwestern frontier of Xinjiang is an incredible adventure. Traveling along the ancient Silk Route we visit the Muslim oasis towns of Turpan and Kashgar with its famous Sunday market. Visit the homes of villagers as they produce ancient handcrafts of silk weaving, feltmaking and papermaking.
CENTRAL ASIA Focusing on the traditional craft and folk art of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. We explore the legendary Silk Route cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva with their turquoise domes and tiled minarets. Visit workshops of feltmakers, potters, silk ikat weavers, suzani (embroidered wall hanging) artists and blockprinters.
MYANMAR (BURMA) Explore the ancient traditions of Myanmar. From Yangon we travel into the interior of the country, visiting Lake Inle with its unique floating gardens and village workshops and the archaeological site of Pagan with more than 2,000 temples and pagodas dotting the plain. We take a local boat journey on the Irrawaddy River. Visit tapestry (kalaga) workshops, handwoven silk, papermakers and umbrella makers, stone carving and bronze foundries.
The goal is simple: To ensure that the “incredible warm hospitality” and the “traditional lifeways” Tom and Sherry witnessed are never forgotten.