1 Latin American Handicrafts as a Factor for Economic, Social and

Transcription

Number 6 Dynamics of latin american handicrafts as a factor of economic, social and cultural development
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Latin American Handicrafts as
a Factor for Economic, Social
and Cultural Development:
Handicrafts by the Light of the
New Concepts of Culture and
Development
Lic. Surnai Benítez Aranda
Surnai Benítez Aranda
Surnai Benítez Aranda, BA in History of Arts, is currently serving as
Advisor to the Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets. She has participated in
various meetings, congresses and forums as an expert on handicrafts
and representative of her country. She has been part of the organizing
committee of national and international exhibitions from 1998 on, and
has been a member of panels of judges and advisory boards.
She worked as a Cuban counterpart in the research and editing of
the Catalog of Cuban Handicrafts, Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets /
UNESCO in 1997. In 2003 she acted as National Consultant for the
International Center of Commerce (ICC) in the research project Cuba:
Export Potential of the Handicraft and Applied Art Offer. She has
collaborated with UNESCO on several projects for the development of
handicrafts. She has delivered courses on Aesthetics and Visual Arts in
Cuba and Venezuela.
Latin American Handicrafts as a Factor for Economic, Social and Cultural Development: Handicrafts by the Light of the New Concepts of Culture and Development
Latin American Handicrafts as a Factor for
Economic, Social and Cultural Development:
Handicrafts by the light of the new concepts of culture
and development
I. INTRODUCTION
It might seem somewhat paradoxical, or untimely to dedicate
efforts to study handicrafts these handmade articles which express
traditional forms of production in the current full digital age. Today
we are witnessing a revolution in communication technology and
every day we receive the impact of the new items in the market:
handy objects, that could be both phones, cameras, computers, music or video players, and which involve us into a new vision of the
world we spend our lives in, modifying our use of time, the interpersonal relationships and, in general, the social scenario.
However, the analysis of handicrafts as a specific phenomenon and
its links and relationships with various aspects of social, economic
and cultural life remains a subject of attention, both in the international and Latin American contexts. Far from losing interest, its
social value is increasing and it is gaining recognition in that it is
associated with new notions and concepts as the importance of preserving cultural diversity, the active role of traditional knowledge
in the dynamics of social change and the central position of culture
and creativity as a factor of human development.
This renewed vision of the current meaning of handicrafts that
appears in the present circumstances of globalization, is inextricably linked to the revision of the connotation attributed to the notions of culture and development as a result of the criticism on
the developmental system that has led humanity to a real risky situation. The resulting crisis has been catalogued as unprecedented,
both for its scope and its characteristics, and it has impacted all
areas of life, from those associated with the environment and the
habitat conditions, to the financial, trade, production, food, labour
markets, etc.
Latin American and Caribbean handicrafts, often ignored or accepted only as a “souvenir” linked to tradition and folklore, can be
freshly viewed as a regional treasure developed by a valuable human potential which is part of the intangible heritage of the geographical area and which is the depository of ancient knowledge from
different cultures and ethnic backgrounds that make up the various
nations and nationalities of the region. This potential, integrated
in a new design, can foster economic, social and cultural development, strengthening, at the same time, the sense of belonging of
people to their community and contributing to the development of
individuals and groups from an activity that generates both material and spiritual wealth.
But this new vision is possible to be assumed only from a democratized perspective, respectful of differences and social justice, able
to overcome prejudice, discrimination, and the commercialism
with which has been treated, in many cases, the artisan sector, so
that it could be viewed as a force from which it is possible to face
a crisis that requires us to review and rethink the notions that had
been had so far of development and social progress.
For the Latin-American context, where the unfinished project of
modernity is updated with the demands of the popular sectors and
the new challenges of the globalization process, many issues associated with the symbolic productions of culture, in which handicrafts participate as one of their richest expressions, require new
approaches and insights to encourage their full integration into the
social fabric and the design of national policies on human development.
II. THE CULTURAL DIMENSION OF DEVELOPMENT
Development, as a concept that expresses the social and individual aspirations for a full life, has changed historically. In 1945, the
United Nations (UN) in its constitution, the Charter of the United
Nations, expressed the need to take actions for solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems. At that
time the economic growth and the industrialization were seen as
basic pillars of development, which in some way made sense for
a society that had recently ended World War II and had to address
the challenge of the reconstruction of the countries devastated by
this conflict.
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Between the ‘60s and ‘70s, the so called “First Development Decade” by the United Nations, expanded, diversified and deepened
the meaning of development, giving emphasis on “social issues”
such as health, education, employment and housing. In 1965, the
“United Nations Program for Development” is created, with the
mandate to contribute to sustainable human development with
emphasis on development with equity and consideration for the
environment. During this period the concept of “quality of life” is
introduced, bringing the analysis closer to the creation of conditions that make human life feasible from a qualitative perspective.
The decade of the ‘80s, however, showed that, despite all efforts
made for development, the gap between rich and poor countries increasingly widened and, far from being solved, the problems worsened, because of situations such as the acute exacerbation of the
energy crisis, the generation of financial surpluses, the increased
supply of credits and a further indebtedness of poor countries.
Towards the end of this decade, the phenomena of globalization
and interdependence showed up, and in the ‘90s a liberalization of
markets took place, accompanied by cuts in public expenditure on
social issues that, far from reducing the gap between rich and poor,
emphasize it, with the resulting deepening of the asymmetries and
imbalances.
By the end of last century, mankind began to understand that this
vision of development as a linear and unique process, created
through a system of values that put the economic indicators at the
forefront and assigned a subordinate and instrumental role to culture, was in crisis, and it was needed to rethink its meaning from a
different perspective.
-An open and equitable framework for trade, investment and technology transfer, as well as an increase in the cooperation for the
management of global economy and the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic policies are considered critical for
the fostering of sustained economic growth.
-An acceleration in the rate of economic growth is essential for
promoting development and achieving social and economic transformation and poverty eradication.
In 1996 the Human Development Report extends the basic approach with new dimensions that include the following:
- Empowerment: Basic empowerment depends on the increase of
people’s capacities, but this concept entails an additional connotation: in the course of their daily lives, people should be able to
participate in taking decisions that affect their lives and to support
them, so that they are not passive recipients but active agents of
their own development.
- Cooperation: Human beings survive in a complex web of social
structures, ranging from family to the state, from local self-help
groups to multinational enterprises. They are social beings who value participation in their community life. This sense of belonging
is an important source of welfare, providing pleasure and sense, a
perception of having purpose and meaning.
- Human development necessarily involves a concern for culture
-the way people choose to live together- because it is the manner
of social cohesion, based on culture and shared values and beliefs
that express the individual human development. If people live well
together, if they cooperate so as to enrich each other, they extend
their individual options. In this way, human development is concerned not only in the individuals but also in how they interact and
cooperate in the communities.
- Equity: We usually think of equity in relation to wealth or income. But the human development approach takes a much broader
point of view, which tries to ensure equity in basic capabilities and
opportunities. According to this approach everyone should have,
for example, the opportunity for education, or for living a long and
healthy life. This applies in particular to women, who have to face
a profound discrimination.
- Sustainability: Sustainable human development meets the needs
of the present generation without compromising the possibilities
of future generations to meet their needs. Therefore, it involves
considerations of intergenerational equity.
- Security: For a long time, the idea of security has been related to
military security or the security of the states. One of the most basic
needs is the security of being able to earn a living, but people also
want to be free from chronic threats such as diseases or repression,
as well as sudden and harmful disruptions in their daily lives.
The review and enhancement of the concept of development reflects the fact that, far from achieving the goals proposed at each
stage, mankind has been involved in a process of deepening of the
economic and social crisis, and the idea of development based on
economic growth has not had the corresponding counterpart in life,
showing that economic growth can not be an end in itself but a
means and that the sole purpose of development is man, not as an
abstraction but as a concrete man.
The Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development
“Our Creative Diversity”, 1996, recognizes that:
The concept of human development
The challenges faced by humanity in those years showed that it was
no longer possible to conceive the development just from an economic perspective. The United Nations Program for Development
(UNDP) defined a concept of human development that implies a
broader notion, characterizing it as “a process intended to increase options for people, which measures the development depending
on a wide range of capacities, from political, economic and social
freedom to the individual opportunities to become healthy, educated, productive and creative persons, and to see both their personal
dignity and their human rights respected.” (1)
Through multilateral cooperation and the conferences and summits
of the various agencies of the United Nations system, an agenda
was designed in order to raise awareness of the new concept of
development at international level, highlighting the following aspects:
-Development should be human-centred. Because human beings
are multifaceted, a multidimensional treatment is essential in the
development process.
-The central objectives of development must include the eradication of poverty, the coverage of basic needs and the protection of
human rights and fundamental freedoms, being the right to development one of them.
-Investment in health, education and training is essential for the development of human resources. Social development is successfully
achieved if governments actively promote people’s empowerment
and participation in pluralistic and democratic systems.
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“…Development is a more complex undertaking than had been
thought about. It could no longer be looked at as a single path, uniform and linear, because this approach would inevitably eliminate
the diversity and cultural experimentation, and severely limit the
creative ability of mankind with its valuable past and the unpredictable future. Throughout the world, a vigorous cultural diversification, based on the recognition that civilization is a mosaic of
different cultures, had already helped to avert such danger “.(2)
This report adopts a more profound and multifaceted vision of
development, pointing out the importance of the subjective factor
which is projected from the culture towards the economic, political
and social life. It introduces new concepts that elucidate the role of
culture in achieving the objectives of development, when it says:
“Culture is the transmission of behaviour and also a dynamic source of change, creativity and freedom, that opens possibilities for
innovation. For groups and societies, culture is energy, inspiration
and empowerment, as well as knowledge and appreciation of diversity “.(3)
The report underlines the necessity of restoring the active sense
that culture transmits, in its original meaning as a trainer of values
that enables individuals to adapt and transform the reality of their
time. It points out the importance of the concept of creativity used
in a broad sense, to denote not only the production of a new object
or art form, but also for the solution of any problem in any imaginable field”.(4)
These considerations allowed to place the culture in a central position as a training element of social and individual values, as an
active agent that generates changes and, hence, as the foundational
basis of the reconstruction of a new perspective of human society
and of a culture of plurality, solidarity, inclusivism and harmony
with nature as necessary conditions for human development.
The indivisibility of culture and development, the latter understood
not only as economic growth, but also as a means of reaching a satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual life, is a principle based on the contemporary view on development. This idea is
based on the rights of the individual as well as on the recognition of
a set of possibilities that allows groups, communities and nations to
project their future in an integrated manner.
folklore. Later, in a meeting organized in 1976 with the assistance of UNESCO and the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), a committee of governmental experts adopted the Tunis
Model Law, which refers to the protection of folklore.
In March 2001, UNESCO organized an expert meeting in Turin
(Italy) entitled “Intangible cultural heritage, operational definitions”, which defined the intangible cultural heritage as:
“processes assimilated by the people along with the knowledge,
skills and creativity that nurture them and that they develop, the
products they create and the resources, spaces and other aspects of
social and natural context which are necessary for their sustainability. In addition to give to the live communities a sense of continuity with respect to previous generations, these processes are important for the cultural identity and for the safeguard of the cultural
diversity and the creativity of humanity.” (5)
Afterwards, the Convention for the Safeguard of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage, carried out during the 32nd General Conference
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, held in Paris in October 2003, defined intangible cultural heritage as “the practices, representations, expressions,
knowledge and techniques, -together with the instruments, objects,
artefacts and cultural spaces that are inherent to them-that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of
their cultural heritage” . (6)
This convention recognizes that the intangible cultural heritage,
transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated
by communities and groups according to their environment, their
interaction with nature and their history, providing them with a sense of identity and continuity and, thus, helping to promote respect
for cultural diversity and human creativity.
The scope in which the intangible cultural heritage is expressed
includes:
a) oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle
of intangible cultural heritage;
b) performing arts;
c) social practices, rituals and festive events;
d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
e) traditional craftsmanship.
The inclusion of traditional craftsmanship among the areas encompassed by intangible cultural heritage is an important recognition
of the role played by artisan creation in the production and reproduction of livelihoods of people throughout history and its role as a
link between material and spiritual values of a community.
Preservation of the Intangible Heritage
The cultural dimension of development has allowed to appreciate
more clearly the importance of preserving the material and intellectual creation, establishing the criterion that the safeguard of all the
work created by people, by ethnic groups, by humanity as a whole,
is as important for current and future generations as preserving the
environment and the conditions of habitability of the planet and
protecting the biodiversity of species.
Initially, the idea of the protection of the cultural heritage was framed in the protection of monuments: architectural works, works of
monumental sculpture or painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, etc., with an outstanding universal value from
historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view,
all of them expressing an objective and tangible reality.
The process of extending the concept of what should be protected
begins in 1973, when the government of Bolivia proposed to add a
protocol to the Universal Copyright Convention in order to protect
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
For its part, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions, from 2005, recognizes cultural
diversity as one of the greatest treasures of humanity, as a motor
for the development of communities and as a heritage to be preserved for the benefit of everyone. It conceptualizes the term cultural
diversity, affirming that it “refers to the manifold ways in which
the cultures of groups and societies are expressed.” It also states
a broad and democratizing vision of the entire range of cultural
expressions to be recognized:
“Cultural diversity is made manifest not only in the different ways
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in which the cultural heritage of humanity is expressed, enriched
and transmitted through the variety of cultural expressions, but also
through diverse modes of artistic creation, production and transmission, distribution and enjoyment of cultural expressions, whatever the means and the technology used.”(7)
In the foundations of this Convention it is stated that “cultural goods and services are both of economic and cultural nature, because
they convey identities, values and meanings and must, therefore,
not be treated as solely having commercial value.” ( 8)
The Convention addresses the need to preserve the cultural diversity as a challenge to the current process of globalization, facilitated by the rapid development of information and communication technologies. Therefore, in its objectives it is pointed out the
importance of protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural
expressions, but also the importance of encouraging intercultural
exchange and dialogue between different cultures in the spirit of
building bridges between peoples.
In its Article 2, Guiding Principles, it provides the ethical, democratic and solidarity bases for the promotion and protection of cultural diversity, stating that:
1. Principle of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Cultural diversity could only be protected and promoted if human
rights and fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression,
information and communication, and the possibility of individuals
to choose cultural expressions is ensured…
2. Principle of sovereignty. In accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations and the principles of international law, the states
enjoy the sovereign right to adopt measures and policies to protect
and promote the diversity of cultural expressions within their respective territories.
3. Principle of equal dignity and respect for all cultures. The protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions presuppose the recognition of the equality of all cultures and the respect for all of them, including the cultures of persons belonging to
minorities and native peoples.
4. Principle of international solidarity and cooperation. International cooperation and solidarity should be aimed at enabling countries, especially developing countries, to create and strengthen their
means of cultural expression, including cultural industries, whether
nascent or established, locally, nationally and internationally.
5. Principle of complementarity of economic and cultural development. Given that culture is one of the main engines of development, its cultural aspects are as important as its economic aspects,
in which respect both individuals and peoples have the fundamental right to participate in and enjoy.
6. Principle of sustainable development. Cultural diversity is a rich
wealth for individuals and societies. The protection, promotion and
maintenance of cultural diversity is an essential condition for sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations.
7. Principle of equitable access. The equitable access to a rich and
diversified range of cultural expressions from all over the world
and the access of cultures to the mass media are important elements
for enhancing the cultural diversity and encouraging the mutual
understanding.
8. Principle of openness and balance. When states adopt measures
to support the diversity of cultural expressions, they should try to
promote, in an appropriate way, openness to other cultures of the
world and ensure that these measures are geared to achieve the objectives of this Convention. (9)
This Convention constitutes an essential document in the establishment of policies intended to place culture at the heart of development and can be seen by their content (definitions, concepts, principles and measures) as a programmatic document for the projection
of the cultural exchange and cooperation in the current conditions
of globalization.
III: HANDICRAFTS AS A FACTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Meaning, nature and function of the artisan creation
To understand how handicrafts can be seen as a factor in human
development, we must first examine the scope of the concept, meaning not only the piece of craftsmanship in isolation, but a type
of activity in which economic, technical, productive, commercial,
social, aesthetic and cultural elements of great complexity are involved. Handicrafts are usually integrated or shares spaces with
other expressions of art and culture and even with the industrial
production itself, so that for their study it is sometimes necessary
to establish the differences, while in other moments it is essential to
point out what is common, the mutual influences and the overlaps
between these processes.
Handicrafts, analyzed from this dimension, have a dynamic that
encompasses the cycles of creation, production, circulation and use
and are related to other critical phenomena of the present social
context, such as the problems related to natural resource depletion
and environmental crisis; to the substitution of manual work by
the industry; to the issues associated with migration from rural to
urban areas; to those related to market fluctuations, particularly in
its relationship with the tourist industry, among others.
From a social perspective, there are problems associated with social classes and strata to which the artisans belong, as those related
to exclusion, discrimination, particularly gender discrimination in
the case of women, and of ethnic minorities, as well as poverty
and unemployment, to mention only some of which were already
affecting the artisan sector and that, in the new circumstances, tend
to further worsening and deterioration.
To be able to act in the sense of a change of view that looks at such
activity as a factor of development, handicrafts must be seen in all
their breadth and comprehensiveness as an all-embracing concept
that includes all the elements that typify human activity:
- It is a form of spiritual- practical activity, that is, a form of work
that has the peculiarity of preserving the primeval unity between
beauty and usefulness, characteristic of many productions before
the industrial revolution which were made to order and designed to
meet their dual aesthetic and utilitarian functions.
- The creation can be individual or collective, but in general it is
a type of activity that promotes the social organization based on
association and cooperativism, that contributes to the consolidation
of a sense of belonging and social cohesion of the family and community. From the technical point of view, it reproduces a wide range of productive forms and preserves for humanity ways of doing
from different historical stages, ranging from the most ancient to
the most modern, with the use of the machine as an auxiliary ele6
ment.
- It meets various requirements, not just utilitarian, but also of a
symbolic nature, often associated with other syncretic cultural expressions. They connect and interact with other areas of cultural
activity, such as local festivals, design and visual arts. They are
considered one of the expressions of cultural identity.
- Sometimes its scope is limited and it is only produced to meet
requirements for the personal or collective use, and sometimes they
are created to be marketed and generate economic benefits to the
producer or producers, and even for the tourist market and export.
- They constitute a form of knowledge and communication that
perpetuates cultural values between different generations.
- They are associated with forms of cultural consumption that differ
from market standards of industrial objects.
- They promote ways of exchange with nature and the environment
based on respect and sustainability and can be integrated into local
programs aimed at conservation and development of biodiversity.
- They develop special skills in the individuals, who combine the
manual skill and the intellectual exercise, a feature necessary for
the balance and harmony of human personality.
The definition of handicrafts is an issue that has generated considerable debate among theorists and scholars of the subject. In texts it
can be appreciated how, in most cases, elements are being sought to
help understand the differences and similarities with other processes with which handicrafts connect, juxtapose or limit. For example, one of the most developed subjects is the relationship between
arts and handicrafts.
In general, art is attributed with a special ability to transcend spiritually and rouse in the audience a feeling of aesthetic pleasure
associated with the unique nature of the work and the originality of
the experience that evokes from the individual vision of the artist.
These characteristics, that explain for some the “aura” of art and
the artist, respond to a concept entrenched in a Western view that
comes from the eighteenth century. Nevertheless, the notion of art
is subject to very different criteria and social assessment.
The history of western art identifies the Renaissance as the beginning of an individual vision of artistic talent, and specifically noted
the figure of Michelangelo Buonarroti as the first artist who feels
obliged to his talent. However, the type of individual genius is not
fully recognized until the eighteenth century, when it starts the final
transit between patronage and free market without protection.
This topic, one of the most controversial and interesting in the
studies of aesthetics, has been addressed by many scholars. For
example, Morawki Stefan, one of the major specialists in aesthetics
and philosophers of art and culture of the twentieth century, wrote:
“Because it is true that division between vulgar arts (the so called
mechanical from medieval times) and liberal arts demonstrates the
existence of a conceptual class so broad, that masonry, architecture,
hairdressing, wall decorating, dry cleaning, painting, etc., belonged to the same family. “ And later, he adds: “It comes out from
such examples .... that within the limits of an extended conceptual
family embraced by the name of “art “, in ancient times it was
already outlined the underclass consisting, precisely, of the artistic
domains that many centuries later were integrated by the term ‘les
beaux arts’; hence, since Greek times it was said that they are born
from inspiration ... “(10)
That is why it is recognized that, while the ideas in the arts have
no limit other than the artist’s own creativity, in the applied arts, to
which handicrafts belong, the idea should not exceed the function,
that is, the function acts as a limit or a conditioning element of
creative ideas.
The western view of art can not, however, be considered universal
or applicable to the art produced in all ages and backgrounds. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the hegemonic nature of Western
culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, established the current
notions on the division and differentiation between “beaux arts” to
designate literature, music, painting and architecture, leaving for
the other art terms like minor arts, applied arts or handicrafts, being usually considered part of the other trades, for their utilitarian
function.
Such a division might seem inconsequential if it not were because
it is the cause of many problems that are expressed in the practice
of the artisan sector, ranging from the omission and disregard of the
activity in the political projection, the absence of means of protection to the product and the sector, to the undervaluation of the artisan creation and the handicrafts, generally viewed as an ancillary
production without social impact.
The ranges of expression in handicrafts are very rich and diverse.
They can extend from the individual expression, with a predominance of originality that is confused with the expressive forms of
art, to the formalizing of the community shared tastes and values,
as happens to the design. In handicrafts it is possible sometimes,
therefore, to identify an author as the creator of a design, while
other times it is said to be an anonymous creation or a work from
a community that is identified as the author, since it has repeated
this design generation after generation as a feature of their identity.
The ornamental and decorative function, that is, the ornament that
repeats plastic motifs as the line, curves, waves, the grecas or stylized zoomorphic and natural motifs, etc., is a generalization of the
plastic properties of reality. It can decorate various objects, a poncho, a piece of pottery, a basket, this ornament is an abstraction
that, as a symbol, expresses a constructive aesthetic principle, but
also ideas, values and conceptions of the world that settle as part of
the heritage. The way in which they are organized and structured
synthesizes specific identities which must be protected from the
unscrupulous use of cheap copies and illegal trafficking.
This subject has an important expression in the field of intellectual
property. The point is whether it is possible to protect artisan works
the same way art works are protected, by copyright, taking into
account that the originality of the work is the basis of copyright
and so the issue is how to protect creations that are the heritage of
ethnic groups and collectives, which are not original in the sense
required by law, i.e. as something unique.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has developed many activities, events, workshops and technical seminars to
further discuss the issue and disclose the various legal and extralegal means to be adopted for the protection of handicrafts. Handicrafts, by their dual aesthetic and utilitarian functionality, can be
protected by invoking the law of copyright and the industrial property, alternately or simultaneously, with the so called cumulative
protection or with other means which are able to recognize aspects
not covered by these instruments.
From a historical point of view, artisan production is the first form
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of the transforming activity of man, the first form of production
that goes back to the origins of the human species, when there was
no specialization or differentiation between material and spiritual
activity, but what has been called the cultural syncretic complex of
primitive man.
Like in many artistic expressions and in popular and traditional
culture, handicrafts preserve the original syncretic nature of human
culture. They show the unity between the aesthetic and utilitarian
functions, the objects are not only valued for their beauty, but, like
the objects resulting from common work, they are also valued by
their ability to meet practical needs. An important feature of handicrafts is that such unity emerges from the very shape of the object,
so that the aesthetic qualities are part of the technical and structural
aspects as an indivisible whole. Although for the knowledge of the
characteristics of the product and in certain works a distinction can
be made between technique, form and function. What is admirable
in handicrafts is the integration of these aspects.
The element that is taken as a parameter to distinguish artisan production is the technical factor, that is, the procedure to be followed
in the making of the object, which allows to distinguish whether it
was manual or industrial.
In many cases the artisan technique becomes the main element of
assessment, either by its perfection and quality, or because it constitutes itself a carrier of aesthetic values as in the filigree work,
in embroidery and knitting, and in the combinations of colour of
different types of wood in marquetry. Sometimes the technical side
is appreciated for being a legacy of disused processes or for its
innovation.
Creating handicrafts involves the mastery of certain techniques and
manual skills, which either can be preserved with little change over
time or evolve and incorporate advances in science and technology. In general, manual labour is aided by tools or machinery that
sometimes, as the winch or the pedal loom, relies on human energy
itself as the driving force.
The incorporation of new materials, tools and even the introduction
of certain equipment and machinery in some artisan trades, are aspects that go hand by hand with the development of handicrafts and
the dynamics of change stamped by the scientific and technological
development.
However, although it is currently recognized that in certain artisan trades industrial machinery and tools may be introduced as a
complement to the craftsmanship, the predominance of the manual
technique is essential in the definition of handicrafts and it is one of
the elements that differentiate them from the serial and impersonal
production of the industry.
In relation with the use of machines and work tools, when the predominance of the manual work is stated, it is not about denying
the development and maintaining the production of handicrafts at
a technological backwardness that requires an unnecessary human
effort. What happens is that, as with the sculptor who carefully handles his gouge for cutting just enough to achieve the form he has
imagined, or the painter who moves his brush gently to avoid the
impression of hair left on the stand, handicrafts require a very close
link between man and object. It is this link which gives special
attributes to handicrafts, making them emotional, human. Sometimes this character is expressed through mistakes or imperfections
as with the so called naïf painting or with carvings and objects
that do not show the exquisitiveness of academic art or the perfection of the industrial object, but which enjoy a grace and ingenuity
that make them attractive. In contrast with these objects, which are
done one by one, entirely by hand or with a predominance of manual work, there are productive processes that divide the work in
stages, where a part is quasi-industrial or serialized.
In a particular manifestation, a kind of social division of labour is
produced, these co-authorship ways are often linked to family traditions or trade-union organizations, and the participation of several people takes the form of training as the supervised preparation
in arts.
The Industrial Revolution and the uncontrolled growth of serial
production, with the consequent depletion of natural resources,
eliminated the artisan way of production in many societies and,
with it, the unity between the aesthetic and the usefulness that was
inherent in this type of production.
Handicrafts are located at the boundary between the unique work
of art and mass-produced objects from industrial production, and
share features and characteristics of these two groups of objects.
Just like the work of art, they deal with formal elements of visual
expression, and we appreciate that in the shape, colour, texture of
materials, composition, etc. As with the industrial product, we value their usefulness and other values related to their use, as quality
parameters, ergonomic parameters related to the form-function relationship and to the ability to meet the needs for which the objects
were created.
In handicrafts, it is common nowadays to find workshops that retain the traditional trade organization in which there is a master
who is the one who formally defines and creates the work, while
other artisans are involved only as implementers of the process,
that is, in the reproduction stage.
Usually, these artisan workshops retain the following characteristics:
- The production is directed by a craftsman master.
- The workshops are centres of production and training.
- The organization of production responds to a specialization of
work at certain stages of the creation of the objects.
- The materials, equipment and working tools can be either the
teacher’s or belong to the group of artisans.
But this is not the only form of organizing the work, as in artisan
creation it can be found from the individual craftsman, who makes
his work solo, to artisan communities or villages.
Classification of artisan works and genres
One of the most complex problems in the categorization of handicrafts is that there are no formal, material, or functional attributes
that allow solely by themselves an identification of these products,
which cover a range as wide as the human inventiveness is able
to conceive. The classification of handicrafts is usually done by
taking into account the following factors:
- The technique used.
- The predominant material in the object.
- The function or intended use.
For its part, the categorization of artisan genres is also one of the
most discussed topics on which there are no unified criteria, becau8
se of its dependence, in most cases, on local particularities.
Because there are so many differences and viewpoints on the topic,
sometimes there are, in theoretical circles, endless controversies
that rather than reach clarity on the subject, they make evident the
need for a broad and plural approach thereof. On the other hand, it
is necessary to look at the existence of artisan genres in their social
dynamic, as these are not static and evolve and adapt to new situations such as those that emerge from urban cultures that incorporate
to artisan production symbolic elements from the standards of the
international culture, or recycling handicrafts that incorporate industrial and urban consumption waste in their production.
A specialist on the subject has identified three main categories of
artisans, including:
The craftsmen of tradition. They are mostly peasants: potters, basket-makers, tin-makers, embroiderers, lace makers, clog-makers,
sculptors, carpenters, cabinetmakers, chair-makers ... As heirs of
local traditions and ancient handicrafts, they make them evolve according to their temperament, but in a defined way.
The craftsmen of art. This definition encompasses non-traditional
artisans, who produce items corresponding to “decorative arts”.
These mainly urban handicrafts, more than any other, are influenced by fashion and the trends of the so called superior art.
Executing artisans. They have always constituted the bulk of the
actual artisans, particularly in the carpentry and cabinet making.
This is a workforce that is often of first order, but with no creative
ability. (11)
As can be seen, in this case the classification is based in the position of the artisan with respect to the degree of creativity of the
work, that is, the ones who create from old models, consolidated by
tradition, the ones that create according to the contemporary taste,
approaching to arts, and those who do not properly create, but just
reproduce learned actions.
However, there are other classifications that meet criteria based on
social classes or ethnic or population factors, as when one speaks of
native handicrafts, rural handicrafts, urban handicrafts, etc.
Sometimes the criterion refers to a view over tradition and modernity. It is then talked about traditional handicrafts and neo-handicrafts, the latter are generally identified with urban handicrafts that
work from assimilated aesthetic criteria of arts and design.
These examples around handicraft genres and classifications show
the need to continue working to examine the topic closely, to help
visualizing the social, cultural and economic-productive potentials
in the artisan sector in a region. The subject of classifications and
categorizations of artisan techniques and genres has a particular
importance when developing measurement instruments and censuses of the artisan sector to reveal the handicraft richness, diversity
and potential of knowledge for the development of the community.
All these features explain the multifunctional and multifaceted nature of handicrafts. Understanding this character is a basic condition for handicrafts to be seen as an activity linked to economic,
productive, commercial, educational and cultural processes as a
factor for human development.
education of people are rarely noticed. The educational possibilities of
handicrafts are associated with the need to go beyond the mere usefulness
of products, giving human meaning of spiritual nature to the objects that
surround persons in their everyday lives, in the pleasure and enjoyment
that come with the creative work .
The formation of a multifaceted individual is at the heart of the educational objectives of contemporary pedagogy. This is based on the need to
transmit knowledge and values, but also to develop capabilities that allow
a creative, active projection, and personality transforming in both its individual and social dimension.
These aspects become particularly relevant in analyzing the equilibrium
that must exist, from the educational point of view, between the development of manual skills and the scientific-technical, cultural and humanistic
knowledge, which is essential in forming a full and harmonious person.
Handicrafts have, with respect to training practices, their pedagogical
specificity: learning by doing. This principle, that combines learning and
creative practice, is not only important for the development of handicrafts
themselves. Its use is more universal, as it allows the development of manual dexterity as part of human skills which will be projected in different
scenarios, in the production and for the solution of many problems and
challenges of everyday life. Usually, the development of manual skills
begins in the family, the first school. From the first years of schooling,
artisan creation is associated with game activities, combining enjoyment
and manual ability. However, this process has not always its continuation
in formal education, and experiences, like the one left in almost all of Latin
America by the former Schools of Arts and Handicrafts have been lost.
It is obviously required a reconsideration of the purposes and means of
education. Perhaps today, when computers and consumption through
the media reinforce the trend towards sedentary lifestyles, it is more important than ever to introduce workshop classrooms for learning trades
that put young people in contact with working tools and with the handling of certain techniques and materials that prepare them as producers.
If such preparation is accompanied by knowledge about general culture,
about the traditions of the community and the pleasure of artisan work,
the results will be seen undoubtedly not only in the development of productive capacities, but also in the formation of a person more creative
and able to appreciate the qualitative aspects of life.
Another aspect of the subject is the one related to the training of craftsmen in areas that define their development, such as in the improvement
and acquisition of new technical knowledge, in the characteristics and
demands of the market, in the ways for protecting their productions,
among many other options that will benefit their performance.
The formation of human capabilities is at the heart of the concept of
human development. Theories about the formation of human resources
look at the human being as a means to foster the production of goods.
Although they establish a one-to-one relationship between human resources and production of goods, the formation of human capabilities
should be considered in a more integrated sense, which considers these
capabilities as opportunities for people to enjoy a full and decent life
according to their welfare.
Handicrafts and the Environment and Sustainability
There is a reciprocal conditioning between handicrafts and the environment. The various types of handicraft products take the ele-
Handicrafts as an opportunity for human development
It si commonly pointed out the great economic and cultural importance of handicrafts, but their qualities as a means of aesthetic
9
Culture
and
ments necessary for their production, in general, from their environment; these can come directly from nature or from other means
and resources of the industry, the urban and social environment.
The equilibrium between nature and production in the pre-industrial society, as well as in communities where manual work is still
the main economic activity, has been taken as a reference to demonstrate the importance of the renewal of natural resources and
the preservation of all elements that ensure the continuity of production.
This relationship has a paradigmatic nature, as the artisans apply
a sort of principle of reciprocity and solidarity, keeping a constant
concern for the replenishment of natural resources they use. It has
been altered due to the environmental problems we currently face.
Changes in the habitat conditions for many species, extreme weather events, floods and droughts, etc., put at risk many traditional
forms of production and break this relationship that at some moment was seen as a harmonious one.
Traditional knowledge on the conservation of resources also suffers the effects of environmental changes, but also of the policies
of plunder and overexploitation of natural resources. Exogenous or
endogenous causes have led to risky situations for the preservation
of craft traditions.
A leading Mexican dyer, who recently gave a course on traditional Mexican dry-cleaning to craftswomen from Santa Catarina de
Ocotlán, Oaxaca, in which the tissues acquire their different colours
from natural resources, found among the materials in the vicinity:
- Lichens
- Barks for browns
- Colour clays
- Pinion pines (pine nuts lying on the floor)
- Marine fossils in rocks
- Limestone for lime
- Quality wool
- Experience with the spindle
In the report of this master dyer is the following observation on
lichens:
“I only recommend the use of these sensitive plant organisms (association of an alga and a fungus) after checking that there are
plenty of them and also that people understand the importance of
lichens in the forest. I must say that I use them there because they
are of no use for these people, they even considere them a pest and,
of course, they still use wood as fuel in a 100% and also that lichens
go with the wood to the fire.
Seen in this way, and once they saw the beautiful orange colour
that was obtained and that they do not have to use fixatives to get it,
they liked very much the idea to use them for colouring.
I emphasize to them very emphatically, that they should not cut
the lichens unless they are found in dead wood or in the wood to
be burnt.
I am confident that this will be so, because the female artisans are
sensitive and intelligent about things of life and nature.”
But the most interesting part of this artisan report is the recommendations not to lose the tradition and to validate the importance of
ecological production, when he says:
About the spindle and the waist loom:
“I can not stop saying a requiem for these two instruments, basis of
our ancient culture, which lasted for us just 500 years.
The introduction of the spinning wheel and the pedal loom to Santa Catarina Ocotlán, marks the beginning of the end of these two
cultural elements.
I can be told that this is progress and that it is needed for them to
spin faster and make more cloth and ... that this will improve their
economy and that they will be more competitive; I think this is a
false premise.
When we have not still placed natural products in the market, that
is, Creole wool cloth , made with wool spun with spindle and waist
loom, and ... with the added value of the best natural dyes of the
world, we are already taking steps to remove them from the catalogue.
There is nothing better and more competitive than utilitarian fabrics made with waist loom, with threads woven in spindle and
coloured with natural dyes. “ (12)
Another topic of great importance in the relationship between
handicrafts and environment is the almost total absence of species
management and reforestation programs that take into account the
needs of the artisans. The analysis of sources of supply of raw materials and other materials for artisan work is usually relegated to
the individual level, leaving the craftsmen to look for their own
solution to these problems. In an integral analysis, this issue is of
utmost importance for the development of the artisan sector and
for the achievement of sustainability of the sources of supply for
many handicrafts.
Contemporary handicrafts not only use natural resources, they also
use industrial and recycled materials, which are wastes from the
own industry and human consumption, especially in cities. In some
places, the classification of “recycling handicrafts” has been consolidated as a practice that involves the creative use of what would
end up as garbage and the obtention of available resources at low
costs in conurbations.
Environmentalists have argued that such was the extent of overexploitation of the environment by industrial production that we are
currently beyond the capacity of regeneration of the planet and it
is, therefore, necessary to make production compatible with forms
that allow the recovery of this capacity and promote the idea of
learning to live with less.
For many analysts, the model of industrial development is not sustainable in environmental terms. Artisan production, on the other
hand, where the predominance of manual work imposes a limit on
the time of manufacturing the product, is much closer to meeting
the requirements of environmental sustainability and to a concept
of Clean Productions which promotes a development that respects
the environment and that overcomes the current problems, including the depletion of natural resources, the ecosystem destruction
and fragmentation, the loss of biodiversity, as well as the problems
of environmental pollution and the emission of greenhouse effect
gases.
The concept of Clean Production works on the principle of the sustainability of the human activities which are required to fulfil the
basic and supplementary needs that guarantee the quality of life, by
incorporating non-polluting elements, good manufacturing practi10
ces and operations, proper handling and use of sub-products and
waste, etc.
There are three basic rules in the use of natural resources:
1. None of the renewable resources should be used at a rate higher
than its generation rate.
2. None of the contaminants should be produced at a rate higher
than the one in which it can be recycled, neutralized or absorbed
by the environment.
3. None of the non-renewable resources should be use at a faster
pace than the one necessary to replace it with a renewable resource
used in a sustainable manner.
nication relations- as the basis of the processes that shape popular
cultures. “(14)
Currently, there is great concern, expressed in various national and
international forums, on the displacement that takes place from
traditional forms of cultural consumption to the overwhelming advance of the products of cultural industry, the so-called “cultural
machines” -televisions, videos, video-games, etc.- . It has been
pointed out, among the negative factors, the new habits that are
created that tend to isolation within the individual or household
environment, as there is no need of institutions or public spaces
such as museums, cinemas, theatres or popular fairs. There is also
a change in the type of message, in favour of the homogenized and
transnational at the expense of diversity and identity. The researcher José Joaquín Brunner has warned, however, that:
First of all, the culture industry, instead of homogenizing the popular consciousness, what it does, in a short term, is to increase its
dislocation, its disorientation, its heterogeneity and lack of unification and coherence. What it immediately does is to spread the folk
awareness to a mass level, even to the point that its own orientation
on the market must recognize that folk awareness as a determinant of the demand for cultural consumption. (The phenomena of
apparent vulgarity of the TV production, which are often reported
in our countries, have to do with entering the symbolic market of
“folklorized” broad masses) (15)
Following Gramsci, folklore is seen as the result of penetration of
the hegemonic culture in subordinated groups, that mix concepts,
ideas and opinions without getting to form a conception of the
world, they are ideas that come out from the hegemonic culture to
insert themselves into tradition.
The question arises, then, whether there is a real risk of the disappearance of the consumption of handicrafts against the new
forms of cultural consumption. The confirmation of the undeniable
fact of the change of orientation that is taking place from the technological means should not, however, generate a sceptical attitude.
History shows that, in culture, the substitution of an expression or
type of art for another does not occur, as it happens with scientific
knowledge. In its place, a principle of coexistence and aggregation
works, which allows that, even when the conditions that gave rise
to the emergence of a genre or a symbolic content disappear, this
does not disappear, but it is preserved and coexists with new forms
of cultural expression.
In culture, just as there is a movement towards what is new and
its assimilation into the social framework, there is another movement that leads the eye to the past and brings to the present what is
symbolic and representative of the values of society, to assert them
through times.
Néstor García Canclini calls the attention to how in handicrafts
some level of convergence between modernity and tradition is
achieved, when he affirms:
“Perhaps the polarity between modernity and tradition is most often
associated with the antinomy transnational / popular. Perhaps handicrafts are the place where the convergence of the two oppositions
has been more determinant in the design of popular cultures. The
deductivists argue that the transnational expansion of capitalism is
inexorably eliminating the traditional ways of life. Inductivism…
identifies popular with traditional, and values apocalyptically every
modernization change in handicrafts: the displacement from old
Handicrafts, folklore and popular culture
Handicrafts are intertwined with other creations of the traditions
and popular customs that constitute syncretic forms developed by
communities, ethnic groups and even populations that cover large
geographic regions, as part of the expressions of peoples’ identity.
It is commonly recognized handicrafts as an element of folklore
and popular art. Sometimes, nuances are introduced between these
concepts, and two fundamental trends can be observed:
- The one which states a distinction between folklore and popular
arts, assigning to the first the expressions of literature, music, dance, theatre, created by the people and often intertwined with each
other, and preserving the concept of popular art to the plastic arts
of decorative and applied character and the so called naïf painting.
- Another view is the one that includes the expressions of folklore
under the concept of popular art.
Today, amid the processes of transculturation and hybridization
that take place as part of globalization and considering the hegemonic nature of cultural dominance as a process which is not linear
but complex, with mixed influences, interesting considerations are
being developed in theoretical circles around concepts such as folklore, popular culture and handicrafts.
On the concept of popular culture, Néstor García Canclini in his essay “Transnational Culture and Popular Cultures. Theoretical and
Methodological Bases for Research.”, has expressed:
“Popular cultures exist because the unequal reproduction of society
generates: a) an uneven appropriation of the economic and cultural
assets by the different classes and groups in the production and
consumption; b) their own making of their living conditions and
the specific satisfaction of their needs in the sectors excluded from
full participation in the social product; c) a controversial integration between popular and hegemonic classes for the appropriation
of the goods.” (13)
Handicrafts are part of popular culture as they synthesize productive forms, techniques and symbolic and world-view values from
sectors that are displaced by the industrial and development-focused model of social production. Therefore, for their study it is advisable to consider, as pointed out by Garcia Canclini, that popular
cultures should be defined and analyzed from a theory of reproduction, not only of economic reproduction, but also including the
cultural and everyday life aspects. “It is about jointly looking at the
reproduction of capital- the workforce, the production and market
relations -, the reproduction of life-the family, the everyday lifeand the cultural reproduction- the set of educational and commu11
Culture
and
fabrics to synthetic fibres, from manual labour to machines, from
the personal consumption to sales in urban markets and to tourists.”
(16)
conducted a research entitled “From Home to Formality, Experiences of the Law of Family Micro-enterprises in Chile”. It was
found out that 46.6% of the female micro-entrepreneurs work at
home, which doubles the proportion of men in such a situation.
According to the report, this happens because “micro-enterprises
are born from knowledge and household chores of women, who
see their homes as a proper location of low cost for this class of
business” (18)
This investigation revealed that this way of work organization has
advantages and disadvantages for women. Among the identified
advantages, there are: the better exploitation of time because it
does not require a shift towards the workplace; it is less expensive
because it saves the lease of the premises and it also allows greater
flexibility and control over the organization of the working day,
making it easier to combine work with household chores and childcare. Among the disadvantages, there are a greater degree of isolation and the difficulties in establishing a clear boundary between
working time and rest time, and the lack of appropriate conditions
for work, that may be reflected in health problems that also affect
the family.
Similarly, it was noted that many governments of the world have
recognized that micro-enterprises play a key role in the creation
of employment and, consequently, they have developed specific
policies that support them, so that they increase their capacity to
generate employment and income. These support policies seek for
micro-enterprises to facilitate access to credit, business development services and technology.
However, the number of enterprises accessing to these benefits is
very low in relation to the total number of micro enterprises. It is
also recognized that the general economic policies habitually still
keep a bias that is detrimental to smaller enterprises. On the one
hand, state subsidies or benefits are designed to favour larger enterprises, preventing smaller ones to have access to them. On the other
hand, smaller enterprises suffer more than the larger ones by the
lack of transparency in the implementation of laws and regulations
in many countries.
ILO has stressed that, in times of crisis or economic recession, the
first salary-earning jobs that disappear are those of women who are
often forced to join the informal economy, either as independent
workers or as unpaid family workers.
Policies for support and fostering of productive capacities in the
artisan sector should reconsider the allocation of credits from a
point of view of equity that creates opportunities for women and
humanizes their work.
Another problem that requires a projection of equity and recognition of cultural diversity is the treatment to the native and Afrodescendant communities. They constitute more than one third of
the regional population and carry their own languages and cultures,
in which artisan work is a traditional way of life, closely associated
with forms of production and reproduction of life in the community, not only in its economic sense, but in the symbolic reproduction
of religious life, of myths, of the sphere of culture.
It is estimated nowadays that native peoples of the region comprise
from 33 to 35 million persons, about 8% of the total population
of the continent, divided into 400 different language groups. The
Afro-descendants total 150 million, which means 30% of the population, according to ECLAC studies. (19)
Handicrafts, community and gender approach
The analysis of the relationship between artisan production and the
community is a subject of multiple facets that reflects the tensions
inherent in the current economic, social and cultural processes in
which Latin American societies are embedded. Problems such as
the emigration from rural to urban areas, the loss of integration of
young people to the traditions, the replacement of utilitarian artisan products for industrial objects, the association of handicrafts
to marginal production of urban areas, the discrimination and overexploitation of female artisans, the child labour, the impact of the
tourist industry on the maintenance of tradition, and so on, are,
among others, issues that reflect the complexity of this relationship
between handicrafts and community.
The current artisan activity carries implicitly the historical opposition between manufacturing and industry and the contradictions
generated by exclusion and substitution of one form of production
by the other. The artisans, who generally belong to marginalized
and unprotected sectors and social classes, have had to face their
productions as part of survival and cultural resistance against hegemony, and have had to create mechanisms to adapt to the prevailing
trading and economic systems that impose conditions of production that are adverse to the characteristics of the artisan production.
One of the more complex aspects of this displacement between artisan and industrial production occurs at the level of cultural consumption, in the shaping of the patterns with which modernity and
comfort are sold, associated with the clean, minimalist environments, that sell the new technology and industrial output as a value
linked with progress. All this implies the necessity of a rescue and
popular education work, which should not underestimate the impact of the media, as has been seen in some television programs
devoted to artisan traditions and popular culture.
Inside the artisan sector and specifically in family handicrafts, the
gender approach should be introduced. This allows to reveal the
role played by women in the continuity of technical expertise and
in the preservation of artisan traditions, while still revealing the remaining gaps in comparison with the male labour, and the challenges that should be faced in projects aimed at poverty eradication
and the fight against gender discrimination.
A study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) between
1995-2002 showed that:
One of the most significant transformations in the labour market in
Latin America in the last 30 years is the growing incorporation of
women in the economically active population. However, this trend
has manifested itself in a scenario that is characterized by labour
flexibility and has not been sufficiently accompanied by social and
employment policies capable of ensuring their stay on an equal basis; besides, gender discrimination persists in the market work. (17)
It is common to find that artisan production is carried out in workshops that are created by the artisan at his own home or in annexes.
This type of workshop is seen as a small family enterprise, which
allows cohabitation between artisan work and domestic activities.
In 2006, ILO, in coordination with the Centre for Women Studies,
12
The promotion of cultural diversity and heritage of artisan creations from the Afro-descendant and native communities is closely
associated with the knowledge of historical, ethnic and world-view
elements which operate as an ideological substratum for these cultures. Although every nation, ethnic group or community has its
own characteristics, it is necessary to understand that these are cultures with a holistic vision of the world, which is combined with religious, social, cultural and economic issues. In this kind of vision,
the object is only a means through which ideas, values and beliefs
are symbolized and therefore it has, in general, a multi-faceted character.
“Life is perceived as a continuum that does not admit division or
specific differentiation. The idea of the unity of life concerns mankind as well as the other kingdoms of nature. Human life is unique
and total, and not even the certainty of death can alter the sequence
of life, because man, as a living creature endowed with body and
spirit, can overpower death through the survival of the soul. Thus,
in artistic representation there is time and no time. Everything was,
is, and can be. On the other hand, the boundaries between different
areas are not insurmountable obstacles, but flowing and swaying;
there is no specific difference between the different kingdoms of
life, that is, through a sudden metamorphosis, anything can become
anything. Anyway, if there is a distinctive and outstanding feature
in this world of ideas, if there is any principle that governs, this is
metamorphosis.” (20)
This kind of interpretation of life is found in many native peoples,
in the ancient arts and handicrafts and in current popular art. Forms
referring to astral bodies like the sun, moon, or natural phenomena
like lightning, the rainbow, or animals such as dog, snake, tiger,
condor, etc., are represented, which can serve as decorative motifs
of an object such as a ceramic pot or a poncho, but they can also
be found in a ceremonial object, in the masks of the festivities, etc.
Recognition of the heterogeneous and complex nature of multiethnic societies have been revealed by García Canclini, when he
states that:
“Neither can native cultures exist in complete autonomy, nor are
they mere atypical appendages of a capitalism that devours them.
Although there are situations in which both events occur, more as
political projects than as effective reality, it seems to us that the
more widespread problem in Latin America, especially in multiethnic societies, is how to work with heterogeneous cultural processes
that express conflict between different forces. One of them is the
persistence of forms of communal and domestic organization of the
economy and culture, or the remains of these forms (which are manifested even in neighbourhoods of immigrants), whose integration
with the hegemonic system leads to varied mixed formations. These cultural forms are accompanied by their own power structures
-stewardship, companionship, relations of reciprocity and solidarity- which make the integration to the bourgeois or national system
of representation and power more complex. “(21)
national economies.
In the current scene, the differences between national, regional and
international forms of trade are reducing more and more, and artisan products nourish this great global market that characterizes the
cultural industries. In this sense, the emergence of enterprises and
brokers that handle a significant amount of assets by buying and
reselling, without the craftsmen getting the fair remuneration they
deserve for the products they manufacture, has been a common
practice in the traditional trade of handicrafts, which tends to increase in the conditions of global market.
The risk associated to an unscrupulous use of artisan products
grows, therefore it becomes of paramount importance everything
regarding the preservation of heritage and the legal and extralegal
protection of the product.
Among the most complex aspects of international marketing of the
artisan product is its classification, with a view to provide it with a
differentiated treatment to the one of industrial products and to recognize the so-called added values that characterize cultural goods.
In order to move on with the definition of handicrafts and technical
criteria to be considered with a view to the harmonization of the
product in the market, the international symposium “Handicrafts
and International Market: Trade and Customs Codification” was
developed in Manila, 1997, in which the following definition of
“artisan product”: was adopted:
“The artisan products are produced by craftsmen, either completely
by hand or using hand tools or even mechanical means, as long
as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the most
important component of the finished product. They are produced
without any limit in terms of quantity and using raw materials from
sustainable resources. The special nature of artisan products derives from their distinctive features, which can be utilitarian, aesthetic, artistic, creative, attached to culture, decorative, functional,
traditional, symbolic and religious and socially significant “(22)
On July 7, 2000, the Customs Cooperation Council issued a recommendation to the contracting parties to the Convention on the Harmonized System and to the countries that use statistical nomenclatures based on the Harmonized System, for the insertion in national
statistical nomenclatures of sub-items to facilitate the collection
and comparison of trade data with respect to handmade products.
The specific coding of artisan products in the customs and trade nomenclatures would essentially allow to collect, analyze and compare data on artisan trade to quantify trade flows and determine
trends with more certainty, at national, regional and international
levels, as well as to provide a statistical basis that motivates the
export of those products. Furthermore, through this coding financial institutions can be induced to invest in the artisan sector, by
revealing specific figures that encourage promotion and validation
of programs that benefit the sector.
Some countries opt for the brand hand-made, as in the case of Colombia Handicrafts S. A., which introduces the quality seal Hecho
a Mano (Hand- Made) as a permanent certification. It is awarded to
handmade handicrafts, based on quality and tradition parameters
that allow to differentiate them from industrially produced products
and recognize their value as an expression of identity and culture.
Certain sectors associated with the consumption of differentiated
products show a change of attitude when favouring the artisan pro-
Handicrafts, market and tourism
Today’s increasingly specialized and globalized market poses the
artisans and traders of handicrafts with the challenge to assume the
trade of these products with an approach towards efficiency. This
implies the assimilation of new technological and trade means,
which are capable of enhancing the contribution of handicrafts to
13
Culture
and
duct, that involves a psychological component associated with the
depletion of the industrial repetition and its irrational exploitation
by the commercial publicity. That is why the re-evaluation of the
economic and commercial potential of products bearing the brand
of manual procedures, ecological, typical of certain regions, etc.,
becomes of great importance.
The so-called “non-smoke industry” has become one of the most
significant economic, social and cultural phenomena of these days.
It has succeeded in displacing the prominence of other established industries in the market to become the most dynamic sector in
some national economies.
The internationalization of tourism and the income multiplying
effects in the short and medium term do not always produced consistent models of development. In some countries, tourism increased too rapidly without having given any importance to other factors with which it inevitably relates. As a result of such situations,
there are many examples of cultural and environmental deterioration and, therefore, an impact on tourism itself.
The tourism development strategies which have taken these lessons
into account base their growth perspectives on a planned development, in which culture will take a place as important as the one
taken by the preservation of the environment and sustainability.
Handicrafts and artisan work, as part of local traditions, are among
the cultural expressions that are more directly linked to the tourist
industry. The quality of the artisan product of synthesizing the symbolic
This close relationship has both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, tourism becomes a significant boost to the
productivity and creativity of the artisans, a major source of income and improvement of their living conditions. But, associated
with the rapid circulation of the product and the mercantilist goals
which can prevail over the cultural purposes, problems emerge
such as the lower quality of products, the adulteration of traditional
designs and models and certain vices, such as presenting as native
some products that actually belong to other cultures.
However, the recognition of the link between tourism and handicrafts is not enough, we need more progress on projects that offer
handicrafts as a distinctive tourist offer, associated with criteria
such as the promotion of cultural identity and diversity.
Beyond these and other problems that must be addressed in this
important relationship between tourism and handicrafts, we can
tilt the balance towards the benefits, and wisely watch over the
growing trend of tourism to take interest in the historical and cultural aspects that so much contribute to a much more inclusive sense
of cultural diversity and the importance of cultural identity in the
globalized world.
In the process of adapting handicrafts to new demands of taste and
contemporary life, there also emerge new requirements for the training of craftsmen. Design is, in this sense, one of the most dynamic
and important elements, both in their projective value and in relation with the renovation of the external attributes of a product that
retains its original function.
Among the initiatives aimed at training in the artisan sector, a tendency is appreciated to guide the craftsmen in the design of their
products. There are interesting experiences in which artisans and
designers join in multidisciplinary teams. This partnership allows
the innovation and development of creativity by exploiting the potential that each person brings.
Globalization has introduced changes in the market. The fact that
the producer may face a market of an unlimited size also implies
that his strategy must take into account this new dimension. The
possibility of interconnection with remote locations in real time not
only creates a feeling of uniqueness, but, in turn, leads to a more
investigative attitude about what is particular to each community
or society, which brings, as a result, the phenomenon of “ localization “as the antithesis of globalization, namely the reassessment of
the local versus the global. This reaction enhances the value of the
heritage of native cultures and the appreciation of cultural diversity
as an actual value of cultural enrichment.
The so-called paradoxes of globalization point out contradictory
aspects. On the one hand, globalization creates a greater dependence from the so-called peripheral countries to the centres of
power, under the integrated conditions of communication and the
international financial and trade system. Thus, it tends to generate
a scenario of greater concentration of world power and business
transactions. However, the social demand of products of art and
culture expands and diversifies, and a greater awareness of national
arts and cultures appear.
The impact of trade globalization and internationalization of
markets on handicrafts shows both favourable and unfavourable
effects. Among the first, the dissemination and extension of the sales of artisan products to new markets and the development of a
greater connectivity and amount of networks in the artisan sector
are pointed out. Among the disadvantages, the risk of plagiarism
and the inability to control it, particularly for peoples with a strong
artisan tradition, but which do not have adequate tools to protect it,
are identified.
Logically, the development strategies of this sector must address
not only the renewal and creativity according to the market demand
and the new requirements of the consumers, but also the authenticity and preservation of people’s creativity, which constitute a true
barrier to face the risk of homogenization and trivialization submitted to the demands of the global market.
IV. UNESCO PROJECTIONS FOR THE ARTISAN SECTOR
IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
UNESCO shares with other international cooperation organizations the vision that it is possible to simultaneously develop the artisan sector, which has deep roots and presence in the region, with
the fight for poverty eradication and environmental protection, and
to enable the means that from the culture can be projected for the
improvement of living conditions of communities.
The UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and
the Caribbean (ROCLAC) coordinated the cross-cutting project
“Handicrafts as a socio-economic and cultural factor for development” (32C / 5) under the Major Program IV, Program IV.3 “Protecting cultural diversity by fostering creativity and development”
and in cooperation with other UNESCO offices in San José, Costa
Rica, Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic, Port au Prince in
Haiti and Guatemala City in Guatemala, and at its headquarters in
Havana, Cuba, initiating actions to confront the great challenges
of promoting handicrafts as a factor of development in the region.
14
In a coordination meeting held in the cluster office in San José in
February 2004, senior representatives of the Regional Office, the
Office of San Jose, the Program Specialist, the Head of the Section
of Arts, Handicrafts and Design of the headquarters, advisers and
support personnel, discussed substantial aspects of the actions to
take. The analysis presented by the Regional Office at this meeting
was adopted by consensus of the participants, as well as the specific
recommendations of the Head of the Section of Arts, Handicrafts
and Design of the headquarters, particularly concerning to the importance of linking the project initiative to the fight against poverty,
using impact indicators.
The Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean has taken into account the conclusions and recommendations of this meeting and of the diagnoses; to guide future proposals
and to develop actions of immediate impact to preserve, promote
and develop handicrafts in the various countries in the area.
These guidelines are summarized in:
• to unite efforts between governmental and nongovernmental
organizations, regional and sub-regional economic communities,
foundations and development agencies that promote handicrafts;
• to establish effective mechanisms of coordination and relationships with artisan organizations;
• to determine the best methods to apply in different areas of assistance and in each specific situation, by country and by region (data
collection, training, marketing, etc.);
• to develop an aggressive dissemination program.
The diagnoses indicate aspects and evaluations of great importance
that we set out below:
Artisan production in Latin America and the Caribbean offers an
area of great interest for national projects for economic, social, cultural and human development in the countries of the region. The
ability of putting together the elements of symbolic character, associated with the identity and the preservation of cultural traditions,
with the actual capacity of production and reproduction of handicrafts as highly valued goods in symbolic markets, opens new perspectives to the strategies for the struggle against the elimination of
poverty in the region.
The increasing development of the so- called tourist industries and
the thesis “the industries of the future are the cultural industries”
(cf. Round Table of Ministers of Culture of the World, convened
by UNESCO, Paris, November 1999), force to update the thinking
and the strategies on handicrafts in the region of Latin America and
the Caribbean.
Since women are one of the social sectors most affected by unemployment and poverty and, also, taking into account that, in many
countries of the region, they play the central role in artisan production and marketing, emphasis should be given on an adequate strategy for the promotion of handicrafts of the region, with particular
attention to women’s role, which would contribute, to a reasonable
expectation of efficacy, to lower their levels of unemployment and
marginalization.
Considering the typical heterogeneity of the productive structure
of the countries in the region, to analyze the opportunities and challenges, an assessment by sectors and the harmonization of concepts and evaluation tools are required. This would allow a coordinated action towards cooperation and complementarity.
The diagnoses made in the region indicate that handicrafts have
evolved as a result of a particular process of transformation of values, customs and cultural signs. They do not always represent the
result of their own development, but they fit more properly to what
seems to be a form of cultural sacrifice, unconsciously accepted
by virtue of the images often associated with the ambiguous term
“modernization.”
The difficulties in the preservation and appropriate development
of this form of manual and creative work of popular art have caused, in the worst case, that the signs predominantly associated with
the technical rationality of production, exchange and consumption,
were not introduced by “convenience”, but they would eventually
replace an important part of the constellation of values that confer
handicrafts their authenticity.
Despite many attempts, from different perspectives and backgrounds, to address the acute problems that affect handicrafts, the
interventions, in most cases, have failed to get over the level of
good intentions. That has been due, among other reasons, to wrong
ways of conceiving; implementation difficulties; shortage of financial resources; inadequate demarcation of the fields of action of institutions and sectors; dispersal of interventions or, simply, viewpoints of limited horizons that still prevail and should be overcome.
Based on the multiple diagnoses and assessments, it can be said
that, without underestimating the efforts currently under way in
most countries of the region, the attention to handicrafts is poor. In
spite of this, hand-made artisan work, with its mosaic of valuable
and rich expressions in the use of materials, techniques, colours,
designs and textures, together with nature and ecology, is maintained and acquiring, over time, more meaning and relevance.
The Regional Profile of Mesoamerican Handicrafts, ROCLAC,
2006, pointed out that handicrafts in the region are part of the sector of small and medium enterprises that, as a whole, comprise
approximately 95% of all enterprises, employing over 50% of the
workforce and contributing nearly 35% of production. Given the
new realities of the globalized world, the development of handicrafts offers great opportunities to help overcome the economic and
social problems which affect, with unusual intensity, a considerable proportion of the population of Central America.
Except for odd exceptions, the main problems that affect the activity can be summarized as follows:
- Available information is generally scarce and unreliable.
- There are no clear and precise policies, guidelines and definitions,
nor building programs that address all aspects, from the anthropological and ethnographic ones, until the most pragmatic areas of
production, distribution and marketing of artisan products.
- Generally, assistance is of temporary or isolated character, and its
effects are short and fuzzy. The national or international entities,
public and private, which in one way or another have supported the
activity, have failed to establish effective opportunities for coordination to harmonize approaches and criteria, or to draw together
efforts to respond, in a comprehensive, efficient and sustained way,
to the needs and priorities that the activity requires and claims.
- The female and male artisans lack sufficient organizational capacity to solve their own problems and to demand the necessary
support to deal with, among other issues, their needs related to production, economic and financial organization, adequate credit and
15
Culture
and
placement of their products in the market.
- As in other situations, handicrafts of the region are subjected to an
intense process of trivialization, which has led to a progressive loss
of character and quality of traditional products.
- With a few exceptions, the attention services are not integrated,
there are no clear policies and guidelines or adequate resources to
address the magnitude of the problems that affect the artisan sector.
The countries of the region, to a greater or lesser extent, recognize
the need to protect and develop handicrafts, incorporating them to
the economic fabric, improving the quality of their products to increase their competitiveness in domestic and international markets.
The recognition of governments on the importance of handicrafts
as a factor of socio-economic and cultural advance, along with a
more well- thought concept about them, creates better conditions
for their proper development.
This recognition can be summarized as follows:
a) Its ability to generate new jobs with low investment volumes and
reduced technological dependence, by taking advantage of the “
endogenous potential “ in terms of real and financial inputs;
b) It is an activity that earns its survival through the sale of traditional and patrimony products, adjustable to the needs and tastes of
consumers without loss of authenticity, and an excellent resource to
stimulate the growth of a scientific and cultural type of tourism of
high quality, to increase foreign currency earnings;
c) The emergence of a demand for high quality and differentiated
products is observed, which is boosting the activity through innovative offers of excellence;
d) Its geographic dispersion and its location, mainly in rural areas
and small urban centres, bring communities together, encourage
local development, generate jobs and prevent emigration;
e) Handicrafts contribute not only to the revitalization of the economy, but also to a fairer distribution of wealth, to the mitigation
of poverty and marginalization and, therefore, to social stability;
f) The characteristics of their production -low energy costs and
scarce pollution risks- place them among the activities with a best
respond to environmental and ecological requirements;
g) Artisan work conveys images and messages that reinforce the
identities and symbolic values and provides opportunities for good
businesses with differentiated products in the spaces that are being
opened in the globalized economy;
h) It is an activity that unites families, ensuring the active participation of their members, exercises creativity, takes advantage of and
enriches the cultural heritage, stimulates the motivation for undertaking and contributes to a more humanized development.
These diagnoses have identified the following challenges:
The need to put up an assistance system for the preservation and
development of handicrafts in the region of Latin America and the
Latin Caribbean; to establish spaces of dialogue with a view to harmonizing criteria and approaches, to bring together efforts; to find
feasible routes of joint solutions, devoted to the development of
handicrafts as a productive activity and a major source of employment in broad sectors of society in the region and as a way to fight
poverty, to support women and marginalized sectors, while preserving the cultural identity and heritage of peoples.
Similarly, it is pointed out the need of:
- To raise awareness of the authorities on the potential of handicrafts as a factor of socio-economic and cultural development.
- To contribute to achieve integrated and sustained attention services for handicrafts.
- To improve the supply of handicrafts through differentiated products of excellence that generate greater demands in better qualified markets, with fair prices for the artisans.
Starting from a guiding and facilitating role, and through alliances of complementary efforts, work must be done to implement
an action strategy to assemble scattered resources and capabilities,
harmonize criteria and establish probable routes of joint solution to
the problems that affect the activity.
From the diagnoses, it was identified the need to work to achieve
the following:
1. An orderly and harmonized system of data collection and information that facilitates conceiving, planning and guiding policies
and development programs for handicrafts;
2. The enlargement of productive capacities of micro and small
artisan enterprises;
3. The incorporation of the population in marginal areas of high
social vulnerability to the activity;
4. More competitive artisan enterprises, with more profitable productive options and products with better market positioning;
5. The strengthening of artisan organizations, the improvement of
the social status of craftsmen;
6. The consolidation of the vision on the importance of handicrafts
in the economic, social and cultural development;
7. An integrated system functioning for the attention of handicrafts.
V. CONCLUSIONS
The new notion of the role of culture in human development lays
the foundation for a new and integral projection of handicrafts as
a factor for economic, social and cultural development that goes
beyond the reductionisms and underestimates inherited from the
western and developmental vision.
The inclusion of traditional handicrafts among the areas that intangible heritage comprises, is an important recognition of the role
played by artisan creation in the production and reproduction of the
living conditions of the people throughout history and its function
as a link between material and spiritual values of a community.
Handicrafts must be seen, in the human development projects, as
a kind of activity that creates wealth, unites the community and
develops a sense of belonging and cultural identity.
Understanding the multifaceted and multi-functional character of
handicrafts is a basic condition for them to be interconnected with
the economic, productive, commercial, educational and cultural
processes as a factor of human development.
Artisan work must be seen as part of the development of the capabilities and opportunities, in which individuals combine manual
skill and intellectual exercise, a necessary feature for the balance
and harmony of the human personality.
Handicrafts and artisan work, as part of local traditions, constitute
one of the cultural expressions that is more directly linked to the
tourist industry. In this sense, it is necessary to make more progress
16
on projects that propose handicrafts as a differentiated tourist offer,
and in the implementation of proper mechanisms for the protection
and preservation of handicrafts.
Special attention should be given to development of handicrafts,
as a way of fighting poverty and ethnic and gender discrimination.
It is necessary to overcome the criteria that look at artisan work as
informal remains of scarce economic impact, and to explore ways
of supporting it with policies of credit and protection for microenterprises.
The countries of the region, to a greater or lesser extent, recognize
the need to protect and develop handicrafts, incorporating them to
the economic fabric and improving the quality of their products, to
increase their competitiveness in domestic and international markets.
Specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, handicrafts are
seen in all their richness of human potential which can be deployed
as an element of restraint to the effects of global crisis.
Further progress is needed in the harmonization of concepts and the
official approval of criteria in the collection of data and information
that facilitate the designing, planning and guiding of development
policies and programs for handicrafts, as well as assess their impact
on the regional economy, aspects to which it should be paid more
attention, from a regional perspective.
The Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean UNESCO (ROCLAC) shares with other international cooperation organizations and with regional governments the vision
that, it is possible to develop the artisan sector, with strong roots
and presence in the region, simultaneously with the fight for poverty eradication and environmental protection, and to enable the
means that from the culture can be projected for the improvement
of living conditions of communities.
Hombre, Vol. I, coordinated by Rene Huyghe, Edición Revolucionaria, Instituto Cubano del Libro, La Habana, Editorial Planeta
S.A., Barcelona 1972 pp.116-117.
12) Report of Raul Pontón Zúñiga, Mexican drycleaner master, on
the tutorial delivered in Santa Catarina Ocotlán, Oaxaca, Mexico,
April 2009.
13) García Canclini, Néstor. Cultura transnacional y culturas populares. Bases teórico-metodológicas para la investigación. p. 49
14) Ibíd. p. 48
15) Brunner, José Juaquín, in his study Notas sobre cultura popular,
industria cultural y modernidad. pp. 106-107
16) García Canclini, Néstor. Cultura transnacional y culturas populares en México, p.183
17) El ajuste laboural en América Latina: Una perspectiva de género (1995-2002.) International Labour Organization (ILO), p.74
18) Valenzuela, Maria Elena; Di Meglio, Roberto ; Reinecke, Gerhard. De la casa a la formalidad, experiencias de la Ley de Microempresas Familiares en Chile, Editores Santiago, OIT , 2006
19) Bello, Alvaro y Rangel,Marta . La equidad y la exclusión de
los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes en América Latina y el
Caribe. Revista de la CEPAL 76, April 2006, pp.45 y 50
20) Estrella, Eduardo. El proceso de simbolización en el arte popular indígena. Revista del Instituto Andino de Artes Populares del
Convenio “Andrés Bello” No. 5, November, Year 4, 1983, pp.5253
21) García Canclini, Néstor. Cultura transnacional y culturas populares. Bases teórico-metodológicas para la investigación, p.186
22) International Symposium on Handicrafts and International Market: Trade and Customs Codification. Manila, Filipinas, October
6th-8th, 1997, Final Report. Document CLT/ CONF/604,UNESCO
and ICC.
Quotations
1) Nuestra Diversidad Creativa, Report of the World Commission
for Culture and Development, UNESCO Editions / UNESCO
Courier, 1997. México. p. 12.
2) Ibíd, p. 11
3) Ibíd. p. 16
4) Ibíd. p. 95
5) Report on the preliminary study about the advisability of regulating the protection of traditional and popular culture in the international area through a new normative instrument. UNESCO 161
EX/15 París, May 16th, 2001, pp. 6,7
6) Convention for the Safeguard of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Paris, October 17th, 2003/ MISC/2003/CLT/CH/14, Article 2
Definitions, p.2
7) Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions. October 2005, pp. 4,5
8) Ibíd. p. 2
9) Ibíd. pp 3,4
10) Morawki, Stefan. La concepción de la obra de arte antaño y
hoy, in De la estética a la filosofía de la cultura, La Habana/San
José, Costa Rica., 2006, p. 159
11) Duchartre, Pierre-Louis. Las Artes Populares in El Arte y El
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18
Number 6 Dynamics of latin american handicrafts as a factor of economic, social and cultural developmen-
2
RECOVERY AND PRESERVATION
OF HANDICRAFT HERITAGE
The legacy of Daniel Rubín
de la Borbolla.
Sol Rubín de la Borbolla Arguedas
Estudios
• Licenciatura en medicina por la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de
México
• Maestría de Investigación en Salud Pública, Universidad Autónoma
Metropolitana.
• Estudios de Antropología, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, (UNAM).
Cargos y actividades principales área cultural
2002-2006
• Directora de Patrimonio Cultural, CONACULTA.
1998-2002
• Directora del Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares, CONACULTA.
1997 a la fecha
• Directora del Centro de Documentación e Investigación en Arte
Popular y Artesanías Daniel Rubín de la Borbolla a.c.
• Coautora proyecto “La cultura de la plata en México”
• Diseño y edición Cd “Catálogo de arte popular y artesanías”, fototeca del CDRB
• Coautora Proyecto “Haciendo historia en el arte popular”
• Coordinadora General de XII Curso Interamericano de Diseño Artesanal, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.
• Coordinadora académica de los Encuentros de Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán
• Miembro del Grupo de Especialistas para el inventario del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial
• Organizadora del Taller de Arte Plumario y del 1er. Encuentro Nacional de Arte Plumario.
• Miembro fundador del Grupo POPULART s.c. Promotor del Museo
Nacional de Arte Popular.
• Miembro de la Asociación de Amigos del Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares.
• Miembro fundador de la asociación de investigadores y promotores
del textil mexicano Te’om.
• Miembro de la Asociación Mundial de Museos (ICOM)
• Tallerista para temas de patrimonio cultural y gestión cultural
• Observadora invitada al y Representante del CDRB al Comité Intergubernamental de la Convención de Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de
la Humanidad (UNESCO)
RECOVERY AND PRESERVATION OF HANDICRAFT HERITAGE
RECOVERY AND PRESERVATION
OF HANDICRAFT HERITAGE
The legacy of Daniel Rubín de la Borbolla
There was almost no American country where he would not have planted seeds for research, conservation and promotion of handicrafts and
folk art. Some of these seeds were splendidly fruitful under the care of
other men and women who, as he, felt the need to enhance the features
that gave us identity and deep-rooted us in the time and the space of
our lives (1)
Introduction
Daniel Rubin de la Borbolla, as heir to the ideals of the Mexican
Revolution, worked in favour of the revaluation of the folk art and
the handicrafts in Mexico and Latin America, through the recovery,
preservation, promotion and economic revitalization of these manifestations. He was conscious of the important role they play as an
expression of cultural identity in the region and the impact they can
have in the improvement of the living conditions and development
of artisans and their families. Going back on the ideas and experiences of Rubin de la Borbolla, will allow us to recognize the road
passed by previous generations and to reflect on their experiences
and concepts from the new challenges imposed upon us by the current process of globalization.
achieved by creating new institutions, national and international
cooperation programs, awards and recognitions and amendments
to some laws, there remain many outstanding issues in the field of
the valuation of art as a popular cultural event, and of its recognition as an industry that generates economic growth and social
development.
The handicrafts are part of the cultural heritage of peoples, they
are one of the most dynamic and representative manifestations of
peoples’ identity; they are an example of historical continuity, because although they include thousand-year-old designs, techniques
and handling of raw materials, they also identify the contributions
of other cultures that have been assimilated, as well as the changes
that each generation will stamp; they are authentic as they respond
to the material and spiritual needs of the people; they are original
because the use of local raw materials, combined with techniques
handed down from generation to generation provide them a unique
hallmark. They also express the result of productive processes that
give them an economic dimension.
The way Don Daniel approached the popular art from a comprehensive perspective was at the time, innovative. It transcended and
helped him to promote ways to generate public policies and support, documentation and promotion programs. It also helped him
on his subsequent activity as a consultant and teacher in several Latin American countries. But today, in spite of how much it has been
3
Culture
and
the enjoyment of those who love folk art, and to testify its artistic
intuition. (2)
The contribution of Don Daniel Rubin de la Borbolla to the Latin
American handicraft -both in his thought as in his work-places him
as a precursor of a vision that still remains today. It includes:
A few years later, in 1940, the first major exhibition of Mexican Art
was organized at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It covered from pre-Hispanic times to the twentieth century, and where the
folk art section occupied a prominent place:
- Its value as a living and changing cultural heritage
- Its location in the social and economic organization of the communities, where the artisan forms a productive unit along with his
family and his workshop
- Its problem to locate the production in fair-trade channels
- Its potential extinction due to the lack of continuity in education,
in the disappearance of original materials or functionality
- The danger of distortion due to market and tourism effects.
In the folk arts, widely represented in our exhibition, the two great
traditions of the Mexican culture, the indigenous and the Spanish,
are fully merged in remarkable aesthetic manners due to their quality and richness (3)
History
Since the nineteenth century the handicraft production and especially the craftsmen’s lives were transformed: the process of industrialization changed habits, values and customs.
In the América Indígena Journal, organ of the Inter-American Indian Institute, Don Alfonso Caso, the eminent Mexican anthropologist, published in 1942:
The folk arts in Mexico have, at present, a special significance, not
only for what they mean as a preservation of our people’s cultural
expression, but also for the economic significance they have. They
form the sole basis of support of a large part of the indigenous and
mestizo population of the Republic. (4)
In Mexico, with the disappearance of the guilds, urban artisans
were in an uncertain situation. They were not salaried workers and
they were no longer peasants as they moved to the cities. In rural
areas, indigenous and mestizo artisans were in a higher uncertainty, since their regular jobs depended on agricultural production or
the work associated to it. The process of industrialization led to a
rapid loss of knowledge and skills on the use and processing of raw
materials, on the use of handicraft techniques and on the gradual
loss of identity and traditional elements of folk art and handicrafts.
This background speaks of a national vision, of the aesthetic and
traditionalist valuation and of the first outlines of the economic valuation of folk art and handicrafts. The documents, exhibitions, and
activities emphasized these values of the folk art pieces: the environment, those who consumed or produced them were not often
subject matter, except in some cases like that of Manuel Gamio
with his projects around the archaeological site of Teotihuacán.
This did not prevent that the pre-Hispanic past in Mexico became
a symbol of national legitimacy since the early emancipatory movements of the nineteenth century. Later, in the first decades of
the twentieth century, the various expressions of popular art such
as the handicrafts, the music, the clothing or the dance, were used
to strengthen the ideological construction of Mexican nationalism.
The folk art pieces and handicrafts were items which also inspired
a taste for collecting them, both in public institutions like museums
or in a private setting. Important funds emerge from this period
such as Nelson Rockefeller’s, Fred Davis’s and other passionate artists or Mexican and foreign businessmen who travelled throughout
Mexico or sent emissaries to find those pieces which stood up for
their aesthetics, form and folk features.
Several of the most important painters and other artists, researchers
and art critics of that moment, as Dr. Atl, Roberto Montenegro, Jorge Enciso, Diego Rivera, Adolfo Best Maugard, Frances Toor, Manuel Gamio, among others, participated in that movement through
various activities in the field of handicrafts. Some of them were the
formation of a collection in the twenties which travelled through
several countries in Latin America after being introduced in Mexico, and the great development project that Manuel Gamio proposed
around the archaeological site of Teotihuacán, looking for an economic benefit from tourism for the local people who would recover
their abilities as stone craftsmen inspired by the pre-Hispanic art.
Many of these pieces formed part of Mexican art exhibitions where
they contributed to spread the Mexican folk art due to their aesthetic qualities and old age. But when they were taken away from their
natural environment and their cultural significance, they became
objects of display and trade, ignoring the artisan and the social and
economic process that gave them life.
Background
Education and rapprochement to the Indian problem
Don Daniel was born in 1907. After studying medicine in the city
of Puebla, he travelled to the United States and to England to train
as an anthropologist. When he returned to Mexico in the thirties,
he got the job of one of the most renowned researchers in the field
of traditions, Nicolás León. He was also Alfonso Caso’s assistant
in the archaeological discoveries of the Tomb 7 at Monte Albán,
where he conducted the anthropometric studies of skeletal remains.
Other artists travelled around the country, “giving advice” to the
artisans on the use of the colour, designs and shapes.
In 1934, when the Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City was
finally opened, the first Museum of Popular Arts was opened along
with it. The painter Roberto Montenegro was responsible for forming the collection and for writing in the catalogue:
The collections that the Museum of Popular Arts of the National
Institute of Fine Arts exhibit, show the unmistakable force of a race
that has preserved the elements involved in its daily life: the artistic
touch, the style and its personal way to see what is decorative for
Based on these archaeological discoveries, the Regional Museum
of the city of Oaxaca was organized. A travelling exhibition of recently found objects of gold and semiprecious stones left from the
4
museum to travel throughout Mexico and the United States under
the museographic care and responsibility of Don Daniel.
3. To make a campaign to favour a higher use of the indigenous
products, so that their consumption integrate the American markets
in a growing proportion to increase producers’ incomes and to expand the offer opportunities to the different national consumption
markets. This will exceed the current demand of these items for the
use and exchange among producers, their acquisition by collectors
and their purchase as a gift or souvenir.
In 1939 he was appointed, along with Don Miguel Othón de Mendizábal, as an official delegate to the Inter-American Indian Congress to be held in Bolivia. The venue moved at last to the city of
Pátzcuaro in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, in 1940.
As part of the Organizing Committee of the First Inter-American
Indian Congress, and along with other members, Don Daniel worked to give presence to the indigenous handicraft production. This
is expressed in the following resolutions adopted in the conclave:
4. That the governments of the Americas grant an exemption of
customs duties for the goods produced by the natives, and that
those be exchanged or sent to the proposed Inter-American exhibitions. This would be subject to a special exemption agreement
for the import and export of such continental products among the
different countries (Accepted on April 20) (5)
Resolution XIII. Protection of indigenous folk arts through national organisms.
This Congress led to the emergence of a group of major institutions; the Inter-American Indian Institute (III) and several of the
Indian national institutes, such as the Mexican one, which was established in 1948.
The First Inter-American Indian Congress agreed to approve the
following:
Recommendations:
Due to his participation in this important Latin American conference, Don Daniel received in 1990 the Manuel Gamio Indigenous Merit Medal, awarded by the National Indigenous Institute
of Mexico as part of the 40th anniversary commemoration of the
Patzcuaro Congress.
I. To protect the indigenous folk arts, both visual and auditory, because their products are examples of cultural value as well as a
source of income for the producer. Protection should be directed to
the preservation of artistic authenticity and to the improving of the
production and distribution of popular arts.
II. To create national organisms that have enough technical, financial and administrative autonomy for the protection and development of folk arts.
III. Any official action that seeks to influence, in any way, in the
production of popular art, has to be previously consulted with the
national organism created for that purpose.
IV. To recommend that the Inter-American Indian Institute collect
and exchange the information on the drawn up projects and the
conducted experiences among the countries that adopt this proposal (accepted on April 18
A discussion forum was held in other congresses to reassert the
need for attention to the handicraft sector, as the IV Inter-American
Indian Congress in 1959, which recognized the need to assess, document and identify technical, economic and commercial problems
at a continental level.
Contributions in Mexico
Since the 20th century forties, Don Daniel worked on the setting
up, consolidation and modernization of institutions like the National School of Anthropology in 1942 (of which he was its first director), the National Museum of Anthropology ( of which he was
its director and modernizer and who, along with the painter Miguel
Covarrubias, gave a new vision to museography), the National Museum of Folk Arts and Industries (of which he was founder and first
director), among other institutions. He always did it with the aim to
protect, preserve and promote the cultural heritage, both in Mexico
and Latin America.
Resolution XIV. Inter-American Exhibition of folk arts samples
The First Inter-American Indian Congress, having heard the proposals on the area of folk arts given by the delegates of the indigenous
tribes of Cuna from Panamá, Mapuche-araucana from Chile, Apache, Tewa, Hopi, Taos and Isleta and Santa Clara from the United
States and Tzotzil, Tarasca, Huaxteca, Otomí, Mexicana, Mixteca,
Zapoteca, Mazahua, Tarahumara, Cora and Totonaca from Mexico,
gathered in a special section, recommends:
As a creator of a new vision of museography in Mexico, Bertha
Abraham writes:
1. Because it is Panama the country by which all the routes in the
world cross through its Channel, the Inter-American Indian Institute should promote the setting up of an Inter-American sample
exhibition to show travellers all around the world the artistic production of American Indians, indicating the port where it should be
permanently established or deciding on the potential advantages of
placing it between the two Channel most extreme ports.
In 1947, after leaving the principalship of the School of Anthropology, the doctor was appointed Director of the National Museum of
Anthropology. There he had the first opportunity to implement his
idea of a different and didactic museum. This was possible because
the History collections were moved to the Castle of Chapultepec,
causing a chaos in the building of Moneda 13 (the museum headquarters).
2. That the governments of the American countries provide the exhibition contingents for Panama, while seeking to establish the most
appropriate place in each of their countries to set up another InterAmerican exhibition that not only show the national pieces but include some from the Indian population of the American countries.
Because, for the first time, Mexico was going to hold the International Conference of UNESCO (outside Paris), whose headquarters
would be the museum itself, it was important to reorganize it for
5
Culture
and
the event. Thus, with a limited time, the Doctor started adapting
the presentation of collections through the application of modern
educational and museographic concepts, which broke with the idea
of a museum where the objects were stacked without a higher order
or a suitable explanation. To accomplish this, the doctor invited
Miguel Covarrubias and Rene D’Harnoncourt to collaborate with
him (6)
have still, at that time, a specific place in the national economic and
social programs.
From the Museum of Folk Arts and Industries, founded in 1952
and dependent on the National Indigenous Institute and the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Don Daniel developed a
comprehensive program of preservation and revitalization of handicrafts in Mexico, with special emphasis on the artisans’ support.
-The Indian remained artisan by tradition, and also, by necessity. It
was a case of imperative self-sufficiency to survive, to retain some
residues of their culture, and to defend themselves from external
pressures and interference. They continued producing to fill a gap
in the external demand outside the community, with which they
closely linked their handicraft activities and their industries to the
life, the economy and the culture of the country.
-Neither the indigenous nor European artisan overlooked the advantages of raw materials, tools and techniques that they handed
down to each other thus getting mutual enrichment and also improving their skills with new styles and aesthetic concepts.
This program included actions directed to the field of technical assistance, to the strengthening of the production of raw materials,
and the credit to speak, exhibit and market their products. The first
and only national diagnosis of the state of Mexican folk arts that
has been done so far was prepared. With this purpose, several investigators coordinated by Don Daniel, travelled around the country. Many of the actions and programs to be developed later emerged from this experience.
-The American folk art has been little studied despite its importance and significance except for some cases in Mexico, Chile,
Peru or Ecuador (7); or as in Guatemala which, in 1942, joined the
Inter-American Indian Institute and promulgated one of the most
sensible laws to protect indigenous fabrics and handicrafts, or as in
1958, when it included a section in its legislation which emphasizes on the protection of “the indigenous production against those
who corrupt or adulterate their motives.” (8)
Among the most important are:
• The founding of museums of folk arts and schools such as La
Huatapera in Uruapan, Michoacan, from where the maque and
lacquer technology was boosted; the Museum of the Lacquer of
Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, which formed an important collection
that showed the changes, the uses and the alternative uses of the
lacquer technique . In Santa Maria del Río in San Luis Potosi, where the craft industry of shawls through the establishment of a school
workshop revived.
• The promotion of handicraft competitions throughout the country,
as they not only allowed the recovery of lost techniques but also the
ability to distribute resources through the purchase of the awarded
pieces and to encourage artisans to create pieces with a great artistic and technical quality. Artisans were also given credits for their
capitalization.
As a diagnosis of the handicraft phenomenon in the region Don
Daniel wrote in these texts:
-The traditional American artisans inherit, enrich and hand down
their handicrafts from generation to generation, self-educating the
new generations...
-There are no censuses or statistics of the craft production and the
market. Some of the population censuses classify the rural artisans
as peasants and the urban ones as workers...
-In recent years the legal, economic and social situation of Artisans
has become very difficult. As they are not peasants or workers, they
are excluded from the laws that favour these groups of people…
All this helped to enhance and revitalize the handicrafts in Mexico.
Years later, Don Daniel suggested that some of these actions might
take place in Latin American countries where he provided consulting services.
-Some countries have begun training and technical assistance programs with the support of international organisms, but in most of
them the economic or technical problems blur the real horizon of
the handicraft phenomena, such as their role in culture and their
artistic expression as individual and as a group. This confusion arises, in part, from the lack of studies and reliable data, and partly
from the mistaken belief that, solving the technical and economic
problems, the rest will be solved automatically...
Contributions in Latin America
Parallel to his activities in Mexico, Don Daniel began a period of
intensive counselling throughout Latin America:
In 1953, the Pan American Institute of Geography and History to
which he belonged, promoted the series of books about historic
and archaeological monuments of different countries of America
and he also wrote the titles corresponding to Mexico, Honduras
and Guatemala.
-Most countries have museums and private collections of folk art,
but that does not make them study the phenomenon and the problematic of the handicraft ... and less for designing conservation and
development programs…
-There is a distressing lack of experts in folk arts and handicrafts.
(9)
To get an overview of the handicrafts status in Latin America in
the second half of the 20th century, I will transcribe a few paragraphs from several articles written by Don Daniel between 1961
and 1965, devoted to the American folk art. They illustrate how
a people’s heritage, which is also an economic resource, did not
Don Daniel’s remarks about the relationship between tourism and
handicrafts are of great current importance.
6
Latin American craftsman remained without legal, social and economic protection, which is a disadvantage compared with the industrial worker. Thus, it is recommended that the Latin American
countries decree specific resolutions on their legislation to protect
artisans with a clear legal position and to encourage them to form
useful partnerships that dignify and protect them.
He criticized the commercial interests that prevail in some traders
by saying:
-With tourism, a new type of trade emerged, whose profit motive
changes and corrupts the handicrafts. Traders are interested in the
quantity, no matter if the most precious and sacred, the beauty and
the quality are sacrificed. Then, trying to recreate a primitivism to
fool the tourists, the following items were born: the souvenir, the
Mexican curios, the Guatemalan curios, the regional handicraft, fabrics from Otavalo and the Indo-Peruvians textiles.
-Considering that we live in a time of cultural crisis due to the incorporation of the present society to new forms of life, determined
by the increase in communications, the industrial development, the
scientific progress and the changing values in all the spheres of
knowledge, it is recommended to strengthen the measures that tend
to protect the material and subjective values that the traditional folk
arts and handicrafts represent as they contribute with deep human
values and artistic expressions to the culture of the present world.
(11)
-The weavers from Otavalo in Ecuador or those from Bolivia, Guatemala or Mexico suffer from economic inability to be independent
producers and sellers. They lack proper and unrestricted credit that
relieve them of the hoarder and the trader, who sacrifice them and
who do not care about the quality and design, or the good shape and
tradition of the products. The only thing they care about is the good
appearance of the handicrafts.
As part of the Regional Development Programs promoted by the
Organization of American States, and taking as reference the experiences of several countries and their experts on these fields, a very
fruitful task was initiated.
Next I will transcribe some of the most outstanding resolutions of
the First Latin American Seminar of Handicrafts and Folk Art, held
in Mexico City in 1965. They are illustrative of how the relationships, the agreements and the inter-American consensus of people
concerned about the craft sector and the preservation of the heritage of the peoples of the region were established:
Don Daniel was the president and an active participant of the 1st
Workshop of Folk Arts and Handicrafts, held in Mexico in June
1973. The “Inter-American Charter of Folk Arts and Handicrafts”
was improved and finally approved as a result of previous meetings
of the presidents of the American countries at Punta del Este, Uruguay in 1967, the Inter-American Cultural Council in Port Spain,
Trinidad and Tobago in 1969, and the Inter-American Committee
of Culture in Mexico in 1972 and in Washington in 1973.
-Considering that among Latin American countries there are various handicrafts, from the most ancient to the individual expressions using modern techniques; that the population of several
millions of artisans produce works with purposes that change according to their culture, customs and traditions, it is recommended
to define international terms:
- Artisan, craftsman
- Folk art, popular art
- Handicrafts, crafts
so that, countries and governments can have more precise basis
to establish programs and to issue laws that benefit the American
handicraft.
-Considering that the folk art and American handicrafts use various
raw materials, which define their shapes, their character and uses;
that some of these materials have disappeared or are about to do so
and that the artisans very rarely have the opportunity to acquire the
best ones with the best quality at fair wholesale prices, it is recommended to investigate the needs of supply, to protect the production
and cultivation of traditional raw materials and to make their acquisition easier and at better prices for the artisan.
This letter included, for the first time, a document of common commitment (not just at recommendation level) agreed by several Latin
American countries for the protection, preservation and promotion
of folk art and handicrafts (9) as well as the suggestion to create an
Inter-American Centre for Handicrafts and Folk Arts.
In 1974, The Organization of American States, hired Don Daniel
to:
In Ecuador:
- prepare a study on the mechanisms and procedures that are considered useful for the organization or reorganization of the national
institution chosen by the Government of Ecuador that will serve as
the headquarters for the Inter-American Centre for Handicrafts and
Folk Arts.
- develop a program for the first pilot course of the Inter-American
Centre for
Handicrafts and Folk Arts. The program will be addressed to the
officials responsible for the protection, promotion and development of handicrafts in the various American countries.
-Considering that the production techniques of the handicrafts and
folk art have undergone a long process of evolution and adaptation, and that they are closely linked to the forms of artistic expression, to the uses and exploitation of handmade objects and to the
artisan’s production and work pace the preservation of traditional
techniques, is recommended. Concerning the changes, it is imperative to consider the experience of the artisan himself, without
forgetting that the modifications affect, considerably, many aspects
of the production
In Guatemala:
- give advice to the National Centre on the preparation of the policy
for the National Census of Handicrafts
-give advice on the preparation of the basic criteria for the organization of the Sub-Regional Centre for Folk Arts and Handicrafts
In Costa Rica
-Considering that the guilds disappeared in the 19th century, and
the fact they were not replaced by other legal mechanisms, the
7
Culture
and
It is well known that the world of folk art and American handicrafts
is almost unknown in the whole continent. The lack of vital information that statistically shape them in space and time, prevents us
from carrying on specific economic, technical and artistic studies,
in order to recommend specific measures and favourable laws for
the preservation and promotion.
-give advice to the Planning Office of the Presidency of the Republic on:
• The registration, processing and writing of conclusions of the National Census of Handicrafts
• The design of a national plan for the preservation and promotion
of handicrafts and folk arts in Costa Rica
• The organization in Depth Survey by Sampling on the Costa Rican craft reality.
• To develop a national legislation draft for the institutional organization of the management of the folk arts and handicrafts sector
and the necessary regulations to manage the activities of the sector
(12)
There are no Latin American experiences on how to make a craft
census with a moderate budget. The national statistical organisms
shun this commitment adducing economic problems and technical
staff limitations.
On the other hand, there are very few specialists in the field of
American folk art, although there are anthropological studies
which have gathered information and descriptions of their existence among various human groups of the American population.
In August 1974 Don Daniel received an Honorific Mention from
the Planning and Economic Policy Office in acknowledgement of
his valuable cooperation during the implementation of the National
Register of Small Industry and Handicrafts in Costa Rica.
At present, regardless of the actions that are taking place at a continental level, the American countries, in general, have focused their
attention on the marketing of the handicraft production, thus harming the preservation of the artistic and cultural values of crafts
and damaging the quality and the artistic image of the manufactured products, resulting in a depreciation of the income received by
the artisan. (13)
In 1975 and by the same country, he was invited to act as a member
of the panel of judges during the 1st. National Folk Handicraft Fair
where craftsmen and workshops were awarded, primarily, on the
basis of the quality, preservation and recovery of their traditions. At
the same time the Fair took place, the Central American Meeting
of Handicrafts and Small Industry was held with the participation
of several countries of the region. The issue of the situation of the
Central American crafts was discussed in depth in that forum.
Once the decision to create the Inter-American Handicrafts and
Folk Arts Centre in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, was taken, Don
Daniel was commissioned to carry out the scientific and technical
studies and Don Gerardo Martinez was in charge of the administrative tasks.
Since the very beginning, the approach was to create several basic
areas: training, promotion and diffusion.
In January 1976 the CIDAP started functioning, having as objectives:
-to train technicians on the various specialties of folk arts and handicrafts through inter- American, national and regional courses
- to become a centre for the research, information, defence spreading, promotion and development of handicrafts and folk arts
-to organize a specialized library and a folk arts and handicrafts
information centre that collect, store, distribute and pay attention
to the needs of craft knowledge and technologies
-to gather information about the preservation, registration, inventory of forms, decorative motif and design activities of the American crafts and about raw materials, tools, equipment and techniques used in the past or at present
-to organize the American Museum of Popular Arts with samples of
handicrafts for the exhibition and teaching, as well as the organization of travelling exhibitions
The report that Don Daniel wrote on that counselling service stressed how Costa Rica adopted the Charter of Handicraft and Folk
Arts passed in 1973, and how it developed a number of projects
that were launched at that time. This experience of preservation
and development based on a research program, on the creation of
institutions, the adaptation of the legislation and the participation
of public and private organisms, served to repeat it in other countries.
As suggested in that document, he recommended the making of a
craft census and a thorough investigation to ascertain the true role
of crafts. He remarked that these two actions should be undertaken
without delay in other American countries.
Shortly after 10 years of having written several articles about the
American folk arts, Don Daniel sent a document including reflections for a general plan on folk arts and handicrafts to the Organization of American States.
I will transcribe some paragraphs of this document due to the present validity of its content:
The folk art and the American handicrafts form a socio-economic
and cultural complex with their own regional, national and interAmerican characteristics that should be taken into account when
designing policies and continental programs.
After five years of the setting up of CIDAP, Don Gerardo Martinez
delivered a report with the following results:
- Several inter-American courses for officials, promoter specialists,
and artisans in specialized areas such as design, jewellery and pottery, were delivered in different countries of Latin America. Some
of these courses were designed as technical assistance workshops.
-Some research was made on the following topics: the vernacular architecture, the craft census methodology, the jasper weaving
or ikat, the straw toquilla weaving, and the documentation of the
specialized literature in countries like El Salvador, Costa Rica, Ni-
This condition forces us to think about the need to establish uniform
criteria for some basic studies to achieve common denominators in the
preparation, collection, recording, processing and analysis. This will not
only allow the individual assessments, but also the comparisons among
countries and will facilitate the implementation of practical measures at
a continental, regional or national level depending on the case.
8
Regarding research, he considered that CIDAP should carry out
pilot projects in Ecuador to serve as a model for other countries,
then adapting it to these countries individual circumstances. Under
his leadership the CIDAP conducted, among others, some research
on vernacular architecture (Patricia Muñoz); the Bibliography of
Popular Arts and Handicrafts, Juan Cordero Iñiguez, CIDAP, 1980;
the ikat technique, Gualaceo cloths, Dennis Penley, CIDAP , 1988.
caragua and Ecuador.
- Information organs and specialized publications were edited.
-Technical assistance was provided to various institutions in Latin
America.
- The specialized library, the information centre and the Museum of
American Folk Art were set up. (14)
Testimonies:
In the book that, as a posthumous tribute to Don Daniel, the CIDAP
published in 1991, the Colombian Inés Chamorro, specialist and
official of the Organization of American States from 1962 to 1989,
where she became the Principal Specialist of the Technical Unit for
Folk and Handicrafts and Head of the Cultural Heritage Division,
wrote:
Another developed project was an action-research to promote the
marketing. It was later taken as the basis to revive the technique
and to stimulate the socio-economic and cultural development
through an experimental project called “Community Museum” of
Chordeleg, which is a town near Cuenca. This project was conducted with the participation of various groups in the area and with the
support of the CIDAP itself, the Ministry of Education, the Central
Bank and other sources.
Don Daniel devoted not only his permanent creativity but also the
fruit of his professional maturity to the CIDAP. In fact he experienced the CIDAP setting up and its initial stages, those which laid
the foundations of the work that he was going to be in charge of.
Gerardo Martinez was with him as his interpreter in this process.
During the he first three years as a consultant, he lived in Cuenca
from where he travelled to other areas. Then he lived in México
and travelled from it for some other years. His deep love for Latin
America was demonstrated in Cuenca, sharing his knowledge with
the whole community. Evenings were famous at the master’s home.
They became the evening college.
In the field of diffusion, it should be noted the publication program
initiated with the CIDAP Bulletin that preceded the current Journal
of American Crafts. Along with other documents that are still published, they form a very important source for the study and dissemination of the handicrafts and folk arts of the American countries.
Don Daniel organized ethnographic and handicraft shows in Cuenca and he also managed their exhibition in other cities in Ecuador
and other countries.
The CIDAP also carried out handicraft exhibitions where the artisan producers showed their craft techniques. Don Daniel also contributed to the development of the folk festivals of the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, to achieve, especially, the participation
of artisans and Latin American groups in the bicentennial commemorative program of the United States in 1976, thus consolidating
an old initiative discussed in the sixties with his friend Ralph Rinzler, director of the international programs of that institution. The
festivals are still celebrated yearly and with great success.
He visualized CIDAP as the lively and dynamic core of all kinds of
information, documentation and exhibition of the major American
crafts. Their techniques, processes and tools were the source for the
setting up of the American Museum of Popular Art, whose guidelines he also drew up.
He considered that the Centre should not do everything, but create
models and guidelines for the research related to the sector, including the census and marketing, for which he prepared the methodology. He also thought that the specialization of services should be
experimented in several countries in order to create a solid infrastructure that would allow a greater use of the available resources
in the region.
Another area that received Don Daniel’s attention was the institutional cooperation. In his time as CIDAP technical advisor, he signed cooperation agreements with various national and international
institutions, including the Inter-American Indian Institute based in
Mexico, the INIDEF in Venezuela, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and with many others where he delivered lectures and
workshops and offered advice for the development of a variety of
projects.
Don Daniel took the necessary steps to make Costa Rica responsible for the census. Colombia would be in charge of the design
courses -as it indeed happened - and the first ones took place in
Bogotá and Popayán. They received the support of the Presidency
of the Republic, the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions and
the National Learning Service (SENA) of that country.
Don Daniel was the teacher par excellence. It must be said that only
those who were able to absorb his permanent teaching, deserved to
be his pupil. He always had the patience to explain everything to
them and he was always surrounded by students from all classes
and ages. He always knew the answer to any question on any subject. This stimulated Gerardo Martinez’s cuencano humour when
he said: “if he did not know the answer, he invented it.
It is worth mentioning here that, as a result of these courses, the
Research Institute of the Colombian Expression (IDEC), was set
up. Since then, it has been a promoter of major research projects
and also of the craft designer career, which already has a great promotion among the young professionals in the branch.
Students always had to carry a tape recorder or a notebook, and in
the worst case, they should be with eyes and ears wide open.
Don Daniel was always in favour of the comprehensive action, including the participation of artisans and their community.
He thought that CIDAP would be, in addition to a research and training
centre, “the craftsmen’s house,” the place where they could go to solve
their problems, as craftsmen, he said, is the reason for CIDAP existence.
In formal programs Don Daniel had trained in courses and workshops at national and multinational centres, not only of the Organization of American States, but also in other countries. The reports
9
Culture
and
Last stage
As Inés Chamorro mentioned, Don Daniel participated with the paper “The Universe of Crafts and Education” in the 1st. Technical
Meeting on Education and Traditional and Folk Culture, that took
place in October 1979 in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. Among the
recommendations derived from the meeting were that the objectives of the education programs and crafts development be directed
to the improvement of artisans’ economic and social conditions,
that the most highly skilled craftsmen be designated as teachers for
the experimentation and teaching of crafts and that support should
be given for an inter-American policy of setting up an operation of
national, regional and local museums devoted, preferably, to folk
culture, in order to assist in the work of heritage preservation.
of the “Inter-American Year of Handicrafts 1982-83” showed that
302 inter-American and 220 national scholarship holders were registered. All of them received direct training from Don Daniel, not
including the many forms of education that he constantly offered.
He also advised us on the curricular contents for the negotiations
with Spain and Italy, countries which co-sponsored the training
projects.
Courses and workshops, Don Daniel said, should not last more than
two months to keep the scholarship holders from running the risk
of uprooting his family and his own work. The venues for these
courses should alternate between the inter-American and other
American countries centres in order to stimulate the organization
and cooperation in this regard. In addition to the courses in Colombia, the CIDAP and the sub-centre have covered the whole continent, including the English Caribbean.
As recommended in the Inter-American Charter for Popular Arts
and Crafts, “The Inter-American Year of Crafts 1982-1983” was
created. Numerous activities were held during that year, the most
outstanding included:
-The First Inter-American Meeting of Artisans
-The International meeting of Agencies and Programs of Crafts Development
-The Inter-American Commemorative Poster Contest
-The Inter-American essay contest on the theme “The traditional
artisan in the contemporary society.” (17)
It was a very interesting experience to observe the production technique for the Ecuadorian straw toquilla hats by participants from
Jamaica, Barbados, St. Vincent and other countries producing objects with vegetable fibers. As for me, that constitutes the regional
integration, not just the one that is shown at political level.
From Don Daniel’s suggestions derived important experimental recommendations that are included in the series Education Alternatives for distinct cultural groups that are a substantial contribution to
the information sources of the Latin American Pedagogy...
In 1982, Don Daniel was invited as a participant, to the Second
Technical Meeting of Crafts and Folk Arts that was held in Guatemala, having the Regional Sub-centre of Crafts as a host.
[and in her final reflections, Inés Chamorro wrote] ...
By then, the handicraft sector was very active, the participation
of several Latin American countries contributed to the enrichment
of the working documents, the different courses in their different
modalities proved to be very useful and new partners were looked
for in order to extend the actions of promotion, dissemination and
preservation. That was the case of Mexico, which consolidated
institutions such as the National Fund for the Development of Handicrafts (FONART) and where the Houses of Handicrafts were set
up in the different states of the Republic.
The Handicraft program, created under the guidance of the Master, has not been examined in its true dimension. Its impact on the
national development has not been objectively evaluated. This technical task has not received all the attention it deserves probably
due to the characteristics of the Organization of American States
which is a regional organization that basically involves political
temporary entities.
We do not pretend to provide a negative criterion to highlight a
piece of work which, in our opinion, it is not questionable. After
all, institutions are just abstract concepts that respond to people and
that can achieve great changes with the mysticism and the firmness
of the social commitment of each of them. (15)
In 1982 Don Daniel was honoured with the First Class Cultural
Merit award, as a “fair tribute to the tireless cultural work undertaken for the good of Ecuador.”
That same year he was invited by Don Francisco Rodriguez Rouanet, Director of the Regional Sub- Centre for Folk Arts and Handicrafts of Guatemala to turn the conference “The Universe of Crafts” into a publication. Its distribution “would greatly contribute to
the folk crafts knowledge, so necessary for educators, technicians
and specialists who are devoted to the study of the traditional folk
culture “(18).
In the interview that Bertha Abraham Jalil did to Claudio Malo
González, former Minister of Education and Culture of Ecuador
and the presently Executive Director of the CIDAP and to the
Mexican Alfonso Soto Soria, museologist, anthropologist and professor of several of the inter-American courses, she explored about
Don Daniel’s work in the recovery of handicrafts in Latin America. They said that all the action started in Mexico, since his first
experiences at the School of Anthropology and then through the
institutions he created or organized.
The two specialists recounted about CIDAP’s birth from the perspective of Ecuador and told some anecdotes about when the beginning of the courses for artisans started. They said it was really
exciting when the craftsmen that were in the first course, referred
to Doctor Rubín de la Borbolla as “The Artisan of America” (16)
Since the eighties, Spain actively participated in the inter-American programs. Inés Chamorro, in her 1993 interview to Don Rafael
Rivas de Benito, President of the Spanish Foundation for Crafts,
wrote:
The Ibero-American Crafts Cooperation Program was integral. We
conceive the cooperation on the craft field as a project that had to
be developed at the same rate as its implementation did. This is
10
Regarding the seminars:
To the first, at Santiago de Compostela in 1984, we arrived full of
encouragement, of inexperience and illusions. We were not aware
of the long road we had yet to travel.
what I would call a spiral development, where each subsequent
ring rests on the previous one.
The most important part for the project implementation was, in
our view, to establish several essential elements in the cooperation
such as the training, the production and the marketing. We greatly
stressed on the concept of the training on the subject of marketing
because we believed that, at some point, to influence within the technological training would be extremely dangerous and it was necessary to be extremely respectful of each country’s reality. So we
thought that the best assistance on promotion we could do was to
do it from the product marketing and that is what we did. The OEA
courses disappeared at that time but we kept them by turning them
into advanced courses for specialists on handicrafts marketing.
The second was held in the beautiful and beloved city of Quito in
Ecuador, of which we have so indelible memories and where we
believed we had achieved the dream of continuity.
The third one was in the island of Tenerife, where, although in an
informal way, the Ibero- American Community of Crafts (CIART)
was constituted.
The fourth seminar was in the ever-hospitable city of San José,
Costa Rica, where many things have had their origin and have been
planned and implemented throughout all this time.
First we decided to start making a series of specific exercises for
marketing and, with that purpose, we created the Ibero-American
Crafts Fair, called FINAR, which had in Madrid its first venue. The
second step was already an international experience, but always
as a vehicle to enter the European Economic Community market
through Spain. In order to establish a permanent basis for the Fair
in Tenerife, the Research Centre for Spanish and Latin American
Crafts was created in Orotava. The centre also includes a museum
that exhibits an important collection of the Spanish and Latin American Communities, with some contributions from the participants
in the various events.
In the fifth seminar we went back again to Tenerife, to review the
commitments we had made and to open the Centre of Documentation and Research of the Spanish and American Crafts, created as a
result of the agreements of the third seminar.
The sixth seminar was in Toluca and Lerdo, México, where we met
again with the entire handicraft history of the deep, creative and
spiritual America, and we committed ourselves again to the indigenous artisan populations. (No sera Laredo?)
The seventh seminar was carried out in the wonderful city of Cadiz,
indisputable link of the connections between Spain and the American countries. There we formally decided the CIART institutionalization and to make a leap forward to guarantee the continuity.
This way we were able to create a body of teachings provided by
the seminars. The Tenerife Prize, in any of its still operative forms
is also a consequence of that function. The fact that many countries
today remain convinced that research, marketing and documentation can be useful for the future only through this, is also a result
of our awareness and stubbornness when convincing people that
going together is much better than separately. (19)
The eighth was held in Panama, where we had the opportunity to
participate in the commemorations of the First Centenary of its independence. We also devoted a specific seminar to the role of women in the 21st century handicraft. It was a seminar that did justice
and discovered the unique world of women artisans, their problems
and where a commitment with their cause was agreed.
Some days before his death in 1990, Don Daniel was awarded with
the first emission of the “Tenerife Prize for the research promotion
of Handicrafts in Spain and America”
In 1984, the First Ibero-American Seminar on Handicrafts Cooperation” took place in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, which covered topics such as:
And at the ninth seminar, just after twenty years from the first, we
met again at Santiago de Compostela with the idea of making balance of these years, of the achievements and frustrations, so as
to have an overview of the undertaken route, while we plan our
activities for the century that have just begun. (20)
- The mutual influence of the Spanish and Latin American handicrafts, their historic and cultural evolution by Daniel Rubin de la
Borbolla, from Mexico
- Galician artisans in Latin America by Luciano Garcia Alén, from
Spain
- Mutual cooperation for the development of handicrafts in their
technological, economic and institutional aspects by Cecilia Duque
Duque, from Colombia.
- Defence and protection of the traditional and folk handicrafts by
Gerardo Martinez Espinosa, from Ecuador
- Folk culture in the Education systems. The Politics at America’s
level, by Inés Chamorro
From the conclusions of the seminar some actions emerged that
enriched the institutional activities of training, research and documentation.
In 2004, Don Rafael Rivas de Benito recalled 20 years of IberoAmerican cooperation and of 9 seminars:
Results
But it was not the work of just one man. The commitment, dedication, the will and political decision of many others were needed.
These others believed in the possibility of developing and protecting one of the most fragile and dynamic patrimonies of the culture just as craft expressions are; fragile due to market pressures,
and dynamic because in each generation they are renewed, and this
guarantees their survival.
Several courses, workshops, seminars and publications were launched by the Inter-American Centre of Handicrafts and Folk Arts,
the Inter-American Culture Committee, the Ibero-American Handicraft Community and by other national and regional organizations. Technical consultancy was provided and some information
11
Culture
and
vorced from the artisan who produced them, the locality or region
where they came from and the culture which they belonged to.
centres were created as well. But not all of them were successes
and achievements, as it was stated by Don Rafael Rivas de Benito
on his report 20 years after the Ibero-American Cooperation started:
Some years later other museums were created such as the Arts and
Folk Traditions Museum in Bogotá, Colombia, founded by Ana
Maria Duque; the Chordeleg Museum-Community which subsequently moved to Gualaceo in Ecuador and the Ibero-American
Crafts Museum in the Santo Domingo Convent in La Orotava, Tenerife, they are samples of the potential in the fields of education,
promotion and preservation of the cultural heritage.
But not all have been successful, or idyllic. We have also accumulated a number of frustrations and some failures that, in many
cases, have been more or less difficult to disguise. Sometimes we
have thought that these difficulties were impossible to overcome
and that it was impossible to move forward.
We have had to leave unattended many requests for the lack of both
financial and human resources; we were desperate when, after training some thousands of technicians, many of them did not cascade
the acquired knowledge to the societies it should be addressed; we
have experienced many times that it is not only how to do things,
but how you can say things to the artisan.
We have learned that in times, expectations or even the glances and
silences, in America re not the same as in Europe. Sometimes they
are not even the words, although it appears that in these communities they speak the same language.
Those who are familiar with the Latin America handicrafts will
agree with me that there is a special language among craftsmen,
whether indigenous or not, which is a language made of words, half
words, rituals, gestures and silences.
And the most outstanding aspect of all this: we have learned that
the most important thing in this world where we have managed
ourselves, has been and undoubtedly is that the artisans, in a huge
number, perform with their hands the reality of America ( 21)
The bases have been set. Today, all Latin American countries have
institutions and programs for the craft sector, there are numerous
civil associations, nongovernmental organizations and private entities that have also made a commitment to the craftsmen, but there
is much yet to be done.
One of Don Daniel’s proposals, which still remains pending, is the
creation of the Encyclopaedia of Folk Arts in America. This initiative could be the basis of a thorough research process at each
country level and it will undoubtedly impact very positively on the
promotion and knowledge of the cultural values in the region.
Throughout many years, institutions like the CIDAP (Inter-American Centre of Handicrafts and Folk Arts) or CIART (the IberoAmerican Crafts Community) have promoted training courses, but
this area still needs a greater boost at each country level as well as
in regional projects.
The Museum of American Folk Arts was established in the city
of Cuenca, Ecuador, but countries have not contributed to enrich
their collections further or to participate in programs of travelling
exhibitions. This would serve to document collections that, through
the current technology, could virtually be present in the halls of the
Museum or in the houses of all those who wanted to visit them.
The globalized world we all Latin Americans belong to offers benefits and perspectives that must be exploited and incorporated
into a new support phase for the craft sector. Among them are,
the new information and communication technologies, especially
the geographic information systems that allow to locate artisans,
their products, their environment and infrastructure in maps in an
integrated manner; the technological advances offer the option of
remote training, to bring the materials and bibliographies closer to
large segments of the population and to spread the heritage, which
does not only belong to the Americans. With the new international instruments such as the Convention for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage, signed by over 120 countries within
UNESCO framework, we share the co-responsibility to preserve
and protect the heritage with all the craftsmen and peoples of the
world.
Prospects
The recognition process has not ended, the great majority of Latin
American artisans have not improved their living conditions, or the
laws that give them legal personality and admit that their cultural,
social and economic dimensions have not yet benefited them significantly.
The revaluation of folk art and handicrafts as heritage is not yet
completed, the artisans’ census have been performed only in very
few Latin American countries; the study of techniques and raw materials has been slowly documented, especially those that are in
danger of extinction. The setting of shared criteria for basic studies
in the craft sector has not yet been done.
The pressure that the mass tourism makes on the cultural heritage impels us to propose actions to avoid the distorting of cultural
events, such as handicrafts, through all this “junk culture” that pervades airports, craft shops and tourist sites, as Don Daniel wrote
more than 50 years ago.
This article was prepared by consulting the cultural heritage of the
library, the archive and the photo library of the Daniel Rubin de la
Borbolla Centre, a civil association, with the aim to raise awareness
and to spark the interest to find information in original sources that
account for research, promotion, preservation and revitalization activities in Ibero-America, which marked, in an essential way, the
future of the crafts and folk art in the region.
The spirit with which Don Alfonso Caso and Don Daniel created
the Museum of Popular Arts and Industries in 1952 was lost when
it closed a few years ago. Only few museums exhibit handicrafts
as cultural, social and economic processes at present. In the vast
majority of them, crafts are shown as objects of aesthetic value di-
The Centre is a private foundation established by the Rubín de
la Borbolla family and by Don Daniel’s colleagues, pupils and
friends. It is a place of reference for researchers and craftsmen, for
the creation of research projects and methodological tools such as
the thesaurus in folk art. The Centre has an extensive bibliography
12
by topics; it is also a consultant on issues of the intangible heritage for public and private, national and international organizations
such as UNESCO from which it has received that recognition last
year.
(8) Primer Congreso Indigenista Interamericano. Archivo CDRB
núm.: 53/1279 y 13/339.
(9) Rubín de la Borbolla, Daniel. Las artesanías y el arte popular
americano. México, 1965. Archivo CDRB núm. 3/89.
Currently the Centre participates within the group of experts in
México that give advice for the intangible heritage registration
and in the drawing up of several files that will be submitted to
UNESCO for their recognition as intangible cultural heritage; it is
the first place of reference of information for specialized publications; workshops on the valuation and registration of cultural heritage are given in its venue. The Centre has the first Crafts Atlas on
Internet in the edition phase. The Atlas is based on a geographical
information system. This is a proposal made by the Centre as part
of the actions that the sector requires for technological updating.
(10) Rubín de la Borbolla, Daniel. El arte americano, México. Archivo CDRB núm. 9/237.
(11) “Resoluciones del Primer Seminario Latinoamericano de
Artesanías y Artes Populares” en América Indígena, vol. XXVI,
núm., 2, México, 1966. pp. 177-186.
(12) Consultorías a la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana y a la
OEA, 1974. Archivo CDRB núm. 60/1451.
Conclusions
The ideas of Don Daniel are still alive in the minds of those who
were his pupils and for colleagues. But today, when the generational change has already happened, it is important for the new
generations to know the thought and work of these men who were
advanced for their time. They formed institutions, acquired a commitment to the craftsmen and in spite of everything that has been
done in the field of folk arts and crafts, the commitment remains in
force as many of the solutions and approaches that were proposed
more than 50 years ago.
(13) La artesanía y la pequeña industria en Costa Rica, Informe
final. Archivo CDRB núm. 22/584.
(14) Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares, correspondencia y documentos varios. Archivo CDRB núm. 135/838.
(15) Chamorro, Inés G. “El Dr. Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla,
una visión de su obra latinoamericana para el desarrollo del sector
artesanal” en Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla, presencia, herencia.
Ecuador. CIDAP, 1991. pp. 88-90.
Technological progress does not provide solutions; it assists in the
training, documentation, spreading and promotion processes. Researchers identify problems and propose solutions, but the artisans
are the bearers of knowledge, skills and creative abilities, who continue recreating and preserving the folk art and crafts as they have
done so far.
(16) “El folclor y las artes populares más allá de México” en Abraham Jalil, Bertha. Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla, testimonios y
fuentes. Tomo II México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México 1996. pp. 169.
(17) Chamorro, Inés G. Artesanías y cooperación en América Latina. Ecuador. Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares, 2006. pp. 128.
(18) Correspondencia DRB Sub-centro Guatemala. Archivo CDRB
núm.9/477.
Quotes
(1) Arguedas, Sol. “Ese México que era nuestro” en Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla, presencia, herencia. Ecuador. CIDAP, 1991. p.
109.
(19) Chamorro, Inés G. Artesanías y cooperación en América Latina. Ecuador. Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares, 2006. pp.204-207
(2) Montenegro, Roberto. Museo de Artes Populares. México. Col.
Anáhuac, núm. 6 Ediciones de Arte, 1948. pp. Introducción.
(3) v/a. 20 siglos de arte mexicano. México. Museo de Arte Moderno de Nueva York, 1940. pp. Introducción.
(20) Rivas de Benito, Rafael. Seminarios Iberoamericanos de Cooperación Técnica en Artesanía en Artesanías de América, Ecuador. Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares, 2005. pp. 6-8.
(4) Caso, Alfonso. “La protección de las artes populares” en América Indígena, Vol. II, núm. 3. México, 1942. pp. 25-29.
21) Ibíd. pp. 22-23.
(5) “Acta final del Primer Congreso Indigenista Interamericano”
en Suplemento del Boletín Indigenista. México. Instituto Indigenista Interamericano, 1948.pp.11-12.
(6) Abraham Jalil, Bertha. Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla, testimonios y fuentes. Tomo I.
México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1996.pp. 53.
(7) Rubín de la Borbolla, Daniel. “Arte popular americano” en
A William Cameron Towsend XXV aniversario del ILV. México.
1961. Archivo CDRB: 66/1631. pp.7.
13
Culture
and
Bibliography
- Primer Seminario Latinoamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares”. Resoluciones, en América Indígena, vol. XXVI, núm, 2,
México, 1966.
- Abraham Jalil, Bertha. Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla, testimonios y fuentes. Tomo I y II México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1996.
- Primera Feria Nacional de Artesanía Popular en Costa Rica. Documentos de trabajo y programas. Archivo CDRB: 107/2712.
- Arguedas, Sol. “Ese México que era nuestro” en Daniel F. Rubín
de la Borbolla, presencia, herencia. Ecuador. CIDAP, 1991.
- Primera Reunión Técnica de Artesanías y Artes Populares, correspondencia y documentos varios. México. Archivo CDRB: 72/1823.
- Caso, Alfonso. “La protección de las artes populares” en América
Indígena, Vol. II, núm. 3. México, 1942.
- Primera Reunión Técnica sobre educación y cultura popular tradicional, correspondencia. Archivo: 90/2234.
- Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares, correspondencia y documentos varios. Archivo CDRB núm. 135/838.
- Primera Reunión Técnica sobre educación y cultura popular tradicional, conclusiones. Archivo CDRB: 110/2787.
- Chamorro, Inés G. Artesanías y cooperación en América Latina.
Ecuador. Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares,
2006.
- Reconocimientos. Ecuador, correspondencia. Archivo CDRB
núm.42/1042.
- Chamorro, Inés G. “El Dr. Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla, una
visión de su obra latinoamericana para el desarrollo del sector artesanal” en Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla, presencia, herencia.
Ecuador. CIDAP, 1991.
- Rivas de Benito, Rafael. Seminarios Iberoamericanos de Cooperación Técnica en Artesanía en Artesanías de América, Ecuador.
Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares, 2005.
-Congreso Interamericano Indianista, Bolivia, 1939. Archivo
CDRB núm: 53/1280.
- Rubín de la Borbolla, Daniel F. Estudios técnicos sobre la tumba
7 de Monte Albán en Memorias del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia III. México. INAH, 1969. Hemeroteca CDRB:
15.III.1969.
- Consultorías a la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana y a la
OEA, 1974. Archivo CDRB núm. 60/1451.
- Rubín de la Borbolla, Daniel. El arte americano, México. Archivo
CDRB núm. 9/237.
- Correspondencia DRB Sub-centro Guatemala. Archivo CDRB
núm.9/477.
- _______________________ “Arte popular americano” en A William Cameron
Towsend XXV aniversario del ILV. México. 1961. Archivo
CDRB:66/1631.
- Correspondencias y documentos varios Centro Interamericano de
Artesanías y Artes Populares, Archivo CDRB núm. 135/838.
- Creación del Museo Nacional de Artes e Industrias Populares.
Archivo CDRB: 27/670.
- ________________________ Arte popular mexicano. La Habana, Cuba. Comisión Nacional Cubana de la Unesco, 1961. Biblioteca CDRB: 2130
- Informe Final, La artesanía y la pequeña industria en Costa Rica.
Archivo CDRB núm. 22/584.
- ________________________ Arte popular mexicano. México.
Fondo de Cultura Económica. 1974. Biblioteca CDRB: 2818
- Mariscal Orozco, José Luis. La construcción de la hegemonía en
la definición del valor en el arte popular. En Portal Iberoamericano
de Gestión cultural núm. 12, junio 2005. www.gestioncultural.org.
- _________________________ Enciclopedia de las Artes Populares de América. Proyecto. Archivo CDRB: 39/935
- Montenegro, Roberto. Museo de Artes Populares. México. Col.
Anáhuac, núm. 6 Ediciones de Arte, 1948.
- ________________________ Recomendaciones al Programa del
IV Congreso Indigenista Interamericano a celebrarse en Guatemala, 1959. Archivo CDRB: 42/1036.
- Mordó, Carlos. Artesanía, cultura y desarrollo. Buenos Aires.
Plan de fomento de las Artesanías de las Comunidades Indígenas
de Argentina, 1997. Biblioteca CDRB: 3366.
- Segunda Reunión Técnica de Artesanías y Artes Populares, correspondencia. Archivo CDRB: 1/7.
- Primer Congreso Indigenista Interamericano. Archivo CDRB
núm: 53/1279 y 13/339.
- Segunda Conferencia Mundial del Consejo Internacional de Artesanos. Proyecto, documento varios y correspondencia. Archivo
CDRB: 43/1061
- Primer Congreso Indigenista Interamericano, Acta final, en Suplemento del Boletín Indigenista. México. Instituto Indigenista Interamericano, 1948.
- IV Seminario Iberoamericano de Cooperación en Artesanías
14
1982. Correspondencia. Archivo CDRB: 106/2700.
- The final act, first Inter American conference on Indian life, Patzcuaro, Michoacan. U.S. Washington D.D. Office of Indian Affairs,
1940. Biblioteca CDRB: 2888.
- v/a. 20 siglos de arte mexicano. México. Museo de Arte Moderno
de Nueva York,
1940.
15
3
The global crisis and
the craft sector:
Importance of the training of
artisans as a strategy to
confront the threats of global
economic and financial crisis.
Héctor V. Lombera Cuadrado
An expert in the field of handicrafts, he has coordinated and directed
multi-sectorial teams for development, promotion and fostering of the
handicraft activity in several Argentine provinces and at national level,
from his positions as General Manager of the Handicraft Society of the
Provincial State Neuquén and as Director of the National Market of Traditional Argentine Handicrafts of the Ministry of Culture of the Presidency of the nation.
He has been a member of international panels of judges and has conducted numerous research programs in the field of folklore. He taught in the
field of the cultural industries oriented towards technical matters related
to folklore, traditional culture and folk arts. He has been a counselor for
national and international organizations and he has published documents
about: handicrafts and heritage, certificates of origin and seals of excellence, among others subjects.
Email: sanoarte@yahoo.com.ar
Dynamics of latin american handicrafts as a factor of economic, social and cultural development
The global crisis and the craft sector:
importance of the training of artisans as a strategy to
confront the threats of global economic and financial
crisis.
II. THE CRAFT SECTOR IN A SITUATION OF CRISIS
CHAOS AND COMPLEXITY
needed for the sustained development of the “market of cultural
goods” are not envisioned and so, many conflicts arise generated
by the crisis:
(From the Latin crisis, in turn from the Greek κρίσις), it is defined
as a situation of changes in any aspect of an organized reality, that
is, it is always present, but underlying; it is unstable but subject to
evolution; especially, the crisis of structures (productive, social,
economic, cultural).
These changes can be expected and announced, although with
some degree of uncertainty as to their reversibility or depth in the
societies that suffer them. Otherwise, they would be mere automatic responses to expected or unexpected changes, like the physicalchemical reactions.
If the mutations are profound, sudden and violent, and bring consequences that go beyond a mere crisis, they are called a revolution.
The result: collapse of markets, massive layoffs, closed factories,
assets that disappear, retraction of demand in all types of products
and in all social and economic scales, because those who have little, can consume little, and those who have a lot, wait to consume.
This reality shows a sharp recession, a rise in unemployment, a
fall of the gross domestic product in Latin American countries
and difficulties in international trade. The mistrust and the uncertainty fragment the productive, economic and financial activities.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC) acknowledges the impact of the crisis on Latin American
trade.
No sector escapes the influence of this situation: industry, trade and
tourism –one of the main partners of the artisan- show indexes that
are far from encouraging throughout the world. The global village
has come into conflict with itself.
The model of social rise in Latin America -there is no denying- is
deteriorated. Inequalities are already installed in relation to: access
to education, information knowledge, the possibility of having a
decent job and health care, that is, the tools that allow us a harmo-
In the present socio-economic world context, crisis is been spoken
of as a time of change in the development of the current scenarios,
which pose situations of instability and social and life conflicts,
both individual and collective.
It has sometimes been recognized the low participation of artisans
in the benefits offered by the “global village”, as well as the concern about the speed of technological changes that leave the sector
out of the game of supply and demand.
It is about rediscovering the opportunities the artisans should have
access to, to emphasize the value of their “symbolic capital”, achieving thus certain markets, which could be excellent for the sector,
promoting in this way its development and improving their quality
of life.
It is important to establish, among the users, the assessment of the
“social capital” built by artisans during its long history, who have
held the knowledge of the appropriate technologies in the “mindfact and artifact” trades, as a significant portion of the “intangible
heritage” of communities in Latin America.
Counselors in buying habits, who manage the commercial and informative superstructures as opinion makers, “guide” consumers
to those products considered as “good”, “healthy”, “pleasant”, “of
good price” and any other attribute that they want to add, based
on the trademark setting up maintained by the big enterprises, and
without a significant participation of artisans in this aspect.
It is known that “buyers,” according to those promotional systems,
change rapidly their buying habits, leaving aside the systematic
study of consumerist practices which, in other times, were used by
the artisans as a semi-guide to steer their production and quantify
their scales of work.
If the current crisis is demonstrating something, is that there is no
“immutable forms of power of the financial world”. The changes
3
Culture
and
Edgar Morin gives us a first approximation to complexity: “At first
glance, complexity is a fabric (complexus: what is woven into a
whole) of heterogeneous constituents that are inseparably associated: it presents the paradox of one and the multiple ...”
Keeping circularity is “respecting the objective conditions of human knowledge”, which always involves paradox and uncertainty. Circularity allows us certain knowledge that reflects on itself,
transforming the vicious circle in virtuous circle. We must ensure,
as Morin reminds us, not deviating from circularity: “The circle
will be our wheel, our path will be spiral.”
We need to relearn to learn, which constitutes “an organizing principle of the knowledge associated to the description of the object,
the description of the description and the unearthing of the descriptor”. We are facing the emergence of a new paradigm: the paradigm
of complexity, which begins to take shape in the crises that affect
knowledge in our century. A paradigm that accepts that “the only
true knowledge is the one that nourishes on uncertainty and the
only thought that lives is the one that keeps itself in the temperature
of its own destruction”.
Complexity is the challenge, not the answer. The paradigm of complexity is an undertaking in conception, which will come hand by
hand with new concepts, new visions, new discoveries and new
ideas that will connect and meet with each other. It is a theoretical
opening, an open theory that requires our effort to develop it.
Certainly, these situations of chaos, disorder and crisis, for a usually unprotected sector, as the craft one, maximize the threats and
restrictions that affect it, thus reducing opportunities for it to achieve the harmonious and sustainable development we pretend.
Sharing the thought of Ignacio Salazar that the desert grows, this
alone is not enough, but trees should be planted. As Morin says,
“…we must rethink these ideas to implement them now in the sector, to enable an overcoming growth from the recognition of the
crisis.”
1.
Those elements of identity of the craft sector must then be
assessed. They are mainly represented by:
2.
The total command of the trades -in reference to knowhow- as the decisive scheme in artisan training, where each part of
the production process is richly and deeply known.
3.
The persistent maintenance of tradition as a substantive
part of the symbolic capital, which is an indicative of group and
cultural membership.
4.
This will generate opportunities on the employment ubiquity, providing the capacity adjustment to the new situations raised by the complicated world of handicraft production and trade.
OPPORTUNITIES
•
The recognition of the “symbolic value” of products.
Both the common user, as the dilettante or the collector, value the
product for what it represents in the original community.
•
Positive difference in market values (although random).
The advantages of the existing exchange differences would make
possible an excellent opportunity for the opening of new markets
and the growth of the existing ones.
•
The sector has recognized the importance of training to
improve their products and the use of appropriate technologies.
Since the last decade, the craft sector has been actively involved in
the management of training and technical assistance offered by public and private sectors, assigning this activity to the improvement
of their production routines and the redesign of their products.
•Opening of new spaces for the recognition of the activity
nious growth as individuals participating in egalitarian and democratic societies, with their own identities.
While part of the craft sector keeps the illusion or hope of achieving, inside the trade, a decent labour salaried job and of accessing
to social security guaranteed by government systems, with a welfare state capable of rectifying and correcting all current structural
defects, it is known that this has become a utopia. Guarantee of job
stability and the persistence over time for certain trades, many of
which inevitably tend to disappear, are becoming more complicated every day.
The difficulties in the acquisition of productive assets reinforce the
patterns of intergenerational reproduction of inequality and poverty. In the current situation, credit circuits are of limited access and
high risk. The credit is expensive and creates fear in those who
require it. These are negative signs for the different actors of craft
production.
Despite repeated harangues from various world leaders, in urging
to prevent the establishment of trade barriers, protectionism is increasing as well as confrontations and there are not well coordinated responses to the current crisis.
That is, there is a growth of “barriers” not just of “defence” but,
from the developed countries, a rise on the “attack” to informal
productive systems of the “third world”. That includes handicrafts,
because, with the exception of the General Systems of Preferences
(GSP), graciously granted by developed countries to some of the
peripheral ones on just some and very scarce artisan products, the
majority is not freed from the constraints of admission.
It is known that this situation is not new to the craftsmen who,
throughout history, from the industrial revolution till today, have
passed through winding paths that have led them to the adventure of maintaining, against all odds, their productive creation. The
question is: What can be done for this process of instability and
conflict to find craftsmen in a better position before the crisis? Are
there tools that, properly implemented and recognized, may help
them to avoid the negative aspects of this moment of structural
changes that threaten and push them aside?
We outline the hypothesis that the Latin-American craftsmen can,
taking advantage of their strengths and the training mechanisms
already proven in other areas of production, create the precise strategies to deal with the threats generated by the current conflict.
It is possible to get a fresh look at this situation and we should reflect on the words of Albert Einstein:
“Crisis is the best blessing that can happen to people and countries,
since crisis brings progress. It is in the crisis where inventive, discoveries and major strategies arise. Anyone who attributes his failures to crisis and hardship violates his own talent and gives more
respect to problems than to solutions. The real crisis is the crisis of
incompetence. There is no crisis without challenges, without challenges life is a routine, a slow agony. Without crisis there is no
merit. Let’s finish once and for all with the only threatening crisis
which is the tragedy of not wanting to fight to overcome it.”
From this scenario, it should be considered the mainstay of the craft
sector and its ability to operate in the situation of increasing chaos
and complexity, with the emergence of the crisis.
Reflecting on the paradigm, introduced by Edgar Morin, of complexity as a model of systematic thinking about the reality that aims
at the knowledge of the diversity and the particular, brings us to
consider that it is necessary to establish multiple relationships to
analyze a situation as critical as the current one.
4
cultural load incorporated into the product).
2. Traditional techniques used by urban artisans (recovery, rescue
and nostalgic evocations).
3. Contemporary techniques (non-traditional) used by urban artisans (logical scheme of synchronic production).
4. Contemporary techniques (non-traditional) used by farmers or
rural artisans (commercial pressure-globalization).
It should be considered that the cultural determinism is influenced
by geographical location and the time in which the artisans develop
their activity. As this is an unavoidable part of the diversity, it can
be estimated that there are as many types of handicraft products as
carriers and communities exist.
LABOUR INFORMALITY AND EXCLUSION
Historically, the handicraft sector in Latin America has suffered various degrees of discrimination and isolation. That has happened,
in some cases, by the lack of acceptance of the “other cultural self”
by those who hold the power and information; in others, by the
tendency of self-marginalize that many producer groups have, who
refuse to share with foreigners their own cultural elements.
Currently, deep contrasts persist that directly affect them: technological advances that coexist with labour and territorial exclusion;
malnutrition; unemployment and an obvious and sustained economic polarization, that directly disrupt the social fabric of the craft
sector, taking into account, besides, that the vast majority of the
producers (native people, Creoles, mestizos) are permanent agents
of exclusion and marginalization.
It is perceived that this situation tends to improve. Nevertheless,
there is some risk in the growth of production and transmission of
knowledge and techniques, which maintain the social cohesion of
distinct human groups, as are the communities of our Latin American artisans.
The emergence of new terminology in the world of applied economics affects the complicated sector situation of handicrafts, as
craftsmen suffer permanently its consequences.
It is noticed that, in the face of a wild reduction of formal jobs, the
“theory of spilling” is kept -in reverse-: in a crisis, the apex of the
pyramid overflows scarcity, and it multiplies proportionally when
spilling towards the base, thus extending the platform of poverty.
There is a changing format of the economic activities, both formal
and informal ones, which is due to several factors: the history of the
region, the socio -cultural characteristics of Latin American states,
and the existing and potential resources, from which the artisans
and the small producer communities have always been framed.
These changes affect them heavily, as they are not capable to deal
with them, and they are always used as adjustment variables in
economic crisis.
Because the same activity can move from one place to another,
from the edge of informality to the other end of formality, it presents “different modes” for the real economy. And these “different
modes”, the ones of the “informal economy”, are a new economic
representation, beyond the productive – occupational “modernity”,
which allows to reflect from the perspective of the Latin American
artisan.
The term informality is referred to as a category of social sciences
that attempt to explain the situation of population sectors which
are unable to join the spaces of social, economic and territorial integration.
The Regional Employment Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (REPLAC) considers the informal sector as a strip of low-
(fairs, boulevards, markets, and specialized shops).
Enabling specific spaces for the trade of handicraft products fosters
a growth in the artisan commercial activity.
• Positive attitude of the artisans towards the associative statutory
forms.
The sector has generated a diversity of associative statutory forms,
aimed at improving cross-relations with other sectors and the realization of joint trading operations.
• Opening of new niches for marketing.
It is facilitated by the exchange differences and the recognition of
products.
• The recognition of culture as “the commodity of the third millennium”.
Handicrafts, being one of the cultural industries in constant transformation and dissemination, enter into the global recognition as a
cultural commodity in the new times.
• It takes advantage of the “endogenous potential” for developing
the sector, speaking of real and financial resources, with respect to
the use of raw materials and jobs.
It uses inherited productive skills, local and regional raw materials
and the prevailing cultural load in the community, from a productive activity which is generally complementary.
• The handicraft product is, by its nature, a basic element of tourist
demand, generating thus a flow of foreign exchange.
Handicrafts are one of the generators of foreign income, not measurable; this is a disguised non-registered export, as visitors move
the products in the luggage.
• It is a revitalizing instrument for sustainable development because of its relationship with tourism and the environment.
Tourism (domestic and international) has historically been an important partner of the artisans, since handicrafts cover the basic
needs of consumers (to use, to give a present, to collect, to keep
as a souvenir) and are related to the landscape they saw and the
culture they visited.
Many of these concepts have been argued and debated in several
conferences, congresses and meetings of national and international
organizations (OAS-UNESCO-MERCOSUR) and there are several definitions that supplement the above.
This is the permanent scenario where artisans must act (traditional
artisans: aboriginal and Creole- peasants, or urban and suburban
neo- artisans), avoiding dispersion and trying to improve, through
various mechanisms of association, relationships between sectors
that can contain and encourage them.
At this point, it is believed that the scheme used by Igor Ansoff
, in his matrix of development of markets and new and existing
products, generates a model that is useful to try to clarify the timespace location of the handicraft producers in Latin America, with
their characteristic productions.
Figure 1: Space-time location of handicrafts
1. Traditional techniques used by farmers and rural artisans (natural
5
Culture
and
tioned by subsequent proposals that propose an opposite view. Informal activities are seen as a sign of popular business dynamism
(described by Hart 1990), which returns to take over part of the
economy that was controlled by central superstructures.
By 1989 the Peruvian De Soto defines informality as a popular response to the rigid mercantilist states dominating in Latin America, trumpeted by ILO and REPLAC. It is important to discuss that
“informality appears as related to the economic crisis ... as if there
were not “structural changes” that made informality, poverty and
social exclusion the normal conditions in many societies of Latin
America.”
The analysis of the relations of subordination, exploitation and
oppression posed by paradigmatic authors as Castell and Portes is
necessary. Socioeconomic structure refers to such modes of production - capitalist or informal non-capitalist- that fail to include
in the legality of normal systems of productivity, the production
modes arising from underdevelopment, which are presented as a
by-product of an informal economy, that expresses best the “normality” of a specific and distinct development.
These edges of the social border reveal a qualitative differentiation
that gains in intensity, while acquiring a characteristic of distinct
qualities. A “heterogeneous” road, that traverse the worlds of formality and informality, travels through the changing phases of the
labour precariousness, occupational marginalization (unemployment, underemployment, passivity) and social exclusion (based on
structural poverty, migrant origin, sex, age and other ways of being
different or “left out”).
The global challenges have been historically exploited by some
sectors of the core countries, which habitually use for their usufruct
the technological improvements, leaving aside those “marginal”
ones to resolve their problems from the many traditional recipes
adapted for survival, for example: the artisans.
The combined efforts of technicians, agencies and social organizations geared a movement, which manifests itself in many forms:
research for the detection of young artisans, the renewal of the
struggle to regain income, the rights of the handicraft producer,
the recovery of technologies by their producers and a significant
increase in voluntarism.
The construction of a socially conscious economy, inclusive of
everyone, is not just a mere relief to eternal poverty; it is a key to
revitalizing the society from its foundations. We need, however,
to develop its theory, its understanding of the peripheral world; to
learn from experiences, both one’s own and the others’, and to raise
and test, with pluralism and creativity, different projects; to provide
the work of developers, direct actors and movements, with a flexible consistency, for them to share a new common sense, discuss a
strategy to which they can converge, create progressive alliances,
win and restructure the state. It is about participating in a global
movement that is already in the making, particularly in Latin America, but in different situations and with different stories.
If informality were an “intermediate” step leading to a formal sector, productivity differences, capital-labour relation and enterprise
legalization could form a difficult but promising way into the future. Is this a step up, or one of complementary forms? Or even
worse: supplementary forms of the underdevelopment that are
appended to the exclusion?
productivity activities that can not be absorbed by the occupations
created by the modern sector of the urban economy.
The various concepts on the informal sector (Rendón / Salas)
affirm that people or enterprises with the following characteristics
can be included in it:
1. Individuals seeking to earn an income through means that are
legal but different from regular economic activities, which are included in what is known as survival strategies.
2. Paid domestic workers.
3. Non-salaried workers, that is, self-employed or unpaid family
workers.
4. Non-salaried workers who lack proper working conditions, either in terms of salary, labour contract or payment of benefits.
5. Workers who perform any task within the framework of subcontracting with typically capitalist enterprises.
6. Micro-enterprises, generally understood as units of production,
with less than ten workers.
7. All establishments that do not comply with any provision of law
relating to the labour sphere.
8. Those units that do not comply with any governmental regulation, such as the tax registration.
Undoubtedly, these definitions, in most cases, adjust to the craft
sector, especially in times of crisis, when the expulsion of labour
from industry, commerce and agriculture, forces many individuals
to place themselves in marginal employment as a method of subsistence.
If talking about informality in a universal way, it will be particular
to its context, that is, the territory (of the artisan) should be considered as a particular social and economic space, for a permanent
challenge of the producer informality.
This new informal economy was born in the Third World, from the
study of urban labour markets, observed in Africa by Keith Hart
(economic anthropologist), who coined the term to account for
empirical observations of the popular African enterprises, which
openly dissented from the knowledge dictated by the Western discourse on economic development (1990).
Hart submitted a report to the International Labour Organization
(ILO) where he proposed the dual model of income opportunities
of the urban labour force, based on the distinction between employment and self employment. The concept of informality was applied
to the self-employed.
This idea was mistakenly institutionalized in the ILO to define “informality” as synonymous with “poverty” and as an urban way of
doing things, characterized by low entry requirements in terms of
training, capital and organization in: a) family enterprises, b) smallscale operations, c) labour-intensive production with outdated technology and d) competitive and deregulated markets.
All of this definition is consistent with the productive and social
models of Latin American artisans.
In 1982, Tokman takes this definition, which includes low levels
of productivity and low accumulation capacity -directly related to
production systems, access to raw materials and methods of marketing , all of this could be applied to the craft sector- and in subsequent publications of the Regional Employment Program for Latin
America and the Caribbean (REPLAC) of the ILO (1985), all work
or employment in the informal sector was routinely called underemployment, assuming that it affected workers who could not join
specifically in the modern economy.
This negative view of the informal sector has been severely ques-
II. POSSIBILITIES TO BE CONSIDERED
OUTPUTS OF THE CONFLICT AND THE POSITION OF THE
6
• The artisans create a new socio-cultural capital in the new global
economic schemes.
In the face of the serious structural problem that unemployment
undergoes in industrialized countries, due to scientific and technological developments that eject workforce and as a result of the
global economic crisis, the sector has become a distinct alternative
in the praxis of traditional labour relationships.
• It affirms cultural identities in their origin (diversity).
It contributes to the recognition of different cultural identities that
live together in the countries of Latin America. Handicrafts are a living cultural representation of the tradition the artisan carried over
into his work, thus setting a high value on interculturalism.
• Appraisal of the differential nature of handicraft production with
respect to the industrial one.
The distinctions established by handicraft processing systems
make that both artisan creators and popular artists stand out for
their uniqueness and functional specificity, different from the mass
style of the industrial product.
• Ability of handicrafts to generate jobs with low investment costs.
Both the formation of the artisans and the manufacture of their
tools have costs that are well below those of industrial equipment
and training of factory workers.
• The sector is a factor of social stability in communities located far
from the centres of production and consumption.
Handicrafts are regarded as a neutralizer to the negative emigration from communities into provisional urban settlements, and they
provide their makers with the basic elements for their subsistence
and survival.
• It presents, in comparison to other productive sectors, a reduced
dependence on technology.
The artisan carries an intangible cultural heritage with a limited
quantitative growth; he normally uses inherited appropriate technology, which he fits to his needs.
• Handicraft production has highly valued ecological features.
Considering the low energy costs and low contamination risk of
handicraft production technologies, they can be certified with green
label, as eco-friendly product, natural product, etc. The handicraft
product, in its essence, and consistently the producer fit with the
parameters considered for certification as natural products and environmentally “clean” (free of contamination), and with low energy costs in relation to industry.
With these current assets and as a defensive structure to the present
conflict situation, it is necessary to contribute to an urgent strengthening of:
SECTOR FACING THIS CRITICAL SITUATION
Einstein’s ideas on the crisis, those of Morin and Salazar on the
complexity and chaos and the notes on informal labour from Tokman were mentioned above. It is noted that the juncture of changes
in the current socio-economic scenario of our Latin America modifies not only the productive, industrial and financial structures, but
also the artisan ones, because of their flimsy commercial systems,
and affects the production chain due to the difficult access to raw
materials.
In such situations of instability and life conflicts (social and individual), short term contractual solutions are not visualized (no state
has offered so far soft loans and purchase of depressed assets or
“rescue” plans as those granted to major industries or mega- financial systems) for handicraft productions, in communities where the
crisis will generate extreme poverty and hopelessness.
The craft sector on the one hand, and artisans as existing individuals, on the other, located in territories or communities, with families, with basic needs, with trades and cultural domains bounded to
their tradition, have managed to resist critical situations with some
success at all times.
And, although they have been reluctant to accept the terms “training” and “formation”, it is undeniable that the inherent functions
of these expressions have always been performed by artisans. Masters, officers, trainees, are words used since ancient times -Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used them conceptually- although it was
in the Middle Ages when those concepts gained more appreciation
because of the sense of guild membership.
This independence of the multiple cultural variables by handicraft makers has made possible, in some way, the strong survival of
“know- how”, “appropriate technologies”, “traditional values” that
have also given rise to the permanent recreations with which popular artists and craftsmen nurture Latin American culture.
If we analyze the strengths of the sector when evaluating its assets
-cultural, social, labour- and the inveterate habit of artisans of clinging to their professional survival –because, first of all, they are
artisans-, the necessary tools can be found to generate outputs to
the conflict we are concerned with, taking into account:
THE STRENGTHS:
• Quality of a culturally distinctive artistic production.
Because of the diversity of the appropriate technologies (intangible
heritage) used in the production of the various handicrafts, and the
cultural intrinsic load reflected in the final product.
• Highly technical qualification in representative trades
(silversmith’s crafts, textile crafts, ceramics, and rope-making).
Some trades have successfully developed, independently of the
problems that have historically afflicted the Latin American craft
sector, because of their highly skilled technique that stems from
their specific cultural representation.
• The artisan is the owner of his workforce.
Historically, artisans handled their productive activity independently (including those grouped in guilds, many of which emerged during the Middle Ages). Therefore, they hold the command
of their know-how, select their raw materials and set their prices.
• The rational use of local and regional raw materials.
Given the responsibility with which the sector develops its activity
and being naturally conservative of the geographic area that contains it, it uses rationally the natural elements given by the environment as raw material.
III. TRAINING
AS A HARMONIZING TOOL IN TIMES OF CRISIS
To help improving and qualifying the knowledge and information levels of artisans, to achieve a stable insertion in the consumer markets, which are quite deteriorated due to the global crisis
which, although ravages everybody equally, makes more damage,
as always, to the less equal.
Training is a specific teaching practice, dynamic, open to exchange,
adapted to the territory in which it develops, to its codes, respecting
the characteristics of the artisan group and the current demands of
insertion of its products into the market.
Through agile and changing training processes, the utopian formula to help the sector to find the right tools to handle the crisis can
7
Culture
and
be designed.
The training should be seen as the interaction where motivation
prevails over an educational syllabus to fulfil. The coincidence of
meetings is very important for the effectiveness of the training process of the artisans.
From the knowledge of the skills and know-how, of searches and
guidelines for continuous improvement, it raises the urgent need to
provide the sector with information and permanent updating on its
handicraft work.
The knowledge of the aesthetic standards, the current fashion, the
rescue of traditional techniques and their adaptation to new times
is important. The innovations, the new productive models, the use
of best practices and the marketing should be considered, as well
as the legislation and the new communication tools, within county,
local and regional ambits, as managed in each country.
It is essential to know the existing resources, the shortages and the
qualification as artisans in the face of market needs, to set the objectives of training and transfer. The degrees of sustainability of
training programs should be look after, and their continuity and
final implementation in the sector should be measured, to come to
grips with the problems affecting it, solving juncture situations and
the development of the potentialities of the group.
We must share the abiding concern of artisans for:
Developing their products → Getting good markets and → Improving their quality of life.
We are talking about a methodological scenario for training and
education that, while developing the uniqueness, conscience and
social reciprocity of the artisan as an individual, allows us to reflect
on the elements that are present in that formative exchange.
Through training, artisans can develop a personality integrated
with their culture, their community and their time; also, their harmonious relationship with that outside world that the user (market)
demarcates, which allows them to develop as individuals with independence and solidarity.
To fulfill this objective, the description of activities and actions
must be consistent with the demands of the artisan and match with
the design of public policies applicable to the sector. It is imperative to professionalize the sector, considering special methods to
provide knowledge to the formation of:
• Handicraft producers (basis of the handicraft productive pyramid), with their local and regional referents and group leaders, forming associations and cooperatives of artisans.
• Technicians, experts, designers and professionals from organizations linked to the sector.
The artisan territory is demarcated as extensive as far the product
reaches. This strong element of identity must be particularly considered by the training teams. The following theoretical design of
application is proposed:
Figure 2: Blueprint for a training scheme for the craft sector
The application of the preceding scheme allows travelling through
a process that begins with research and ends with the professionalisation of the artisans, applying a virtuous circle that starts with
detection and continues with development, programming and evaluation, with a permanent feedback.
Given the multiplicity of issues involved in the training areas for
the craft sector, it is essential to search for the delicate balance between the traditional world - the rural artisans (natives and Creoles)
- and the modern world- urban artisans (contemporary and neo artisans)-.
The traditional world →Rural artisans, natives and Creoles
WITH
The modern world →Urban artisans, contemporary and neo – artisans
It is important then to measure exhaustively the benefits generated
by training activities and formation in all sectors and subsectors of
handicrafts, and to find out where involvement is imperative for
technicians, designers, specialists and experts.
Training on all levels is one of the “best investments”, both individually and collectively, with the following benefits:
• It improves work profitability.
• It reinforces more positive attitudes toward the society in which
it operates.
• It improves knowledge in different levels, both cognitive and instructive.
• It fosters the development of artisan doings with a view to the
promotion of handicrafts as a “cultural product”.
• It helps the individual in the decision making and the solution of
labor and social problems.
8
and origins of certain products.
- In certification: Training is a key that enables the certification of
handicraft products.
This contributes to the legitimization of artisan products, an action that promotes the marketing of handicrafts representative of
region, nature, style, traditions or cultures, thereby prioritizing the
quality of the product and its value chain.
The quality is maintained by meeting the criteria which reflect:
- The degree of satisfaction offered by the handicraft product according to user requirements.
- The adequacy of this product by means of certain technological
parameters observed in the referenced standards.
- A set of product features to meet the demanded needs (ISO 9000).
- The properties and characteristics of the product, which make it
suitable to meet perceived or implicit needs (the UNE 66.900).
- The set of all the properties and characteristics that make it appropriate to meet the demands of the target market.
This presupposes:
- Getting the best customer satisfaction at minimum cost.
- Systematically integrating the efforts for continuous quality improvement, providing products that meet consumer needs.
- Improving efficiency and flexibility of the handicraft workshop to
develop all production steps harmoniously.
- Implementing a comprehensive management philosophy to achieve the satisfaction of the buyer (who may gain in loyalty, becoming
a customer).
At this cognitive stage:
- All skilled artisans involved in the creative/producer process of
handicrafts should be engaged in qualification improving activities.
- The learned knowledge, the necessary technologies and the precise tools should be used to enter the virtuous cycle of continuous
quality improvement.
Chart 3: The benefits of training
TRAINING AS AN ACTIVITY:
EFFECTIVE: AS TO ITS RESULTS.
CONSISTENT: WITH THE NEEDS OF THE GROUP.
SYSTEMATIC: ON THE METHODS OF TRANSFER.
STABLE: IN THEIR TEMPORALITY.
WITH ALTERNATIVES: ADJUSTED TO TIME
PERIODS AND TERRITORIES.
These reference terms are applicable to the traditional rural craft
sector (natives and Creoles), who particularly demand information
on the following issues:
- Commercialization and marketing.
- Supply of raw materials and tools.
- Design.
In the urban contemporary craft sector the following interests were
found:
- Design and innovation.
- Marketing on scale (national and international regulations).
- Forming associations.
The application of different methodological interventions according to the needs of the sector should be considered by evaluating
specific pedagogical proposals, such as:
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Modalities:
- Formal: Training systems in schools and institutes, workshops
for teachers, the follow-up of given programs tailored to specific
curricular bases- learning plan-, with an ordering of contents which
includes the capabilities and skills to be learned.
- Informal: From prior knowledge of know-how, concepts, approaches and technological data (not always ordered) by the trainer or
instructor and the pupils.
- Programmed: This allows the solution of certain technical or perceptual problems. It is a specific activity to resolve previous difficulties in the trade.
- At Random: It emerges from the meeting (scheduled or not) of
cultural operators who could exchange knowledge spontaneously.
TRAINING
Features:
- In trades: The transfer of knowledge from someone who has the
total technological expertise to an incomplete receiver.
- In specific techniques: The partial instruction of a technology. It is
used to cover certain training gaps (trade secrets) in recipients with
advanced training.
- In design: Of products / exhibition and sale stands. The display of
certain information and techniques that facilitate the communication-productive-commercial process.
- In commercialization and marketing: Knowledge for the application of certain techniques to improve the artisan / user communication.
- In the building of associations: It can be one of the basic mechanisms for the organization of producer- trader groups of artisans.
The contractual terms of trust and co-responsibility will make projects feasible and improve them.
- In good practices: The knowledge and information to implement
the artisan good practices (ArtGP) in handicrafts are essential and
irreplaceable to manage the certificates that legitimize the quality
INTERNSHIPS
Of improvement: for those artisans willing to improve the development of their products, modeling their knowledge in the workshops
of the great masters.
Of learning: for apprentices and artisan officials who should incorporate technical-operational and conceptual resources into their
training.
TRAINING OF TRAINERS
It is the mechanism that combines the educational capability, social openness and technical mastery that specializes in the area,
forming human resources to assist in the development and optimization of production, group and cultural transmission processes.
This stage of “training” explores different lines for the development of preparation and training of the actors in this process (artisans) and the selection of the “ordering teachers” and “auxiliary
facilitators” (as agents for transmitting curricular loads). To achieve this, it is required:
- Adequate pedagogical update.
- Mastery of innovative production methods.
- Permanent implementation of the ArtGP. (Artisan Good Practices).
- Active development of cooperation modalities.
- Effective knowledge of organization and commercial networks.
9
Culture
and
E-LEARNING
An alternative offered by communication technology.
The various possibilities offered by e-learning are directly proportional to the flexibility of the programs, with continuous adjustments in the strategies to be developed with constant feedback,
without following a strict model.
It is an educational resource on some aspects of the transfer of
“know- how” that facilitates lifelong learning. Virtual campuses, forums, email, are the challenges to add another way to get
knowledge.
Given the characteristics of the area, the accessibility, e-learning
is considered a potential educational means for artisans. It is a tool
that is not available to them in all regions; therefore it requires the
accompaniment of referents in public and private spheres (facilitators), who provide access and the arrival of educational materials.
This type of education is complementary to other programs. It
is important to consider the intellectual and material resources it
needs, to add harmonic development and no excluding inequalities.
- Dynamically designing and fostering mechanisms of distinct participation in the education and training for young craftsmen, artisan
women and trained craftsmen.
- Ensuring that in the participatory training processes the representation of different leaders is enhanced.
This space is a possible, effective and essential alternative for
the harmonious development of the sector, since the creation and
consolidation of associations of traditional, native and urban artisans favour the construction of joint strategies in the realization of
things, and they are favourable and overcoming contributions in
times of crisis.
The access to information through subject guides, with individual
and group activities, is important, to generate, promote and implement reflection and learning situations on the subject.
For its realization it is essential the participation of artisans interested in forming pre-association groups, both by e-learning or face-to-face modalities; the contribution of referents from the states
through facilitators, experts in the particular context of the place, is
essential. They will assist in the distribution of material, guidance
and support in face-to-face meetings, in the communication with
participants and in the coordination.
Working with “others” is considered very important for the human
development of artisans. A joint activity that proposes a challenge
is not an easy task. There will be crises, difficulties, progress and
setbacks that are part of the growth of the sector, it is worth a try.
Knowledge of group characteristics of handicraft producers will
be helpful in sustaining the topic of associations and supporting
of joint work with their peers, in a sum of forces and possibilities.
UPDATING GATHERINGS
- Directed to technicians
- Artisan oriented
Given the dizzying transformations involving the fields of fashion,
technology, usage and customs, codes that articulate the productive
sector (artisans) with the consumer sector (users) should be adjusted continually.
Catalyst instruments should be used that allow a solid interrelation among all actors involved in the development of handicrafts,
always taking into account:
IV. IMPORTANCE OF ASSOCIATIONS
Gráfico Nº 4: Utilidades del Asociativismo
VERSUS CYCLIC IMBALANCES
Considering the current needs to ASSESS the cultural and commercial exchange, to DISSEMINATE the traditional knowledge of
Latin America cultures and to RECOVER the historical value of
handicrafts, reinforcing the appreciation of these products in the
markets, associations are proposed as a space for exchange of experiences, dissemination, promotion and protection of the rights of
producers.
The design of such associations is useful and necessary when:
Chart 4: Benefits of Associations
REFERENCES IN LATIN AMERICA: SUCCESSFUL
EXAMPLES IN TRAINING
CHILE:
Chile offers various programs for the sector to access to training
modules according to its interests. The Council for Culture and
Arts conducts an active coordination of training courses and semi10
FUNDART: Under the form of a foundation and because of the call
it achieves in the sector, built on the success of the Handicraft Fair
Organization in the cities of Cordoba and Buenos Aires-Republic
of Argentina-, it organizes specific seminars of information and training for the artisans involved in those events.
American Foundation Aid To Artisan: As an executor of USAID
agency for support programs to poor sectors in Third World countries, it develops educational and training activities on specific issues in several Latin American countries.
UNESCO: Its participation supporting handicraft development
projects has been proverbial. It is, without doubt, the agency most
committed to the sector over the last decade, through specific programs of encouragement and improvement.
nars in which other public and private bodies participate, such as
the National Fund for Training and Employment, the Program for
Handicrafts of the Catholic University and the Guild Association
of Artisans.
MEXICO:
FONART (National Fund for the Fostering of Handicrafts) has
been developing, for quite some time, programs of technical assistance and training, some specific and focused to solve problems relating to production (training to produce lead-free ceramics throughout Mexico) and, more recently, it formalized support plans with
the CNCA (National Council for Culture and Arts) and SECTUR
(Ministry of Tourism).
PERU:
MINCETUR (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism), through its
branch office (the National Office for Handicrafts), maintains an
active collaboration with regional and local governments, for the
artisan sector to access to the annual training and technical assistance programs. The Regional Program ANDEAN NETWORK OF
SILK, an ambitious regional project involving Ecuador and Bolivia
is noteworthy.
COLOMBIA:
From multiple successful training programs for the professionalization of the artisan sector, implemented by Artesanías de Colombia (Handicrafts from Colombia) as the leading agency for the
activity in conjunction with other state agencies, SIART-Integrated
Information and Counselling System for Handicrafts- emerges.
Many rural and urban artisans have joined it.
CUBA:
The Cuban craft sector has depended not only on training policies
implemented by the Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets, but on multiple mechanisms that the artisans have managed for their commercial dependence linked almost exclusively to the tourist market.
Training projects in specific issues have been funded by agencies
and offshore governments according to the requests of the agency.
URUGUAY:
In the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, independently of the counselling and continuous training provided by DINAPYME (National
Office for Small and Medium-Size Handicraft Enterprises), the
creation and implementation of the Program to Strengthen Arts,
Handicrafts and Trades (PAOF) is worth mentioning. It is a project jointly funded by the national government and the European
Union, which aims at the professionalization of the sector and its
organization in the development of arts and crafts.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
It is desirable to obtain, through training and education in the craft
sector, the needed engineering of a structure as a socio-cognitive
network, which multiplies and makes it possible to redirect efforts
in the face of unfavourable situations.
The network must grow and make practices and know- how more
complex, with creativity, giving each member the possibility of
permanently thinking of himself as a creative artisan, with individual capacity and also with the ability to enhance the collectivity,
interacting with others.
The orderly transfer of knowledge is an important asset at the time
of solving situations of crisis. It enables the craft sector to reconstitute itself in its values, not in the timeless time of the dead traditions, but in the stable recreation of its active culture, to raise its
value and facilitate its entry into the modern world.
It is necessary and essential to improve the levels of knowledge
in the craft sector, not only for its insertion in the local, regional
and international consumer markets. It is important to consider the
advantages and disadvantages of promoting the participation of the
sector through existing organizations, or to promote new forms of
association, to encourage the involvement of the beneficiaries of
the various stages of training in the tasks of planning, organization
and verification of the fulfilling of the objectives, setting the possible mechanisms that allow:
a) To establish, during the analysis stages, before the implementation of programs and projects, many more elements than usual to
get the best synthesizing indicators on the expected profitability.
b) To measure in terms of conceptual profitability. To do this, it is
necessary to incorporate cultural elements and components of the
sector to obtain reliable indicators.
The global crisis, widespread and deep, produces structural changes on all systems: economic, social and cultural, and permanent
rearrangements occur, from the power centres to the periphery and
vice- versa, where the realities are no longer solid to become liquid.
National societies (states) have some weaknesses to address the
many problems posed by the changes caused by the crisis. Mechanisms should be strengthened to carry out the overcoming remedial
processes, and improve the future of younger generations.
It is necessary to review the economic, cultural and political fundamentals that led to this crisis, along with current methodologies
and ideological approaches of legal, administrative and distribution
systems, applied to the Latin American craft sector.
Finally, we must deepen programmatic topics in the educational
and training activities for the craft sector, together with issues of
market analysis, commercial distribution, promotion and marke-
V. SPACES FOR THE THIRD SECTOR AND STATE PROGRAMS
Those agencies that, regardless of the political times that determine the development of the sector, provide a permanent support
through programs and plans, aimed transcendentally to technical
assistance and training, should be highlighted.
They are:
Spanish Foundation for Innovation in Handicrafts: Its activity in
training for the craftsmen has been a constant through their specialized centres in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), Antigua (Guatemala) and Cartagena (Colombia), and the many projects it has
participated in.
Grameenart: A distinct venture of Grameen Foundation, that attempts, through loans and assistance seminars, to improve marketing
and handicraft production in the communities where it operates.
11
Culture
and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Carpio Jorge, Emilio Klein e Irene Novacovsky, Compilers. “Informalidad y Exclusión Social”. Fondo de Cultura Económica
Siempro y OIT, Argentina, 2000.
- Litwin, Edith (compiler). “La Educación a Distancia”, Educación
Agenda Educativa. Amorrortu Editores, Buenos Aires Argentina,
2000.
- Lombera Cuadrado, Héctor V. “La Capacitación”, Proceedings of
the 7º Seminario Iberoamericano de Cooperación en Artesanías. P.
123. –Cádiz 2001
- “BPArt: Las Buenas Prácticas Artesanales”: Author notes.
UNESCO meeting about the excellence seal for the South Cone.
Tenerife, Islas Canarias 2006.
- “La Artesanía en los Colectivos más Necesitados, Políticas de
Desarrollo Integral”. Publication of the 5to. Seminario Iberoamericano de Cooperación en Artesanías, Tenerife 1996.
- “Maestros Artesanos Argentinos, sus Manos, sus Palabras”. Editorial Toer for Labouratorio Bagó, Buenos Aires 2004.
- Morin, Edgar. “Introducción al Pensamiento Complejo”, Gedisa,
Barcelona, 1999.
- Martínez Ramírez, Armando. “Manual de Gestión y Mejora de
Procesos”. Manual Moderno, 2006.
- Narváez, Silvia Elena. “Curso a Distancia de Apoyo y Promoción
del Asociacionismo”, for the Programa de Desarrollo Artesanal
MATRA, Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Mimeo. Argentina,
2004.
- Narváez, Silvia Elena. Notas sobre “Jornadas de Capacitación en
Asociativismo” MATRA. SCN. Argentina 2000 a 2006.
- Narváez, Silvia Elena. “De la Ética y la Práctica” Avances. Serie
Compilaciones 1. COLTOA Grupo Editor, Argentina, 1997.
- Narváez, Silvia Elena, S. Spampinato, D. Testa. “De Incertidumbres y Posibilidades”. Reflexiones. Serie Compilaciones 2. COLTOA Grupo Editor, Argentina, 1999.
- Read, Herbert. “Educación por el Arte”. Paidos -Biblioteca del
Educador, Argentina 1977.
- Salazar Fernández de Erenchun, Ignacio. “El Yo en Varela y Morin”. Revista de Filosofía Thémata (Sevilla), nº 33, 2004.
- Villanueva Pascual, Juan Carlos. “Sobre la Complejidad en torno
a Edgar Morin”. Pp. 3- 4 in http:/ educacionparalaconservacion.
conanp.gob.mx/ abril 2009.
ting, design and so on, ethnocentrically conceived. The conceptual analysis of each subject and its causes (the background) and
communicative languages (the form) must be incorporated to avoid
repetition of obsolete and unsuccessful formulas.
“Challenge and opportunity always come together, under certain
conditions one can transform into the other” said Chinese President
Hu Jintao before the National People’s Congress. (The New York
Times, 21-03-09 Page 2 – El Clarín Newspaper: In the crisis, the
opportunity.)
CITATIONS
1 Mind-fact: as a mental representation of a “product” before being produced, H. Lombera, Folklore in Patagonia, 1973. Artifact:
Mechanical work (machine or device) artistically made. “Made”
contrasts with “thought”.
2.Definition of crisis. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, www.wikipedia.org
3.Document published in Latinforme.com ”Blog archivo
(CEPAL”2009).
4.En torno a la crisis (About crisis). Albert Einstein, Nobel Prize.
Revista Arthea 1998.
5.Sobre la Complejidad en torno a Edgar Morin (About Complexity round Edgar Morin). Juan Carlos Villanueva Pascual.
6.Igor Ansoff (1918-2002). Mathematician, considered the father
of contemporary strategic business management. The model of his
matrix was taken to try a time-space location for the classifying of
the actors of the craft sector and to make the productive variables
understandable from their culture and technology.
12
7.The Theory of Spilling considers that economic growth is sufficient for the development of a society. That means that economic
growth by itself will be generating a “spilling” in the different
spheres of society, fostering in this way a sustained development.
(Barba, 2004:86).
8.REPLAC/ILO, El sector informal: funcionamiento y políticas
(The formal sector: operation and policies.). Santiago de Chile
1978.
9.Rendón, Teresa, Carlos Salas. Reports on the project: El sector
informal urbano y sus necesidades de capacitación (The informal
urban sector and its training needs). Mexico, 1992.
10.Castell and Portes. (p 7)
11.See Matrix of Igor Ansoff (p 5).
13
4
The Legal Protection of the
Mola and of other Indigenous
knowledge of Panama
Aresio Valiente López
ARESIO VALIENTE LÓPEZ.
Aresio Valiente López. Lawyer, musician, writer and Kuna
dance practitioner. He was born in Ukupseni, Kuna Yala
Region, Panama. He graduated from the Faculty of Law
and Political Science at the University of Panama. He received a Diploma on Intellectual Property at the Universidad
Metropolitana, Panama. He participated in the development
and discussion of the regional, indigenous and environmental laws, including the Indigenous Intellectual Property Law. He is a Congress and indigenous organizations
advisor. He is a Consultant on Indigenous Right matters for
the International Labour Organization, the Inter-American
Institute of Human Rights, the World Intellectual Property
Organization, among others. He is a national and international lecturer on indigenous issues. He was the first lawyer
who registered the Indigenous knowledge based on the
Indigenous Intellectual Property Law. He is currently registering the Kuna musical instruments as intellectual property
of Kuna people. He is member of the Centre for Popular
Legal Assistance-CEALP- and a legal representative of the
Kuna General Congress in Mola matters.
The Legal Protection of the Mola and of other Indigenous knowledge of Panama
The Legal Protection of the Mola and of
other Indigenous knowledge of Panama
Aresio Valiente López
disappearing, the asymmetries have increased with the consequent
concentration of wealth in few people’s hands and the boost of poverty in the world.
In recent years, the piracy of the knowledge and creations of the Indigenous people such as the traditional songs, stories, arts, among
others, which are the expression of the wisdom and the cultural and
spiritual richness of those communities, has increased. For example, some pharmaceutical companies want to patent the medicinal
and healing Indigenous knowledge that have proven to be effective
in the treatment of some diseases. These are new forms of usurpation. If in the past it was sought to strip the Indians of their wealth
by changing the gold for mirrors, now the purpose is to get advantage with the registration over ownership of the knowledge owned
by the Indigenous peoples in the different fields of science, art and
technology.
The Indigenous peoples have been demanding the protection of
their knowledge and of the cultural and intellectual heritage of their
cultures. The report of the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental
Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) have said:
v. The Indigenous peoples and the traditional communities have
addressed the need to protect the designs incorporated in textiles,
fabrics and handmade accessories that have been copied and sold
by people outside those communities. Such examples include the
following: the amauti from Canada; the saris from South Asia; the
batik from Nigeria and Mali, the kente weaving from Ghana and
other West African countries; the Tunisian hats, the Mayan huipil
from Guatemala; the mola panels of Kuna women from Panama;
the (sic) tapestries and woven textile bands from Peru; the tapestries (from Egypt, Oman, Iran and other countries); the tents (as the
traditional tipi from North America)...
The imitation of traditional textile designs not only leads to an eco-
INTRODUCTION
Over the years, humans have created, invented or discovered literary and artistic works and scientific knowledge to meet vital,
material or spiritual needs in order to survive on Earth. The boom
of trade and the confrontation with multiple problems associated
with mercantilist interests and illegal appropriation of designs and
works that are part of the cultural heritage of the people, have forced the international community to develop protection tools that
allow them to defend the rights of genuine creators or discoverers.
Some agreements have emerged such as the Paris Convention for
the Protection of the Intellectual Property (1883) and the Berne
Convention (1971), for the protection of the Literary and Artistic
Works, which create a favourable international legal framework for
the fair use of such works, inventions or discoveries. Currently, as
evidence, trade agreements among countries always include a section related to the Intellectual Property.
The Organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), through the Convention for the
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted in Paris
on November 3, 2003 and the Convention for the Protection and
Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted in Paris on October 20, 2005, has drawn attention to the need to update
the concepts and foster a deeper understanding of the importance
of rescuing, preserving and promoting the heritage and the cultural
diversity for various present and future generations.
However, the current process of globalization, with the internationalization of markets and the loss of the ability to control them,
leads to an increase of the risks and crimes associated with the illegal trade of the works and knowledge that are part of the peoples’
heritage. The crisis has deepened as part of this process. Far from
3
Culture
and
nomic loss but it also threatens to destroy traditional textiles and
jobs based on the fabric ...1
The accusation for the illegal copy of molas, including their designs and the unfair competition in the market by natural and legal,
national and international persons, has been among the topics on
the agenda of the Kuna General Congress. With the support of the
Kuna professionals, and after studying different systems of intellectual property, the General Congress managed the creation of an
novel law to protect not only the mola, the Kuna art par excellence,
but also other Indigenous knowledge.
The protection of the ancestral knowledge of the Indigenous
peoples through a special law favours, in the first place, its recognition as intellectual property and its authenticity. This does not mean
that it can not be improved or innovated over time. In the second
place, this helps to preserve the tradition, so that this knowledge
can pass on from generation to generation and can be used to improve the economic situation of the community.
The registration of the mola as Kuna people’s intellectual property
has been a positive experience in the legal protection of Indigenous
knowledge and a contribution in the creation of a system of intellectual property of the traditional knowledge.
This study analyzes how the Indigenous peoples of Panama succeeded in creating a sui generis law to register, and thereby, to protect their ancestral knowledge as a collective intellectual property.
General Comptroller Office, Panama grew by 8.2% in the first half
of 2008.
Although the Indigenous territories have great wealth in natural resources, according to the 2003 Living Standards Survey, prepared
by the Office of Social Policies of the Ministry of Economy and
Finance, 98.4% of the Indigenous peoples are defined as poor and
90% of them live in extreme poverty.4
In recent years, Indigenous people started moving to urban and
semi-urban areas of the major cities in Panama, in an attempt to
improve their socioeconomic situation. Approximately, 44.63% of
the Indigenous peoples live within the Region or in legalized Indigenous territories and the rest live in urban and semi –urban areas.
The income of Indigenous peoples is more deteriorated, they have
a lower socioeconomic status and most of them do not have basic
services, compared to other Panamanian sectors.
According to the reports from the World Bank, the Inter-American
Development Bank and the 2002 National Human Development
Report, funded by the United Nations Program for Development,
the Indians are the poorest sectors in the world and those from Panama do not escape this classification. For its part, the Report on
the Situation of the Indigenous Peoples in Panama, has confirmed
the evaluation of the national and international agencies that place
Indigenous peoples as the poorest in Panama saying: “ The studies
on the situation of Indigenous peoples reveal that these are the sectors with the highest poverty rate, despite the breakthrough in the
recognition of their rights. “5
The various governments of Panama, despite their efforts, have
been unable to develop and coordinate realistic plans for Indigenous peoples among the different government departments. These
plans should take into account the indigenous traditional institutions and structures to enable their members to become agents of
their own development and, through their representatives, favour
an active and equal participation of the natives in the development
projects in their territories, from the initial formulation of these
projects until the evaluation of their results.
I. OVERVIEW OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF PANAMA
Social and economic situation of the Indigenous Peoples
According to the Panamanian population projections, prepared by
the Statistics and Census Office of the General Comptroller of the
Republic of Panama, dated on September 30, 2003, the total population of the country was estimated in 3,063,524 inhabitants. The
Indigenous peoples represent approximately 10.1% of the total population of Panama². According to the 2000 National Census, in
Panama there are eight Indigenous peoples: Ngöbe, Kuna, Embera
Wounaan, Bugle, Naso, Bri-Bri and Bokota.
II. KUNA PEOPLE’S HISTORY, ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE MOLA
The original inhabitants of “America” lived in harmony with nature
to which they called Mother Earth and some had scientific advances that exceeded those of the European countries at that time. All
these cultures were subjugated more than 517 years ago and some
face the same fate today. With the conquest and colonization by the
Europeans not only did the ethnocide and genocide of the original
inhabitants of Abia Yala begin6, but also the theft of the natural
and cultural wealth possessed by Indigenous peoples. But they did
not stay with their hands folded in the struggle for the vindication
and recognition of their historic rights, as happened with the Kuna
people and the so-called Kuna Revolution.
The Kuna Revolution
The first laws7 that Panama issued after its separation from Colombia with regard to Indigenous peoples, were aimed at “civilizing
the savage tribes” through the Catholic Church. Cultural diversity
was seen as an obstacle for the “civilizing” purposes.
The philosophical and political currents surrounding the birth of
the Republic defined the diversity of cultures as an obstacle and
Indigenous population outside the Indigenous regions, according
to the 2000 National Census.
In Panama, 36.8% of the total population lives in total poverty and
16.6% of it, is in extreme poverty. Each year the economic growth
rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Panama is more than
7%, but poverty persists, and that indicates that economic growth
is concentrated in few hands. Therefore there is maldistribution³.
According to the Monthly Economic Activity Index (IMAE) of the
4
continuing danger to the sovereignty of the State-Nation. So the
education of indigenous peoples had no other role than being the
means of integration, assimilation, which later led to marginalization and exclusion. From the Panamanian law “try by all peaceful
means to reduce to a civilized life the savage indigenous tribes ... 8
One of the state policies to “civilize” the Kuna people was to ban
the use of the mola; Kuna women were forced to wear non- Kuna
clothing. To prohibit the use of the mola was one of the atrocities
that were committed to the Kuna culture in the ‘20s of the last
century. Tired of mistreatment, on February 25, 1925, the Kunas
took the weapons up against the national police to dignify their
culture. They defeated the injustices of the representatives of the
Panamanian state at the time. This historical event is known as the
Revolution Dule or the 1925 Revolution Kuna and it has been the
basis of the autonomy of the Kuna Yala9 region and other Indigenous peoples of Panama.
Along with the teachings of Ibeorkun, his sister Nana Olokikadiryai also taught the Kuna women about their housework. And one of
the lessons was on the use of cotton, the bark of the plants and trees
to produce yarn or fabric. One sailagan tells the following about
Nana Olokikadiryai:
Our great mom Kikadiryai took the spindle in her hands. She waited for the cotton to open to the sun. Our grandmothers collected
cotton in the sun. Our grandmothers spun the spindle forming large
cups of thin white strings. The thinner threads were then interwoven into the frames of small sticks. The fabric for clothing was
born. The thicker fibres were knotted in stronger and larger isperuala frames, the hammock was born.14
Before the arrival of Europeans at the American continent, Kunas
already manufactured fabrics by using the natural resources that
Mother Earth gave them. At the beginning the molas were coloured
and drawn with seeds, plants or plant fibres. The origin of the mola
is very old and it is an expression of Kunas’ close and permanent
relationship with nature.
In times of the “conquest”, the Kunas and other Indigenous peoples
used traditional methods to manufacture the fabrics and yarns. The
anthropologist Marcela Camargo R. on her paper Pre-Hispanic origins of the Panamanian Crafts, confirms this by quoting reporter
Oviedo: He reports: “They sun-dry and beat the leaves of a variety
of agave, the obtained fibres are twisted and then they make some
strings with which they weave “»15
Anthropologist Camargo continues saying: “Until about the 40’s,
mola manufacture had certain regularity, but then it stopped and
only some few Kuna women kept processing cotton mola on vertical looms.”16
Today Indigenous people still use the resources of nature to make
their fabrics, yarns and natural dyes of different colours. As an
example, the Embera and Wounaan use natural resources such as
plant fibres to make the baskets and dye them with Jagua 17 and
little roots.
The woman who refined the art of mola was Nana Olonakekiryai.
According to the oral narrative, after Ibeorkun’ and his brothers’
death, there emerged a great Kuna woman named Nana Olonakekiryai, which was a nele, which means that she was a medicalhealer-seer. She was one of the people in the Kuna history that
contributed to the improvement of the mola. In their narrations the
sailagan told that Nana Olonakekiryai visited a holy place named
Kalu Tukbis, where she acquired the knowledge of aesthetic and
geometric patterns knowledge of the mola that then she handed
down to the Kuna women.
In the Kuna language Kalu, in its literal sense, means sacred space or place, and Tukbis means geometric figures. Therefore, Kalu
Tukbis means sacred place of geometric figures. Ancient molas had
geometric drawings on their designs. Nana Olonakekiryai collectivized the knowledge of the mola design with the Kuna women,
and they have passed it on to the Kuna people from generation to
generation. Today most of the Kuna women sew molas.
Professor Aiban Velarde, one of the scholars of the Kuna culture,
stated: “... In Kalu, Dugbis found multicoloured tattooed trees with
beautiful designs as were never seen before. He stared at the magnificence of Kuna art, work of our grandfathers and grandmothers.
There he saw (sic) the women’s mola designs. “18
The Kuna People
The main source of Kuna history is in the collective memory of its
people, which has been jealously guarded and preserved by their
learned people, the sailagan (spiritual chief-leader of Kuna communities), through their traditional songs and by the Argarmar or
Argargan (interpreters of traditional songs). According to Kuna
people’s oral history, they come from the Amazon jungle of present
day Colombia, specifically from the Atrato River. As a result of the
constant wars with other Indigenous peoples, of the epidemics and
of the oppression of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, gradually, a large part of the Kuna population migrated up to the current
Kuna Yala Region.
In Panama, the Kuna people is within a protected area located in
three regions: Yala, Madungandi, Wargandi and in the Darien National Park, where there are two Kuna communities, Pucuru and
Paya, but this territory is known by Kunas as Takarkunyala. There are also three Kuna communities in the Republic of Colombia,
known as Dules.
The Mola origin
One of the characters in the Kuna history is Nana Olokikadiryai.
According to the story of the Kuna people through the sailagan’s
traditional songs, many years before the arrival of Europeans at
Abia Yala, there was a Kuna village with a tribal organization, on
the banks of the Disukuni River. Something strange happened there, during three days the sounds of animals were not listened at all
and, at the fourth day, cries expressing “yoo”10 were heard, and
then three teens showed up: Ibeorkun, Kikadiryai and Uikundun.
From that moment on, the river where the Kuna village was called
Yoo Diwar 11.
Ibeorkun is the father, the spiritual leader and ideologist of the Kuna
people. According to Saila Dummad Horacio Méndez, a historian
and connoisseur of the Kuna culture, referring to Ibeorkun, he said:
My brothers -directed Orgun- Paba12 (sic) did not make us to live
alone. Paba created us needing one another as the puar to the tior
as the brook to the water as the most resistant and sturdy tree to the
soft and wet earth. Paba is against hoarding everything for oneself.
We must share our tiny and big things13
5
Culture
and
Meaning of the Mola
The mola is a combination of attractive and varied layers of fabrics of different colours that overlap and intersect to form shapes,
showing the colours of the fabrics below, the technique used is the
(applied) embroidery, and its manufacture is entirely manual. The
inspiration of mola designs are based on nature, life, traditional
songs and the collective memory of the Kuna people.
Originally, the mola was used as the Kuna women’s clothing, but
today its use has been enriched. It is also applied in lens cases,
pillow covers, in kitchenware as tablecloths, baby clothes, masks,
belts, binchas, Christmas ornaments, vests, pot holders, hats, collars and sleeves for clothing, handbags and other accessories.
Culture, in its widest sense, is not only expressed and conveyed
through speech and writing. The objects that humans have produced in the course of history are also forms of transmission of cultural values, knowledge and customs. Molas are part of these historical objects that Kuna culture has produced and through which
the Kuna people is identified as one of the advanced civilizations
in the Indigenous textile art that has achieved international recognition. In their drawings Kunas represent the traditions, beliefs and
history of their people and because all of this is expressed through
a technique and practical knowledge, the mola is also a means that
helps to preserve and spread the tradition, worldview and beliefs
of Kuna culture.
The understanding of the interrelation among practical knowledge,
social history, art and religious or spiritual beliefs provides (sic) a
valuable basis upon which an understanding of the people who possess these skills can be developed. While modern science and arts
generally give priority to the individual achievements with regard
to community development, traditional knowledge systems celebrate the collaborative effort of the community.19
The mola is a tangible cultural product, the bearer of knowledge
and techniques that are part of the intangible heritage of the Kuna
people. It combines tradition with creativity and modernity. Indigenous art itself, including the mola, is testimony of a living culture that evolves, I spite of being inspired by traditional forms and
knowledge. This shows that the Kuna people have the capacity to
combine the tradition with the influences and cultural exchanges
characteristic of today’s world, but always keeping its identity and,
at the same time, promoting an improvement in their living conditions.
The mola itself has been, along with other arts, one of the artistic
expressions through which the Kuna people express and transmit
the past, the dreams, the present and the future of their ancient
culture, but within a large diversity of cultural expressions among
which are the songs, gammu burwi or Kuna dance, baskets, etc., the
mola has been regarded as the art of the Kuna people in its highest
expression.
The mola making is not learned in a day, it takes years to perfect its
production techniques. The Kuna women are taught the secrets and
the spiritual value that the mola has for the Kuna people. There is
no other human group devoted to the mola making so that it represents the cultural and spiritual identity of the Kuna people.
In the Kuna culture the labour division between men and women is
well defined. The men are devoted to agriculture and fishing, and
women to domestic work. But both women and men have equal
rights within and outside their communities. The Kuna women are
devoted to the mola making as part of their daily chores, when
time allows them, combining it with the housework. Those who
are devoted to making molas to sell them in Panama City and at
international level, are women’s groups that are organized into cooperatives with the aim of improving the mola quality and, especially, to increase its productivity to be competitive, given the great
demand of molas at both national and international level. Some of
them are exporting their products to the American and European
markets. Today, the mola has also joined the catwalks of national
and international clothing. For instance, in the 2003 Miss Universe
contest held in Panama, the contestants paraded wearing dresses
made of molas.
In the Kuna Yala region, the sale of coconut to the Colombian canoes was once the most important income of the area, but the value
of the coconut has fallen and this has led to a decrease in the family
income of the Kunas.
In recent years tourism has increased in the Kuna Yala region bringing about an increase in the mola sales as well as in the indirect
income of the Kunas. Today the marketing of the mola has become
an important source of income for the Kuna people although we
must also recognize that, coupled with it the risks associated with
its commercialization have increased. Mrs. Hilda Thompson Huertas has expressed on the subject:
The mola commercialization has transcended the borders and the
control of this town. What had been an exclusive product of the
Kuna ethnic group today is a commercial product handled by multiple instances, through various institutions and at different levels.
While for some it is part of their subsistence economy, for others
it represents the promotion of crafts of an “exotic” people and for
some others, it is a business that can become very lucrative. 20
The mola trade has increased and diversified. As a product it is
highly valued at international markets of Europe and North America. To its business management some technological advances like
the Internet have been incorporated and it has been successfully
introduced in major fashion magazines with international scope.
The registration of the mola as a Kuna people’s heritage was therefore imperative to continue moving forward to its marketing and
promotion.
III PANAMANIAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW
AND THE MOLA
The Intellectual Property is the legal discipline that protects the
creators, inventors and discoverers, and the authenticity of their
works as well as the economic benefits that emanate from them. Its
purpose is to protect the intangible goods of intellectual nature, that
is, the rights resulting from the intellectual activity in the industrial,
scientific, literary and artistic fields. It comprises two main branches, the Copyright and the Industrial Property.
The Copyright is the legal discipline that provides and manages the
rights that come from the intellectual creation in the literary and
artistic fields. The Intellectual property deals with the intellectual
creations in three main branches: inventions, commercial distinctive signs and industrial secrets.
Industrial Property Law
The System of Industrial Property in Panama is governed by Law
6
No. 35 of May 10, 1996, by which the Resolutions on Industrial
Property are enacted, as published in the Official Gazette 23 036 on
May 15, 1996. The main objective of the Industrial Property is the
search for solutions to problems in the industrial and commercial
fields as well as in the differentiating means of facilities, goods
and services. Professor David Rangel Medina stated on the subject:
“On the other hand, if the activity of the human intellect is applied
to the search for concrete solutions to specific problems in the industrial and commercial fields or to the selection of differentiating
means of facilities, goods and services, then the acts are subject to
the industrial property.”21
This means that the purpose of the Industrial Property is to protect
works that deal with industry and commerce. Thus, the first article
of Law No. 35 of May 10, 1996, states that industrial property has
as its goal to protect Inventions (patents), Profit Models, Industrial
Models and Designs, Industrial and Commercial Secrets, Products
& Services Trademarks, Guarantee and Collective Trademarks, Indications of Origin, Guarantee of Origin, Trade Names and Advertisement Expressions and Signals.
One of the requirements of the Industrial Property System is that
there must be a given person that appears as the creator or inventor,
who will be the responsible for the registration and to whom the
rights will be attributed. In the case of the mola, this presupposes a
difficulty as there is not an individual creator; it is the Kuna people
the creator and not a specific person. It is knowledge shared by a
group of people and this knowledge has been cascaded from generation to generation. The mola is the result of some intellectual
capacity of the Kuna people, therefore, it is a collective property
and from that point of view it could not be registered under the
Industrial Property System.
The interesting fact about the Industrial Property Law is that one
of its articles, specifically Article 17, assumes the potential registration of one of the Indigenous peoples´ elements that can be considered of their own creation or knowledge: the craftwork. Article
17 states:
ARTICLE 17
An invention is considered industrially applicable when its object
can be produced or used in any type of industry or activity. To these
effects, the term industry is assumed in its broadest sense and includes, among others, handicrafts, agriculture, mining, fishing and
services. (The underlining is ours)
But Article 17 was never developed in the following rules or regulation decree, so the Indigenous peoples could not appeal to the
Industrial Property Law for the protection of their mola knowledge,
considered by some as handicrafts.
The General Office of the Industrial Property Registry (DIGERPI),
of the Ministry of Trade and Industries, through a note dated on
June 7, 1991, and addressed to the Kuna General Congress, proposed that the mola be registered through the definition of Collective
Mark and Patents. One requirement is that in the request the Kuna
General Congress must submit six labels, and two of them must
be signed by the owner. For the Kuna General Congress the mola
does not have an owner, all the Kuna people is the owner of such
knowledge, therefore, this requirement became an impediment for
the registration.
On the other hand, in the case of the Patent System it should be
noted that it contributes and registers new knowledge and, the
mola, regardless of the transformations that may occur to it, is precisely based on traditional knowledge that Kuna people have been
applying and using since immemorial times, cascading it from generation to generation as part of a collective heritage and therefore
it does not fit this system.
Trying to deal with the possibility then of registering the mola
through a Collective Trademark, according to its manufacture, it
turned out that, under the Panamanian law, the Collective Trademarks only favour associations or cooperatives so it would only
give support to the women who are members of the associations
or cooperatives producing molas and not to all the Kuna women,
whether they do their work individually or collectively.
Copyright Law
Copyright law in Panama is governed by Law No. 15 of August 8,
1994 “By which the Copyright Law on Related Rights and other
resolutions are approved. Copyright law, in principle, protects works produced by human beings along the course of the history. The
first article establishes:
ARTICLE 1
The resolutions of the present Law are based on the social welfare
and the public interest and they protect the authors’ rights over their
literary, educational, scientific or artistic works, whatever their
type, form of expression, merit or purpose may be.
At first sight the first article of the Copyright Law reflects the meaning and the purposes of the creations and knowledge of the Indigenous peoples and could serve to protect them. Similarly Article
7 of the same Law includes a wide range of creations and forms of
expression which may apply to the artistic creations of Indigenous
peoples, when it expresses:
Article 7
The purpose of the Copyright is the work as a result of the intellectual creation. Works considered as protected by the law are,
especially: written works, including computer programs; lectures;
addresses; sermons and other works expressed orally; musical
compositions, with or without lyrics , musical-dramatic and dramatic works, choreographic works, pantomimes, audiovisual works,
whatever the hardware or process used; photographic works and
works expressed by analogous processes to photography; the fine
arts works, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings
and lithographs; applied art works , illustrations, maps, drawings,
sketches and works relating to geography, topography, architecture
or science; and finally, any literary, artistic, educational or scientific
works susceptible of being spread or published by any means or
process.
Actually what the above transcribed article does is to list which
human works are protected under the Panamanian Copyright law. It
states numerus apertus since in its latter part it indicates…“any literary, artistic, educational or scientific works susceptible of being
spread or published by any means or process…”, thus following
the principle established in the WIPO Convention.
7
Culture
and
Article 1894 of the Administrative Code, which regulated the Copyright before Law 15 of 1994, clearly established that the work is
any production that results from a job or personal effort of intelligence, imagination or art.
The numeral 17 of article 2 of the Copyright Law defines what is
meant by Work of Applied Art. It includes the handicrafts within
it. It reads:
Concerned about the continuing requests for mola and mola designs registration from non Kuna people, and motivated by the initiative of women in the Mola Manufacturer Cooperative, the Kuna
General Congress formed a special committee to stop those applications and above all, to ensure that the mola and all its designs be
regarded as the intellectual property of the Kuna people.
At the time Panama’s state institutions could not place the mola within the intellectual property system that already existed, therefore,
the mola could not be registered as an Intellectual Property of the
Kuna people. As a result, the mola could not receive the legal and
economic benefits to be derived from its registration. At the time
Atencio Lopez, a Panamanian Kuna and a scholar on the Indigenous intellectual property, said:
The same thing happens in the case of Panama, specifically regarding the Kuna mola. There is a national debate over whether the
mola is an art or a handicraft, if it is an exclusive property of the
Kunas or a national heritage that must be protected by the state.
The Panamanian authorities do not know where to place the mola
within the intellectual property, if as a trademark or a paten, either
as an invention, an industrial drawing or an industrial design. Some
officials of the Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Trade
and Industry think that a national law should be made that protects
molas as a national property symbol of the state, which would ignore our traditional authorities ...22
Although states have created laws to defend authors and industries,
these have been insufficient when protecting Indigenous intellectual property matters, as they only preserve individual and not collective interests. The value systems and beliefs that support the
Western society differ from those of the Indigenous world, as their
worldview, social values, ways to share and transmit knowledge
and the access regime to natural resources are different to those put
into practice by the Western culture.
The view that Indigenous peoples have of the political, social, economic, cultural and spiritual systems are different to that of the
non-Indigenous society. All knowledge and Indigenous creations
are collective, as they have emerged through the participation of
their members. The Indigenous peoples’ worldview is based on the
community, that is, the property belongs to the community. Therefore, all their knowledge and intellectual creations belong to them
all. In the western world there is supremacy of individual ownership over the common property, whereas in the Indigenous culture
the collective ownership which is over the particular or individual
interests. Western current legal systems do not adequately value,
neither in form nor in content, the scope of the knowledge and
worldviews held by Indigenous peoples.
In the Indigenous culture there is a communal tradition of the land
ownership that marks the dominance of the collective over the individual property. The principle of the community has served to
maintain the cohesion of Indigenous peoples, including the Kuna
people, hence the survival of their culture.
One of the situations that called the attention to the WIPO mission
during its visit to Panama, held on 21 and 22 January, 1999, was
the lack of legal protection with respect to the mola and other Indigenous knowledge and folklore. Next I transcribe the WIPO report:
The lack of protection of folklore expressions through the ordinary
legislation on the copyright was recognized. It was said it might be
necessary to create new rights or some sort of sui generis protection
ARTICLE 2
17. Work of applied art: is the artistic creation with practical
functions or which is incorporated in a useful item, whether it be a
handicraft work or one produced at an industrial scale.
However, Law No. 15 of August 8, 1994 establishes a fundamental
limitation in the definition of the concept of Work and on the attributes assigned to it regarding its originality in the sense of unique
and unrepeatable. The Copyright Law defines Work as follows:
ARTICLE 2
For the purposes of this Law, the next expressions will have the
following meanings:
14. Work: Original intellectual creation of artistic, scientific or literary nature susceptible of being spread or reproduced in any form.
Law 15 of 1994 covers the protection of the works in a narrow
sense. In its analysis, its protection scope does not apply to art,
handicraft or other forms of creation of Indigenous peoples. In its
articles 7 and 8 it establishes a list of protected works which is merely enunciative and not restricted.
Although Law 15 of 1994 defines certain concepts that, in one way
or another, come close to the definition of what the mola art is, it
does not allow its legal protection. In addition, the state institution
in charge of the Copyright in Panama is the Ministry of Education
which does not have any affinity or connection with the mola production. The Ministry of Education has projects with Indigenous
peoples only in the bilingual intercultural education subject.
We can summarize the limitations to protect the mola through the
Copyright system as follows:
• The Copyright law protects only the original works. This concept
comprises both the authenticity and the uniqueness of the work related to a single author while the creation of the mola as an art has
passed down from generation to generation so, it can not be considered original from an individual point of view, but as the heritage
of the Kuna people.
• For work protection purposes the Copyright law requires the
identification of an individual creator or specific creators; the mola
art is the result of a heritage, a tradition and their creators or authors
are the members of the Kuna people, especially their women, that
is, the mola is a product of the collective creation.
• The Copyright law grants exclusive rights to individuals, whereas
in the Indigenous world, including those of the Kunas, there exists
the supremacy of the collective interest which is based on their
worldview.
IV. INDIGENOUS COPYRIGHT LAW OF PANAMA
Draft bill to protect and defend the cultural identity of the Indigenous peoples
8
especially adapted to protect the folklore. There is a legislation that
allows to prohibit the craft and foreign-made products imports that
imitate or copy Panamanian handicraft articles, especially molas,
blouses and costumes from Panama. It was said there was insufficient knowledge on the current intellectual property laws although
they could be applied to protect handicrafts and cultural expressions in their several forms.
However, the inadequacy of the intellectual property formal system to recognize and protect expressions that diffusely belong to a
collectivity, allowed the copying and “piracy” of handicraft expressions. The organizations representing the Indigenous communities
were working to find ways to protect the Kuna art and some protection forms of the collective rights within the intellectual property.
The protection of the Panamanian mola was considered of utmost
importance for the cultural and economic value it has for the Indigenous communities of Panama. 23
WIPO acknowledged that there was no law in the Panamanian intellectual property system, which actually protects the mola, the
Panamanian national costume and other handicrafts of Indigenous
and non-Indigenous people against piracy.
After some years of lobbying and negotiating with legislators, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, along with government representatives, and after an investigation by the Kuna professionals, a
draft bill regulating the use of the Panamanian traditional costumes
and their exploitation was prepared. This draft was presented to the
Legislative Assembly Plenary by Indigenous legislators Enrique
Garrido, Rogelio Alba, Enrique Montezuma and Sergio Tocam, on
September 15th, 1999.
Following the visit of Legislator Enrique Garrido as President of
the Legislative Assembly to the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, this agency,
specialized on Intellectual Property matter, sent its considerations
regarding the above mentioned draft.
It is worth noting that before September 15, 1999 there were attempts to legislate on the traditional costumes of the Kunas (mola)
and the Ngöbe (Nahua) by legislators Enrique Garrido and Enrique
Montezuma, respectively. In the 1994-1999 Legislature two legal
proposals were introduced in order to regulate the use and marketing of Indigenous traditional costumes. With the help of Indigenous professionals in law matters and experts on Indigenous intellectual property, the original proponents joined the two proposals
to create the one which was submitted on September 15, 1999. This
was the Draft bill whereby measures for the protection and defence
of the cultural identity of the Indigenous peoples regulating the use
of traditional costumes and their exploitation is established.
The final result of the proposed legislation is the Law No. 20 of
June 26, 2000 of the Special Intellectual Property Regime on the
Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples for the Protection and Defense of their Cultural Identity and their Traditional Knowledge
and other Resolutions, published in the Official Gazette No. 24.083
of June 27, 2000. It was further regulated by the Executive Decree
No. 12 of March 20, 2001, promulgated in the Official Gazette No.
24 270 of March 28, 2001, and corrected in the Official Gazette No.
24 354 of July 27, 2001.
Due to the fact that the law under consideration has a long name,
Act No. 20 of June 26, 2000 Law of the Special Intellectual Property Regime on the Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples for
the Protection and Defence of their Cultural Identity and Traditional Knowledge and other Regulations, we have decided to shorten
this name for the present work to “Indigenous Intellectual Property
Law”, “Law No. 20 of 2000” or simply the “Law 20”.
Analysis of the Law No. 20 of 2000, “Indigenous Intellectual Property Law”
Article 1
This Law aims to protect the collective rights of the intellectual
property and traditional knowledge of the Indigenous peoples over
their creations such as inventions, models, drawings and designs,
innovations contained in images, figures, symbols, graphs, petroglyphs and other details; in addition, the cultural elements of their
history, music, art and traditional artistic expressions, susceptible
of commercial use, through a special registration system, promotion and marketing of their rights, in order to highlight the Indigenous socio-cultural values and make social justice to them. (The
underlining is ours)
Law 20 in its first article is clear as it states that its purpose is to
protect the collective rights of the intellectual property and traditional knowledge of the Indigenous peoples over their creations,
inventions, models, drawings and designs, among others, through
a special sui generis registration system; the Indigenous Copyright
Law also protects the history, music, art and artistic expressions
under its regime. All that Indigenous knowledge may have commercial use therefore they could be marketed as long as their Intellectual Property Rights are observed.
Both the Indigenous Intellectual Property Law and its Regulatory
Decree establish a list of items that can be protected by the Panamanian sui generis system. Article 5 of Law 20 states the following:
Article 5
The collective rights of Indigenous peoples over their working
tools, traditional arts, and the technique for making them are acknowledged. These are expressed in the national raw materials
through the nature elements, their processing, manufacture, combination of natural dyes, such as tagua and semiprecious wood carvings (cocobolo and nazarene), traditional baskets, nuchus, chaquiras (necklaces and bracelets made of beads), purses, and any other
cultural expression of traditional character of these peoples.
...
All these knowledge or arts are collective rights of Indigenous
Peoples. The Indigenous Intellectual Property Regime in Panama
does not state a strict list of the protected items under its regime.
The last part of the transcribed article has established “…any other
Indigenous peoples’ cultural expression of traditional character…
”In this way the regime followed the principle established in the
WIPO Convention when it defined what is meant by Intellectual
Property.
The Executive Decree No. 12 dated March 20, 2001 defined in its
Article 2 paragraph 5 what is meant by the collective Indigenous
rights. It reads:
9
Culture
and
Article 2
For the purposes of this Decree the following definitions will be
applied:
5. Collective Indigenous Rights: They are Indigenous cultural and
intellectual property which are related to art, music, literature; biological, medical, ecological knowledge and the expressions of an
unknown author or owner or date of origin that are the heritage of
an entire Indigenous people.
In short we can say that the Indigenous collective rights are all the
creations and intellectual knowledge, including the use of natural
resources. However, the Indigenous knowledge regarding the use
of biodiversity in the field of medicine and foodstuff was not registered by Law 20 of 2000, since at the time of its elaboration
and discussion in the Legislative Assembly, National Assembly at
present, Indigenous peoples’ representatives thought that it was not
the right moment to do so because it was necessary to unify some
fundamental principles and conceptual elements.
Articles 2 and 5 of Law 20, 2000, legitimize the Indigenous Congresses to request the registration of their traditional knowledge
before the Department of Collective Rights and Folk Expressions
of the General Office of the Industrial Property Register of the
Ministry of Trade and Industry, or before the National Office of
Copyright, Ministry of Education, as appropriate. The first of the
above mentioned departments was created by Resolution No. 3 on
July 31, 2001 of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
After presenting the above mentioned documents to the Registration Authorities, they will verify if the application submitted meets
the requirements stated by the law within 30 days and then they
will proceed to register the requested Collective Right. If there is
any missing requirement this will be informed to the General Congress (s) or Indigenous Traditional Authority (ies) that made the
registration request which, in turn, should complete the missing
requirements in a period not exceeding 6 months following the submission.
The General Office of the Industrial Property Registry of the Ministry of Trade and Industry may send officials of the Department
of Collective Rights and Folk Expressions to the Indigenous communities in order to give legal advice to them and request the documents they still need to register the Indigenous knowledge.
On the other hand, Law No. 20 of 2000 created the Examiner figure, which is the official authorized to review all applications submitted before DIGERPI on Collective Rights matter to ensure that
only those which fulfil the Law requirements, be registered. The
Examiner has a similar figure to that of an Attorney of Indigenous
Rights on Indigenous Collective Registration matters.
According to Law 20 of 2000 the Ministry of Trade and Industry, through the express and previous consent of the Indigenous
Congresses and Councils, may authorize the total or partial reproduction of the registered collective rights. The Ministry must have
the approval from the General Office of National Handicrafts and
the corresponding documents must have been previously reviewed
by the Department of Collective Rights and Folk Expressions. The
authorization for the total or partial reproduction of the Indigenous
collective rights, granted by the Indigenous Congresses and Councils, will be accomplished through the figure of License to Use the
Indigenous Registered Collective Rights.
Applications for License to Use the Indigenous Registered Collective Rights must include the following documents:
• The Agreement stating the consent of the Indigenous Congress or
Authority that holds the Indigenous registered traditional knowledge which specifies that the Collective Registered Right will be
granted by the Use License Agreement to third parties. That is, the
owners of the Collective Registered Right must agree to the Use
License Agreement;
• A copy of the Use License Agreement of the Collective Registered Right;
• The name of the representative or representatives of the Indigenous Congresses or Indigenous Traditional Authorities of the Indigenous communities that hold the Traditional Registered Knowledge that sign the Use License Agreement; identification of the other
parts of the Use License Agreement and their representatives; and
• The use that is aimed to give to the Indigenous Registered Traditional Knowledge through the Use License Agreement of the Collective Right.
An application can only be registered as a Use License Agreement
of the Collective Right when it meets the following requirements:
• Identification of the parts of the Use License Agreement. The
names of the people who subscribe the Use License Agreement
should be in the contract;
• Description of the Collective Registered Right of the Use License
Agreement;
Regulation and registration of Indigenous Collective Right
At present only the Regulation to register the Indigenous knowledge which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Collective
Rights and Folk Expressions of the General Office of the Industrial Property Registry (DIGERPI), of the Ministry of Trade and
Industry, has been developed. That is why we will only refer to
this procedure. The National Copyright Office of the Ministry of
Education has not yet regulated the registration of the Indigenous
knowledge of its competence.
The Executive Decree No. 12 dated on March 20, 2001 establishes
that the Collective Rights Register application should contain:
• That it is a collective right, meaning that the ownership of the
registry be collective;
• That it belongs to one of the country’s Indigenous peoples. The
name or names of Indigenous peoples applying for the register of
their traditional knowledge or susceptible items to be registered;
• The Indigenous Collective Right that is requested for registration. For identification purposes the Indigenous name and content
as well as its Spanish translation should be provided;
• The use or uses where the traditional knowledge is applied or the
use or uses that the item susceptible of register is given;
• The technique applied in the case that an item can not have public
access (Article 12 of the Executive Decree 12 of March 20, 2001);
• History (tradition) of its origin;
• Agreement of the Indigenous people stating the consent to record
their knowledge. This agreement should mention who is the authorized person to record the Indigenous knowledge.
• Dependent Communities and benefited population; and
• Sample of the traditional item susceptible of being registered.
10
• It must also be specified the royalties or profits that the Indigenous peoples will receive for the use of the Indigenous Collective
Registered Right. These royalties will include an initial payment
or some immediate and direct form of compensation to Indigenous
peoples and a percentage of the sales value for the marketing of
goods developed from the Collective Right;
• Information about the aims, risks or implications of the activity,
the periods of use including possible uses of the collective rights
and, if appropriate, their value;
• The licensee’s obligation to regularly report to the licensed person , in general terms, about the research, manufacturing and marketing of the product advances developed from the collective rights
object of the license; and
• If the Use License Agreement is with reserve, it must be explicitly
defined what the reserve is about.
Among the advantages of the Use License of the Collective Registered Right, we may note that it does not prevent knowledge from
being used or affect the right of present and future generations to
use and develop this collective knowledge. The license will not
affect other Indigenous peoples either, and it may also be possible
to agree to the Use License Agreement with other people.
Sublicenses can be granted to other people by the licensee with the
previous consent of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and with the
express approval of the Collective Registered Right’ owner, fulfilling the formalities and requirements as if it were a new application for the Use License Agreement.
Another important element of Law 20 of 2000 is the Principle of
Reciprocity which was included in Article 25. It established that
the Indigenous artistic and traditional expressions of other countries which required the protection, use and marketing of the collective rights of the Indigenous peoples’ intellectual property contained in this Law, will have the same benefits provided therein.
This may be done through mutual international agreements with
those countries. Article 25 was developed thanks to the advice and
support from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
in Geneva.
The comments made by WIPO were very timely. They led to increased knowledge and awareness of the Indigenous peoples on the
important work of this international organization.
Differences between the Indigenous Knowledge Register and the
Regular Register
Some of the differences between the Indigenous Knowledge Register and the Regular Register are as follows:
• Indigenous Knowledge Registers protect the collective interests,
while Regular Registers protect the individual interests
• Indigenous knowledge Registers do not expire while the Regular
Register does.
• To perform the register of the Indigenous knowledge it is not required to hire a legal professional, it can be performed by a nonprofessional traditional Indigenous authority or person authorized
by the General Indigenous Congress. To register a non-Indigenous
knowledge the legal assistance of a professional lawyer is needed.
• The register of the Indigenous knowledge does not pay taxes or
fees; non- Indigenous knowledge registration does pay the corresponding taxes and fees.
• The register of the Indigenous knowledge will not expire, while
Regular Registers do.
Indigenous Crafts Reproduction by non-Indigenous artisans
According to the Indigenous Intellectual Property Law, Article
24, non-Indigenous artisans can make, reproduce and sale replicas
of Indigenous art only if these crafts are registered in the General Office of National Crafts of the Ministry of Trade and Industry
before the Law enforcement (June 27, 2000), that is, no later than
June 26, 2000. Non-Indigenous artisans should indicate that their
products are copies, their place of origin, and that they are not made
by Indigenous people.
According to Article 8 of Law 20, the Collective and Guarantee
Brand System will apply on a supplemental basis, to protect the
Indigenous knowledge, as long as they do not violate the Collective
Rights of the Indigenous peoples or the special registration regime.
V. REGISTRATION AND REGULATION OF THE MOLA
USE AND OTHER KNOWLEDGE
Requirements for the Mola Registration as Kuna people’s Intellectual Property are the same as those contained in Law 20 of 2000
and in the Executive Decree No. 12 of March 20, 2001.
The Mola is knowledge of the Kuna culture, therefore, the four General Congresses of the Kuna people, made up by the Kuna General Congress or Kuna Yala, the Madungandi, the Wargandi and the
Takarkunyala agreed to apply for the Mola Register as a Collective
Right. For such purposes the following documents were provided:
• Agreements or minutes of the Kuna General Congresses containing their decision to register the Mola;
• Copies of the identity cards of people who sign the agreement, in
this case, the saila dummgan;
• History of the Mola origin;
• Draft of the Regulations for the Mola Use that was previously
drawn up;
• Description of the technique used ;
• Mola samples;
• Design of the distinctive emblem called Kalu Tukbis;
• Notes of the Kuna People General Congresses authorizing the
author of this article to make the registration of the Mola.
On October 25, 2002, and after many years of struggle to make the
mola be considered as intellectual property of the Kuna people, the
four Kuna General Congresses, based on Law 20, 2000, delivered
the first application to DIGERPI for the registration of the Indigenous Collective Right of the Mola as traditional knowledge of the
Kuna people. On November 22, 2002 the request was approved
after the Department of Collective Rights and Folk Expressions
evaluated the documents.
DIGERPI issued the Resolution No. 1 on November 21, 2002, by
which the Regulation for the Use of the Collective Right of the
MOLA KUNA, PANAMA was approved and registered. It was
previously drawn up by the Kuna people’s representatives, and
analyzed by the Department of Collective Rights and Folk Expressions of DIGERPI and supported by the Department of Legal Advice of the MITI.
11
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By means of the Resolution No. 1 of November 22, 2002, DIGERPI
issued the Register of the Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples’
Intellectual Property called MOLA (MORRA) KUNA PANAMA,
in favour of the Kuna people represented by the four General Congresses: Kuna, Madungandi Kuna, Wargandi Kuna and Takarkunyala Kuna. We must remember that there are also the Kuna people
from Colombia, known as “Dules” that is the reason it was called
MOLA (MORRA) KUNA PANAMA, to differentiate it from the
molas made by Colombian Kunas. In Resolution No.1 DIGERPI
also acknowledges that the emblem of the Mola Kuna Panama will
be TUKBIS KALU.
The Register of the Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ Intellectual Property called MOLA (MORRA) KUNA PANAMA was
published on the DIGERPI Official Bulletin No. 123 on November
28, 2002.
The Regulation for the Mola Use contains Rights and Obligations
for the Kuna people in connection with to the Collective Right
Mola Kuna Panama. They can be summarized as follows:
• Object. It establishes that the regulation is to set the conditions
and guidelines to be followed in the use of the Collective Right
Mola Kuna Panama as it is an art and traditional knowledge belonging to the Kuna people that has been cascaded from generation
to generation and therefore, it is intellectual property of the Kuna
people; it is Kuna people’s collective ownership and not of specific
individuals;
• Definition. It defines that the mola is the application of a small
decorative piece to a larger fabric piece which is worked upside
down; fabric combination of bright and diverse colours. The technique used is based on the craft of (applied) embroidery, it is
handmade and contains two or more fabric layers cut and sewn on
each other to show the colours of the inner fabric. Their designs
are based on the Kuna people’s worldview or the nature. It is also
understood by Mola Kuna Panama the Kuna women’s dresses also
known as “dule mor”;
• Emblem. The Collective Right Mola Kuna Panama has also the
emblem Tukbis Kalu, a holy site where mola designs and colours
originate. It is the emblem that will determine the molas originality;
• {Mola innovations. Indigenous knowledge is not static, therefore,
molas undergo innovations mean that with them, in addition to the
traditional costumes, glass cases, pillows, tablecloths, vests, bags,
among others, can be produced.
• Ownership of the Collective Right. It sets as holders of the Collective Right Mola Kuna Panama the four above mentioned Kuna
General Congresses. The administration of the Collective Right is
held by the Kuna General Congresses represented by their Saila
Dummagan. It further states that all Mola holders should write on
it “Mola Kuna Panama” and fix on it the Tukbis Kalu;
• Use of the Collective Right. Persons authorized to use the Collective Right Mola Kuna Panama are members of the Kuna people and
especially the mola making Kuna women in the Panama Republic,
including women’s organizations or cooperatives.
• Granting of the Use License of the Collective Right Kuna Mola
Panama. It establishes the requirements for the Concession of the
Use License of the Collective Right Kuna Mola Panama. Some of
the requirements are:
- Agreement or consent minutes of the Kuna General Congresses
which specifies that the Collective Right will be granted by the Use
License contract;
- A copy of the Use License Contract which must contain among
others the prescribed general parts and the periods of use of the
Collective Right.
- In addition, the licensee should identify in each Mola Kuna Panama that it is the product of the Use License Grant by the holders of
the Collective Right and must also establish their origin;
- The licensees must comply with the Regulations of Use of the
Kuna Mola and with the clauses of the Use License Grant;
- The Use License Grant of the Collective Right to third parties
does not prevent the Kuna people of mola making or the practice of
cascading this knowledge from generation to generation, and
- The Use License Grant must comply with the formalities established by Law 20 and the Regulation Decree
• Penalties. The breach of the Regulation for the Use of the Collective Right Mola Kuna Panama by any member of the right holder
Kuna people, will lead to a sanction by the Administration of the
Collective Right which are the Kuna General Congresses, represented by the Saila Dummagan. The sanction may include the revocation of the authorization to use the Collective Right represented
by the Tukbis Kalu.
• Final Regulations. One of the topics of the final regulations of
the Collective Right Mola Kuna Panama establishes that it will not
expire or will not have time limitations. In addition there is a ban
on the reproduction, printing, silk screening, or other prints that
imitate the Collective Right Mola Kuna Panama without the Kuna
people’s consent.
This regulation opens the way to confront mola illegal imitations to
be made in the very territory of Panama, which was not contemplated under Law No. 26 of 1984 and was a claim of the Kuna people.
Other Registered Indigenous Knowledge
Based on the Indigenous Intellectual Property Law, eight Indigenous kinds of knowledge have been registered, including the mola.
Indigenous peoples Bugle and Ngabe recorded the Nahua or Naun
(dress), on November 28, 2003; the Chaquira or Krade (coloured
beads neklace); the Chácara or Kra (natural fiber bags); Hat or Sobro; and its emblem is “Culebrakray” (design and painting of a
snake).
On December 12, 2005 the Indigenous Embera and Wounaan
people registered the semiprecious woodcarving (Bakura NeoEmbera), (Pawau-wounaan), the Tagua carving (vegetable ivory)
(Taaudau Waum-Embera) (Äta Neo- Wounaan) and the Basketry
(Hösigdi-Embera) (Sokoke-Wounaan) and their emblems Emberá
Neo (emberá), which represent the art through the fruit and seeds
and Hösigdi (wounaan), the art of weaving natural fibre .
Currently there are 15 Kuna musical instruments and the Kuna hammock submitted for registration. They will be part of the collective intellectual property of these people and they will also be an
example of the Indigenous people’ intellectual capabilities.
VI. PROHIBITIONS AND PENALTIES
Background
Law that bans the import of Mola copies
12
In the 70s, Asian companies started making mola painted fabrics
and plastic folders with mola designs. When these mola imitations
came into Panama, the Kuna felt concerned and formed a special
committee to stop these products which violated the intellectual
property of the Kuna people.
Due to the mola illegal copying, the National Legislative Council
(National Assembly) issued the Law that Bans the Import of Mola
copies and imponed other Regulations. This is Law 26 of October
22, 1984 enacted in the Official Gazette No. 20 174 of October 31,
1984 .In its first article it states:
import of mola copies but did not foresee that it could be registered
as Kuna people’ property.
Law 20 of 2000
Law 20 of 2000 or Copyright Law bans the import of non-original
products, whether they are prints, embroideries, fabrics or other
items that imitate, in whole or in part, the Indigenous peoples’ traditional costumes as well as their musical instruments and traditional artwork.
Article 18 of Law 20 of 2000 establishes that the non-declared,
expressed or temporarily authorized possession of products that
imitate those made by Indigenous Panamanians, constitutes a smuggling crime under the costumes law.
The Indigenous Congresses can apprehend smugglers and take preventive measures on the seized products or items and forward them
to the Customs Department to conclude the investigations of the
alleged smuggling crime. If a product that violates Law 20 of 2000
is sold in an Indigenous Region, in addition to the Law, it violates
the internal rules of the area, so people carrying those illegal goods
can be arrested and sent to the national authorities. To this end, the
Indigenous authorities may request the assistance and cooperation
of the National Police. (Article 22). The Regional Governor may
also detain persons who violate the Indigenous Intellectual Property Law.
Law No. 20 of 2000 also considers a sanction fining people who
violate this law. The fine will be imposed according to the severity
of the violation ranging from one thousand to five thousand balboas
or dollars (there is parity between the US dollar and the Panamanian balboa).
In case of a persistent offender, the fine will be twice the previous
amount. Fifty per cent of the fine will be for the National Treasury
and the other 50% will be for investment expenses of the Indigenous regions.
Article 1
The import of mola fabric, prints that copy mola fabric, mola imitations or any other fabric or article that in one way or another imitate
or compete with the Kuna craft called mola, is forbidden.
But in terms of Indigenous Intellectual Property, Law No. 26 of
October 22, 1984, only bans mola copies entering the Panamanian
land, but not those illegal copies that are made in Panama. The
above mentioned Law does not state that molas are Kuna people’s
property. In fact, the sale of mola copies from other countries that
are in Panamanian stores continues even today. The Kuna General
Congress through its traditional authorities, the Saila Dummagan,
have complained to the customs officials, who are responsible for
the law enforcement, about the sales of mola imitations in the stores. Law 26 of 1984 has been a dead law in itself.
Craft Promotion Law
Before the Indian Intellectual Property Law, Panama also issued
a Law which establishes the handicraft protection, promotion and
development, Law No. 27 of July 24, 1997, enacted in the Official
Gazette No. 23 343 of July 30, 1997. It not only establishes the
prohibition of mola copies import but also of other Indigenous arts.
Article 10 reads:
The New Penal Code and the Indigenous Knowledge
In the new penal code, Law No. 14 of May 18, 2007 thanks to
the initiative of the traditional authorities, professionals and Indigenous Representatives, a special section called Crimes Against
the Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples and their Traditional
Knowledge was included. This is the first time that in the Panamanian criminal legislation the acts that violate Indigenous intellectual property are included.
Article 270 of Law No. 14 of 2007, has established that a four
to six years prison penalty will be given anyone who reproduces,
copies or modifies all or part of a work protected by the Collective
Right of Indigenous Peoples and their Traditional Knowledge. The
same will be applied to those who store, distribute, export, assemble, install, manufacture, import, sell, rent, usurp the authorship or
put into circulation any unlawful reproduction of a work protected
by the Collective Right of Indigenous Peoples and their Traditional
Knowledge.
In addition, the Panamanian Penal Code inn Article 271 also established a sentence of four to six years in prison to those who manufacture or assemble, commercialize or circulate a product covered
by the Collective Right of the Indigenous Peoples and their Traditional Knowledge without the consent the holders of the right. The
ARTICLE 10
In order to preserve the national traditions and cultures, the import
of finished craft products or parts, of goods that imitate pieces and
traditional Panamanian costumes such as Panamanian skirts, molas, naguas (naun) and montunos, is forbidden.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry through the General Office
of National Crafts, with the support of the folk-crafts and cultural
agencies will watch over the fulfilment of this article.
ARTICLE 12
Commercial establishments that display, advertise, distribute or
sell crafts, must identify and separate those made in Panama from
those coming from abroad.
In accordance with the idea established in Law No. 26 of 1984,
Article 10 of Law No. 27 of 1997 bans the import of goods or
products that imitate the molas. The interesting thing about the rule
transcribed above is that it not only includes the mola but also the
Ngöbe women’s dress called Nahua, which means that the protection of the Indigenous peoples’ cultural expressions was expanding.
But Law No. 27 of 1997 did not solve the mola copying or the
attempts to patent the mola by non- Kunas, as it only banned the
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RECOMMENDATIONS
The Collective Right Register “Mola Kuna Panama”, its emblem or
distinctive sign Kalu Tukbis as well as other Registered Indigenous
Knowledge, should be spread at national and international level as
Kuna people’s intellectual property.
It is necessary to set up an entity for the Collective Management of
the Collective Rights in order to monitor the Law fulfilment and the
effective and collective distribution of the economic profits generated by the Indigenous intellectual property registers.
The study of Law 20 of 2000, of the Special Intellectual Property Regime on Indigenous Peoples’ Collective Rights of Panama,
should be promoted by international organizations such as the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) as a feasible reference for other countries interested
in laws that protect Indigenous collective intellectual property and
their traditional knowledge.
same sanction will be imposed on anyone who uses a procedure,
industrial drawing or design protected by the Collective Right of
the Indigenous Peoples and their Traditional Knowledge without
the consent of the holders of such right.
Perhaps this is the first time in the world that the criminal acts that
violate Indigenous knowledge be included in a penal law. This law
is, undoubtedly, an important achievement of the Kuna people of
Panama in its struggle to claim the historical rights of the Indigenous peoples and their ancestors.
CONCLUSIONS
The new order and concept of global development requires social,
cultural and economic policies, aimed at protecting the traditional
knowledge, the free and respectful exchange of cultural expressions, the preservation of the Indigenous peoples’ traditions and
the desire to stimulate human creativity based on the tradition as a
contribution to the sustainable development.
To preserve the Indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge is vital
for the future welfare and development of these peoples as well as
for their own cultural and intellectual dynamics. For many communities, traditional knowledge is part of a holistic worldview and it
is inseparable from their form of life and their cultural and spiritual
values.
The legal system of non-Indigenous world is based on the supremacy of the protection of the individual interests, whereas in the
Indigenous world the collective interest predominates, as its worldview is based on the community, including its relationship with the
Mother Earth.
There is no doubt that, at the beginning, the Intellectual Property
Law, both national and international, had not considered or developed the protection of the collective knowledge or collective intellectual property in the way Indigenous peoples needed.
One of the Indigenous arts that has been plagiarized by natural and
legal, national and international persons is the mola because it did
not have a law that really protects it. The mola is the cultural expression through which the Kuna people is identified; after the skirt
pollera (typical Panamanian costume with embroidery), the mola is
one of the formal dresses of the Republic of Panama.
The Kuna people women sector has kept the mola art and has cascaded it from generation to generation. Thanks to their concern and
perseverance it has been possible to issue laws that protect the mola
art, the Kuna art par excellence.
By means of Law No. 20 of June 26, 2000, of the Special Intellectual Property Regime on the Indigenous Peoples’ Collective
Rights, the Kuna people could declare the mola as their intellectual
property. Resolution No. 1 of November 22, 2002 of DIGERPI, establishes the above mentioned under the name of Collective Right
of Indigenous Peoples’ Intellectual Property “Mola Kuna Panama”
which is identified by the Kalu Tukbis emblem.
The protection process of Indigenous knowledge was gradually developed. It was under discussion for about twenty years. But not
everything is already done. The protection of Indigenous knowledge on genetic resources and biological diversity is still needed.
The last successful claim by the Indigenous peoples of Panama on
intellectual property matters is the penalization of the acts that violate the registered Indigenous knowledge.
Quotes
1 Organización de la Propiedad Intelectual. WIPO/GRTKF/IC/5/3.
Fecha 2 de mayo de 2003. Anexo, p. 36.
2 Segundo Informe. Objetivos de Desarrollo Humano .Gabinete
Social de la República de Panamá. Sistemas de Naciones Unidas
en Panamá. Panamá, septiembre, 2005, p.9.
3 Los Acuerdos de la Concertación Nacional para el Desarrollo
2007. Sistema de Naciones Unidas. Panamá. 2007. Página 24.
4 Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas. Pobreza y Desigualdad en
Panamá. La Equidad: un reto impostergable. Análisis de la Encuesta de Niveles de Vida de 2003. Dirección de Políticas SocialesMEF, 2006, p. 45.
5 Valiente López, Aresio, Informe Sobre la Situación de los Pueblos Indígenas en Panamá. En SOCIETAS. Revista de Ciencias
Sociales y Humanísticas, 2005.p.60
6 Par los pueblos indígenas el verdadero nombre del continente
americano es Abia Yala, que proviene de la lengua kuna que significa Madre Tierra en plena madurez.
7 Ver Ley 59 de 31 de diciembre de 1908, Ley de Civilización de
los Indígenas.
8 Ministerio de Educación. Educación Intercultural Bilingüe. Fundamentación y Conceptualización. Plan Nacional de Educación
Intercultural Bilingüe. MEDUC. 2005, p. 13
9 Ver el libro Un Pueblo que no se arrodillaba. Panamá, los Estados Unidos y los kunas de San Blas, de James Howe. Tradución
de Ana Ríos. Plumsock Mesoamerican Studies-Maya Educational
Foundation-CIRMA. 2004.
10 Grito de aviso de los kunas en las montañas.
1 Río donde Ibeorkun gritó “yoo”
2 Gran espíritu o Dios
13 Wagua, Aiban. Ibeorkun. El Gran Abuelo, en Así Habla Mi Gente. Publicaciones EMISKY. Ustupu, Kuna Yala. Panamá.1986, p. 8.
14 Wagua, op. cit., p.9
15Marcela Camargo R. en su escrito “Orígenes Prehispánicos de
las Artesanías Panameñas”, 1992, p. 69
16 Semilla de la que se extrae un tinte colour negro
14
5
The Design Management between innovation and artisan
tradition
Carmen Gómez Pozo
Carmen Gómez Pozo
Industrial Designer, she currently serves as Director of the Design
Development Unit of the Cuban National Design Office (ONDI). She
is an Assistant Professor at the Higher Institute of Design (ISDI). She
has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Cuba and Colombia.
She was head of the Specialization in Costume Design at ISDI from
1993 to 2005.
Other studies: ASCHERBERG Scholarship awarded by UNESCO,
with residence at the Universidad de los Andes (University of the
Andes) and Artesanías de Colombia S. A (Handicrafts of Colombia), Bogotá 1997; European Diploma in Management and Business
Administration (DEADE), 2003. She belongs to the Master in Design
Management program and is part of the Ph.D. Program in Management of Design and Development of New Products, in the frame of the
program coordinated by the Technical University of Valencia and the
ISDI.
As a designer of clothing and textiles, she has won awards and recognition in Fashion Fairs held in Cuba. She served as adviser and UNESCO
coordinator for the Project “Needles” in Trinidad, for the development
and preservation of the needlework in that region of Cuba. She is part
of the Advisory Board of the National Centre for Handicrafts of the
Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets and has participated as a juror in the
National Design Award and different national fairs as the International Fair of Havana (FIHAV) and the International Handicrafts Fair
(FIART).
carmeng@ondi.cu.
The Design Management between innovation and artisan tradition
The Design Management between innovation
and artisan tradition
Carmen Gómez Pozo
Introduction
What at one time was seen as parallel and not converging directions
is now perceived with a different perspective, because, like the west
joins the east and a North-South integration is called for, design
and handicrafts have displaced their borders. The reality is that the
handicrafts have always served as “inspiration” for the design and
as a source to encourage the mass production of the spectacular
quality of the craftsmanship. In turn, handicrafts are nourished by
the elements of design to win new sectors of the market and add
new functions to the products, with a new more holistic view of the
processes in which it enters.
Among the complex cultural processes of the globalized world,
characterized by growing phenomena of trade, multiculturalism
and hybridism , the conservative approach that saw the handicrafts
as a static product, a kind of reservoir of tradition and identity, and
design as its opposite pole, bearer of innovation and modernity,
has been overcome by practice. Today we see handicrafts that are
renewed in shape and meet new functional requirements inspired
by fashion and design; design looks towards the craftsmanship
to introduce a human scale in its proposals, far from industrial
perfection and minimalist coldness. Those are new situations that
lead us to rethink the scope of the concepts and overcome that
polarity that ever arose between handicrafts and design. It is not
that the design will save the handicrafts or that the handicrafts will
save the design. Both directions are legitimate. As necessary for
the artisan work is the inclusive and global vision of the designer
for the general understanding of the processes and the survival and
adaptation to the markets, as it is essential, for the designer, to be
saved from the absurdity of making proposals ignoring the cultural
legacy of what the need imposed and the genius of the day by day
and the transmission from generation to generation has left us as
the heritage of tradition.
Anchored in the transformations of a troubled and increasingly
computerized happening in this century, in which the re-conversion
of “knowledge” is a strategy for the access to new opportunities,
those ideas and principles of the first school of design acquire full
force. Its founder, Walter Gropius, proposed that the best training
for a young designer should include courses to give freedom to
their individual creative ability and to provide knowledge on a
range of materials: stone, clay, glass, wool, wood, metal and paper,
to explore the three dimensional shape, feeling and enjoying the
potential of materials, technologies and trades. These postulates
should become academic principles in the schools which have the
mission to provide the society with design professionals, because
it is in that primal contact with the transformation of the matter
to give it expressive values, where the creative capacity that draw
designers and artisans near is found.
If at any time the usefulness of the link between handicrafts and
design has been questioned, on account of both being considered
excluding elements or processes of antagonistic nature, today,
after that in the eighties and nineties of last century, concepts from
industry began to be applied (marketing and diversification of the
artisan product, etc.) as part of the strategy for the insertion of
these products in the international and tourist market, the theme
of the link between handicrafts and design has become a chapter
very highly rated on research, courses and meetings of experts, and
it is a compulsory topic in the design of strategies, policies and
programs for the development of the sector.
Whatever the social context, it is clear that the merger and
exchange of both actors, the artisan and the designer, can become
an invaluable source to promote the presence and coexistence
of tangible and intangible heritage values in the current cultural
globalized spaces; spaces that often are depersonalized and in need
of contrast, because it is human to perceive contrastingly, either
semantic, technological or merely contemplative and aesthetic, the
everyday spaces where, besides appreciating the scientific advances
3
Culture
and
not obey any will, which raises the problem of how to ensure a
reaffirmation of the national identity versus the leveling of cultures
produced by industrial means of communication, information and
transnational entertainment.
of technology, you can discover the genuineness, authenticity and
ingeniousness of the tradition of a region or community.
The design must take ethical positions and should be able to
recognize, contextually and conceptually, when it is all about
communicating and providing solutions to be on a par with the
newest technological inventions and discoveries, and when the
claim arises from inquiring into the roots and tradition and it is
about being honest and consistent with those who, in the quest to
solve their daily needs, promoted their own identity. Because, as
stated by the Cuban intellectual Cintio Vitier, when assessing the
validity of Marti’s work, “currently our biggest problem is spiritual,
it is in truth the ignorance of oneself, of one’s own history, of one’s
own nature, of one’s own soul.”
But the standardization of symbols and the mass consumption have
their support just on what makes handicrafts to be in disadvantage,
by their very nature. Many could not consume the same thing,
which also suits the MNCs to be standard, and all the accumulation
of visual messages that encourages consumption would not reach
the most diverse places on earth with the same speed, if new
technologies and progress in communications would not make it
possible.
We need handicrafts in two ways, as sensitive human beings, it
becomes imperative to know that the Earth that takes us in and
where we come from is full of legacies and wealth, of which we
feel proud; expression of the earliest forms of the transformation of
nature by mankind, and of the knowledge that has been preserved
from generation to generation through the making.
José Martí, at his time, asserted: “Most men have spent their time
on Earth slept. They ate and drank, but they did not know about
themselves. The crusade has to be taken now to reveal to men their
own nature and to provide them, with the knowledge of plain and
practical science, with the personal independence that strengthens
the goodness and promotes decency and pride of being a friendly
creature and a living thing in the grand universe”.
The artisan tradition and the intangible heritage are tempting
resources for designers in seeking a national trademark, but, as
we question a need and evaluate the feasibility of an answer, we
should evaluate the coherence of certain appropriations and the
final destination of the product; the look towards the creation of a
dress establishes different considerations from the ones of a phone.
Handicrafts and design are at the crossroads of resolving their
integration in the future; the traversed paths have been valuable, the
possibility of a bridge between them emerges into the confluence
of all modes of action of the design and within it the highest step,
the management. Under the new circumstances of global crisis, the
design will be no more only the one that was linked to the industry
and market. The social mission and the action scope of designers are
also being restated in the current scenarios, in which the dialogue
between objects and people, between cultures, between man and
nature, needs to be encouraged.
The projection of the design must move between the global and the
identity elements. Nanotechnology has not come by chance; nanoscale engineering through molecular design of self-assembling
peptides will probably play an increasingly important role in the
future of biotechnology and will change our lives in the decades
ahead. Aging and damaged tissues may be replaced by frames that
will stimulate cells to repair organs of the body or work towards
skin rejuvenation. Maybe, in the future, we will also be able to
swim and dive like dolphins or climb mountains with a nanostructure lung apparatus that can transport oxygen.
This paper reveals, through experiments conducted in Cuba
and Colombia, the impact and significance of the contributions
that the integration between design and handicrafts can make to
human development and to the cultural vision of development.
The integration is promoted from the strategic vision of Design
Management, as a response to the demands of the present times for
the preservation of the heritage, for noble productions that are also
viable from an environmental point of view and for the fostering
of an environment of objects that should increasingly identify
culturally with general public and should be increasingly more
distinctive, within the globalizing framework of the absorbent
market.
Handicrafts, as man himself, will have to overcome the space
between national and universal, between identity and global;
they will have to guess right on the spot about the adequate place
and “product”, that will offer them prominence and assert their
benefits; as a marketing strategy, they will have to refine the niches
where their own authenticity constitute a differential value against
competitors.
Building an area of harmonization between identity and
globalization
Will it be contradictory to think of heritage conservation facing all
the novelties and demands of the globalized market?
If we assume that the trend of globalization is towards symbolic
mass and the economies of scale and that, on the other hand, it is
a fact that everyone has the right to choose his affiliation to trends,
social groups or culture, suggesting the need for the recognition
of diversity , it seems that, by only addressing the characteristic
manifestations of a cultural expression, such as handicrafts, it
would be enough to ensure the permanence of them in the face of
the danger of their disappearance or absorption by other cultural
expressions. But the permanence of cultural expressions does
“In design we hope to watch the collision between the opposing
forces of globalization and nationalism”
In an interconnected world in which the own identities have to be
seen not as fixed features, but as sedimentary processes of interinfluence, the relationship between identity and the global is not
necessarily expressed as a radical opposition.
Everything depends on the lens through which one looks; awkward
4
and superficially argued postures, that incorporate elements to the
creations by the mere justification of preserving tradition, detonate
that antagonism and, sometimes, can result in more harm than
good. Being able to insert the identity elements in the context
of the globalized world, depends on absorbing from history and
building the present, on getting the customer of these times to
feel accomplice and to fill his spirituality with one or other object
that bears the imprint of his roots. And concerning the exchange
between handicrafts and design, such integration can be achieved
by looking at two determining aspects:
“The destinies of artisan production are as many as there have been
distinct social realities in the history of the continent. Hence, any
effort to discuss the Latin American handicrafts as a whole must
begin by looking at the historical roots of their deep differences ...
If considering handicrafts as a mere extension of the production of
pre-Columbian objects is a simplification, ignoring their roots is
another, equally dangerous.”
The current social processes that are emerging in the Latin
American context gain significance and express themselves as the
formation of identities, that is constantly changing, new sectors are
visualized and assert their cultures.
• The first, referred directly to the product conception, which
from its typology, materials and technologies must be capable of
insertion into the social, economic and cultural dynamics.
All exploration and design of products should take into account,
not to be accused of anachronism, that identity is cumulative and,
as a phenomenon subject to changes and evolution, it renews and
undergoes innovations and initiatives that the context and even
environmental changes foster.
• The second, referred to the artisan, the source par excellence
of the keeping and transmission of knowledge, trades and skills,
but, on the long run, a social being that is immersed in a changing
environment that can even turn adverse and contradictory to him as
creator and marketer.
The way to finding an identity-related, national and competitive
design, should avoid copying or mimetic extrapolating foreign
models. It is necessary to promote research and exploration of the
heritage as a way to set a distance and keep away competitors.
Reality shows us that the designer, during the creation, production
and distribution of objects, faces the challenge of identity as a
complex phenomenon that is both social and anthropological. That
means taking into account the physical and moral features, racial
origin, anatomy, psychology, language and all the expressions,
verbal or not, that characterize a human being or a community.
This relationship is expressed both from the perspective of the user,
consumer of the objects, as well as the artisan’s, who brings with
him all the history and cultural and family legacy.
The other extreme would be a disproportionate standardization
towards the behaviour of the fashion trends, where the market
mirage clouds the possibility of foreseeing the danger of demand
instability. It is necessary to have a well identified strategic balance
that, while standardizing the offer, do not compromise, in the case
of the artisan sector, the economic stability, by simulating a fragile
prosperity and security.
Will that be then that the design itself, in its links to handicrafts,
has the mission of avoiding the collision and striking a balance
between globalization and identity? Hugh Aldersey himself argues
that “the field of design is where commerce and culture converge
more conspicuously”. Globalization and identity, culture and
commerce, become ultimately complementary pairs from the very
moment in which identity as a manifestation of culture is recognized
and distinguished at once, through all objects and media that are
produced and marketed in the absorbent globalized markets.
Fashion, by its very nature, presupposes a fleeting, transient
phenomenon of enjoyment and collective scope; nothing further
from the artisan production which, in the interest of maintaining
stability and loyalty to their customers, should aim to the promotion
of local values as a way to guarantee the sustainability of handicraft
industries.
Since 1987, the Brundtland Commission Report has warned the
world about the urgency of making progress towards technological
development without destroying the natural resources of Earth. The
term Sustainable Development was consequently defined.
In this sense, and to make a difference, any product resulting from
the interaction between design and handicrafts must transmit,
by any possible way, the best values that can contain an artisan
product which awaken and captivate the target audience, and the
role of the designer as a communicator is relevant for this purpose.
These values are:
• The work involved in the manual elaboration, the tools and
materials.
• The time taken to do so.
• The cultural connotations for the country and the region.
The characteristics of the artisan production, its productive
scale, the working means in which handiwork and mechanic
energy predominate, the artisan respectful relationship with
the environment, the way knowledge is transmitted as part of a
practice, the “learning by doing”, prefigure behaviours that could
become referents to new models of productive organization and
human and local development.
The expression of identity will then survive to the extent that it
can be identified among the creative production of global and
homogeneous character, as long as designers and artisans will
not be dazzled by a mimetic extrapolation, both from successful
products or from work and technology patterns; that which has
worked for some will not necessarily be effective for all.
The artisan sector also receives the impact of positive and
negative aspects of globalization. Along with the levelling of the
market and the increase in the circulation flow of products, new
opportunities appear for the access to information, for training
and knowledge of the fashion trends of the global world. These
are circumstances that promote an awareness of the importance of
5
Culture
and
may innovation be fostered in the artisan sector?
Handicrafts as an expression of identity go through daily enrichment
and through the changes and transformations that the very society
imposes. To that extent, the act of innovating has not been distant,
even if not always consciously and systematically.
The design in its interaction with handicrafts, while fostering
the preservation of traditional skills, should encourage product
innovation to ensure that they remain relevant, valuable and
marketable in modern life.
Although distant from the Latin American context, but effective
and consistent in scope and objectives towards formulating
strategies for the “future artisan enterprise”, the reference of the
study made in ten small German companies suggests, with its
outcome, important elements to consider for an innovative vision
in the development of the artisan sector:
• Dealing first with the internal communication, the intranet and the
information management within the organization.
• Not dealing with marketing, this only gives information about the
past, not the future; this one is given by the design.
• Using a small amount of raw material, low costs, but long life and
durability.
Design is needed when innovation is looked for, it is only there
where new products are sought and introduced, never design for
the sake of designing.
Consistent with the principle of non-mimetic extrapolation, these
results can be assessed and some lessons can be identified which
would be appropriate to encourage innovation scenarios towards
the integration of design and handicrafts:
• The value of internal communication: For any creative activity
where teamwork predominates, the designer must make each team
member, in this case especially the artisan, an accomplice of the
proposed ideas and conceptual lines. He should encourage those
responsible for implementing and producing to manage variables
of evaluation and assessment of their own work. It does not mean
that by involving the artisan he will become a designer, but the
mere knowledge of the indicators to be taken into account when
assessing the feasibility of an idea, will allow him, eventually, to
become a better and diligent observer; it favours the training of
observation and foster the individual need to gather information
prior to making any decision.
“Artisan creativity must be not only respected, but also protected
to prevent artisans from becoming the equivalent of skilled labour
that implements the design creations of professional designers” .
• Marketing is information from the past, the future is given by
design: There are recurring experiences in which, after a direct
investigation on the target public, the team in charge of processing
the information confirms that there is no new sign to guide the act
of creation; the public can not give testimony of what they have
not lived, of the product that they have not yet experienced, of
which they have no background. The research should be oriented
towards the needs in the most abstract way which originates the
phenomenon, without drawing parallels that determine one or
another type of solution. The result of marketing will only be
valuable to model the probable business scenarios where the
product should survive, but, in that case, if the price is an indicator
of effectiveness, it is the designer’s responsibility to fit in within
the allowable margins.
• Low costs but long life and durability: If it comes to pricing
strategies, “IKEA”, in its catalogue of 2006, aims to be at the
keeping artisan productions within the scope of sustainability. The
product, as an offer differentiated by the expression of handiwork,
the raw materials and the technologies used, besides continuing
the tradition, can foster a sense of responsibility towards future
development.
Studies on tourist trends and their effectiveness in development
strategies support establishing parallelisms where it is possible
to simulate a probable pattern of behaviour of handicrafts and
provide a perspective of sustainable development as the one that
meets present needs without compromising the possibility of future
generations to meet their own needs.
“A standardized culture could disappear in a few decades, absorbed
by the overall consumption, and so will happen to those who
produce it if they don’t take into account the appropriate policies,
balanced and adapted to each circumstance.”
The uniformity and homogeneity that the model for the massive
handicrafts is proposing face the risk, behind growth and immediate
impact, of disappearing while trying to situate artisan products
similarly together with products with no value and no authentically
recognized messages. The massive handicrafts will also have
defenders; in the field of judgments and ideologies not all people
prefer, or have the possibility to select, what to others reaffirms
their nationality. The balance is necessary, but as long as we are
aware of where we want to get.
Design between tradition and innovation.
Commonly, the ability to innovate has been associated with the new
needs of the market to face the increasingly globalized competition.
Innovation, from its very essence, is understood as the ability to
change or alter a product, process or management system, whether
it is a radical change or a small incremental improvement and
always if the result gets to its final implementation successfully.
No innovation emerges by wilfulness or fashion, but by necessity;
innovation, in principle, must be originated from the study and
systematic research to find alternatives for change in an organized
way, with knowledge and feasibility assessments.
Although the word tradition presupposes a custom or usual practice,
the false conflict generated between tradition and innovation should
be banished and, in any case, the creative dimension that emerges
from both expressions should be stimulated to facilitate the mutual
enrichment and the alliance to face market challenges.
If, from the point of view of scientific research in the field of
materials and technology, society evolves beyond measure to
increasingly raise the performance of products; if non-stick pans,
waterproof clothing that allows transpiring, lighter and stronger
means of transport, flat displays as thin as a book, are, to name a few,
objects or gadgets that are part of our lives; in what circumstances
6
buyer’s skin; its level of response exemplifies the benefits of the
global projection of design and gives us an example that in any area
of the product cycle a breach for innovation can be opened.
and respect their space and contributions in this exchange, from
this interaction a new model of organization can emerge where
innovation as change and transformation of experiences will
generate a new commercial- productive scheme, consciously
structured and optimized.
IKEA is a Swedish multinational company engaged in the retailing
of furniture, home furnishings and décor, at a low price and with
contemporary design, today (2007) it has 238 stores in 34 countries
and employs 104 000 workers in 44 countries .
IKEA reformulated the model for manufacturing and marketing of
furniture so most of the products it sells can be disassembled and
can be stored and shipped in flat and uniform packages in order to
downsize costs and prices. This type of furniture is known as “RTA”
(Ready To Assembly) and includes any product that requires to be
put together prior to use. Most products sold today come with an
assembling guide and the tools needed to build them, to implement
the concept DIY (Do It Yourself).
Surprisingly contradictory, but realistic and suggestive, is the
characterization of an innovative enterprise provided by the
Foundation COTEC (foundation of corporate origin with the
mission to contribute to the development of the country by
fostering technological innovation in the Spanish enterprise and
society) in documents on technological opportunities . Extreme
poles of a tightrope again confirm that the scenarios of handicrafts
and design can coexist successfully and even consolidate a new
formula in product development in the framework of SMEs as the
predominant production model.
“The shopping style consists in touring the exhibition galleries
(actually a long corridor), where products can be observed and, in
some cases (chairs, rocking chairs, beds, mattresses), tried, which
are identified with a name, a code and their place in the warehouse.
Having decided his purchase, the customer goes to the warehouse
where he personally looks for the product, which is disassembled
and packed according to IKEA standards, and he transports it to
the checkout desk in a specially prepared shopping car. There are
information desks where it is possible to consult and get help from
the staff. The concept of self-service is very common in Swedish
trade.”
“For us, design is not an excuse to increase price. It is a reason to
reduce it.
We start at the drawing board; we avoid anything that might raise
the price. Therefore, we design the greatest number of products
so that they can be stacked or can be packed in flat packages. In
this way, neither we, nor you, nor the environment, will pay for
transporting air.
“To be an innovator you have to accept paradoxes and live with
them. Thus, the innovative organization must be centralized and
decentralized at the same time, global and local, make long term
plans and be flexible in the short term. The staff of an innovative
enterprise must be autonomous and able to work as a team. ....
Communication, both internal and external, is a key aspect in the
innovation process and therefore in the design process.”
This perspective, from the small Spanish enterprise, reconfirms
the value of communication both among the enterprise internal
public as well as the external, the value of encouraging the right
balance between what needs to be created and what answer can
be given, of promoting the sense of belonging and of providing
space for initiatives that suggest any changes of the process and the
improvement of the quality of results.
Innovation, combined with the limitations of the initial design
concepts, is wrongly defined yet by some who merely appreciate it
in the frame of the aesthetic characteristics a product should have,
so as to meet certain functional specifications through proposals
for materials, finishes and the structuring of the formal resources
employed. Views like these invalidate the very possibility of
exchange in the business team and the chances of affecting
innovatively other areas of the life cycle of the product.
By constantly striving to eliminate everything that is not essential,
we are allowed to add extra advantages, though without adding a
penny to the price! For example, a more attractive design, more
functionality, better quality or materials with lower environmental
impact.
Low price is part of the design. And the design is part of the low
price.”
Production
This same enterprise is paradigmatic in “not designing for the
sake of designing”; they have clearly identified the needs of their
customers throughout all its production cycle and to that extent
they re-direct everything, from design to advertising messages and
the act of exchange and marketing.
Recycling
PRODUCT
Distribution
Consumption
The complicity with the client as well as the sharpness of the scope
of the design in regard with his expectations is noticed; likewise, the
ease and economy of transportation that do not inhibit or delay the
act of purchase; the ease and economy of time for the assembling,
and, in turn, long life because of the quality of raw materials and
iron fittings.
Figure 1: Life cycle of the product.
It can be seen then that the phenomenon of innovation goes through
different paths, from the most tangible ones that can be felt and
seen in the resulting products, to the intangible ones that modify
processes and promote communication.
These roads lead to that, if both handicrafts and design recognize
7
Culture
and
result to meet the requirements of adequate cost, reliability, ease of
use and, finally, effectiveness in the market.
A comprehensive view from all disciplines of design together with
handicrafts would encourage the involvement of many actors on
the way towards the definition of product features, both physical,
symbolic and psychological, of usage, technological- productive
and of marketing, and to that extent, to rank and distinguish in
which space or spaces the maximum value that the product conveys
shall be provided.
“Design is a global activity that takes into account the technological
data, the organization of the product components, the pragmatic
data, the product- user relationship, the possible features of the
product, the ergonomics, the semantic dimension of the product,
i.e. its meaning, its symbolic load, the way in which it will be
accepted, perceived and understood”.
Different design disciplines
“The designer is a chameleon: he can be, according to necessity,
an elitist, a strategist of collective image, an ergonomist or an
ecologist”.
• Product Design.
• Graphic Design.
• Packaging Design.
• Design of the environment.
For the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design
(ICSID), a supranational organization comprising most of the
national bodies for the promotion of design, this is defined as
follows:
It could be said that innovation will be encouraged, within the
exchange between design and handicrafts, in that the that the
changes will occur in any phase of the life cycle of the product,
and it will be even more effective when it will receive the
combined systematic feedback from all disciplines that make up
the design. With the example set by IKEA, it is emphasized that
the product may be valid, but if it is not known how to transmit its
advantages and benefits, if it is not presented under the umbrella of
an easy- to- remember brand, both phonetically and visually, and
if the circumstances of the sale are not previously organized and
structured, we will be leaving a dark hole in its life cycle and we
will ask ourselves hundreds of times: What went wrong? Where
should innovation be aimed at?
“Design is the creative activity aimed at establishing the various
qualities of objects, processes, services, and their systems in all
their life cycles. Therefore, design is the central factor of the
humanization of technologies and a key factor of economic and
cultural exchange”.
The definition of design stated in the curriculum of the Higher
Institute of Design (ISDI) in Havana, taking into account the
teaching strategy of forming a professional increasingly prepared to
identify needs, allows to clarify that the space for the introduction
of innovative changes just depends on how aware we are of the
probable product performance in each of its phases. That also
includes the recycling within the act of consumption, since not all
consumers are aware and educated to appreciate what happens to
their product after meeting the basic need for which it was created.
All of this is the task of design, to promote and educate with a sense
of responsibility, as sustainable development presupposes.
Integration between handicrafts and design
Although it may seem obvious, an anchoring to the definitions of
handicrafts and design and their manifestations, may encourage the
prospective vision towards the integration of these two sectors we
bet on.
By “integration” we refer to the prominence and clear recognition
of the place and role played by both actors, artisans and designers,
in a particular way, each one making its contributions and validating
their previous experiences. Integration, precisely because the
phenomenon is seen as the need to connect, gather together and
merge two figures which, in their environments, have much to say
in order to establish and consolidate alliances that reciprocally
tribute to the mutual interests. Along with integration we can
speak of cooperation, reciprocity and association to, through fair
and equitable exchange, contribute to the proposals for actually
becoming competitive and consistent with the environment in
which they are born and produced.
With this philosophy and training strategy, the definition of design
that underlies the syllabus of ISDI suggests that it is an “activity
that aims at the previous conception of “products” (see Figure 1),
so that they meet their useful purpose, can be produced, distributed
and consumed”.
From the perspective of design, we can find from the very pragmatic
definitions that practically describe a design process, to the most
colloquial ones, full of common sense.
In any case, the need to contextualize, with accurate smell, the
variables occurring in response to a need is perceived. The ways
of providing the answer may vary from the most individual,
which seek prominence and the title of “star designer” close to the
stylistic and the arts, to the point of view that infers talking of a
designer who proposes designs to be manufactured, distributed and
consumed, a designer who presupposes to form part of a team that,
eventually, is what the link to the artisan sector is demanding.
For the perception of most people, the design process can be
confined to the framework of the “immaterial creation” of the
product, its representation by whatever tools and means were used
to communicate. But the design does not exist yet. In order to
complete the process and become “physically materialized”, the
current concept of design incorporates a wealth of information and
knowledge that should be properly managed, if one wants the final
Whatever the conceptual and ideological framework will be, the design
of products must always take into account the feasibility studies. Why
and to what end are products created? What goals are to be aimed
at with its conception? What are the variables and basic components
involved in the problem? Dismiss or downplay one of these issues
leaves us naked before the subsequent implications that reality imposes
on the use, therefore all possible questions should be posed:
8
a production cycle. Standardization of any artisan output from that
perspective conspires against the very essence that sustains and
legitimizes it.
• For whom?
• For what type of users?
• What services it proposes to these users?
• What features should be offered?
• What inconveniences should be avoided or eliminated?
If, in certain circumstances, the design concept focused on the
conception phase and avoided the implications and effective
feedback which is required to make sure the consistency and
appropriateness of each solution in its implementation phase,
today the expanded concept which is coherent with current times,
counterbalances the considerations in response to both stages.
Currently, the designer does not work in isolation but he is obliged
to interact with other people during the process, like those who are
responsible for the manufacturing, assembly and maintenance, the
environmental experts and the users with their expectations and
preferences.
“Firstly, we must know on what object the effort is invested, and
secondly, how it is invested. If our “someone” creates an object that
has no value of use for others, however much effort he invests on
it, he will not produce a single atom of value, and if he persists in
producing with his hand an object that a machine produces twenty
times cheaper, nineteen-twentieth parts of the effort he invested
would have no value at all, nor, therefore, any special magnitude
of value” .
“Effective design and manufacturing are essential requirements for
producing good quality products and both are intimately related;
but an efficient design is a prerequisite for efficient manufacturing;
the quality can not be manufactured or controlled in a product, it
must be designed in the very product.”
Methodologically, the design should clarify variables and indicators
that, while establishing the basis for the evaluation and certification
of products, will form the projection platform that will promote,
from birth, the conception of quality designs.
Rereading the statement from the designers at the Seoul Congress
in 2001, eliminating the adjective industrial to the noun design,
makes the view the designers intend for a better approach and
exchange to the context of handicrafts, perfectly compatible.
Renovated contemporary formulations confirm the favourable
scenarios that are promoted.
FUNCTIONALITY
EASE OF
MANUFACTURING
INSPECTION
ASSEMBLY
EASE
OF
MAINTENANCE
DESIGN
EASE OF USE
COSTS
DOWNSIZE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
Figure 2: Expanded concept of design.
For Andrea Branzi (Firenze, 1938), Italian architect and designer
of furniture, home furnishings and interior design, design is not a
result but a process, and confirms that its essence lies not in the
finished products, but in the act of carrying them out.
The Memphis Group, founded in 1980, of which Andrea Branzi
was part, joined designers who created a series of products that
disagreed with fitting in to their time and challenged the idea that
products should follow conventional shapes, colours and textures.
The Memphis group’s work has been described as vibrant, eccentric
and ornamental. It was conceived by the group to be a “whim”
which, like all fashions, would end very quickly in 1988.
As can be seen, the products under design always carry a message
that results from the balance of prerequisites, that may be more
conceptual towards the expression and questioning of the form, or
more focused on the characteristics of its use and functionality, as
the most distinguished extremes; but, in any case, the relationship
of the final recipient with the product price is the very realization
that forces designers, despite any whim, to conduct feasibility
studies.
In Seoul 2001, the Declaration of the Industrial Designers presented:
Challenges
•
Industrial design is no longer a term that defines “design
for industry” in the limited sense that was used so far.
•
The industrial design will not longer direct its attention
towards the industrial production method.
•
The industrial design will no longer consider the means as
a separate entity.
•
The industrial design will no longer aim only at material
welfare.
We would then have to question ourselves: Would the introduction
of a reflective and feasibility evaluation thinking in handicrafts
mutilate their own essence of naturalness and spontaneity?
Mission
•
The industrial design must look for a proactive
communication between people and their artificial environment,
giving priority to the question “why?” above the obtained
conclusive answers to the question “how”?
•
The industrial design must fight for structuring mutual
relations, equal and holistic, between people, between people and
objects, between people and nature and between mind and body, in
the search for the place of harmony between “subject” and “object”.
It would seem absurd and forced if we didn’t find products in the
market which their creators, pursuing a guaranteed success in
sales, modelled proposals that resulted as cartoons of industrial
solutions. Industrial production is characterized by preconceiving
and normalizing its result, where quality and precision of the finish
is defined to the detail on the basis of a technological support and
Finally, it poses a renewing appeal:
“We, as human industrial designers, should contribute to the
coexistence of cultures “promoting the dialogue between them
while respecting their diversity and, above all, as responsible
industrial designers, we must be aware that to take design decisions
today is an act that will influence the course of actions tomorrow”.
9
Culture
and
they don’t resist the violence of maintenance , transportation and
storage, to mention only some of the most frequent difficulties.
Meanwhile, the artisan sector has also changed its paradigms,
substantially encouraging the dialogue with the design and
designers.
The materials have always given their potential and physical and
functional contributions in the solution of certain needs, e.g.: textiles,
with their feasibility of changing indoor spaces with few resources
and their opportune easiness for transformation and transportation;
glass, with the sophisticated contribution of cleanliness, colour and
light, but also with the risk in the transportation due to its fragility,
etc.. The stance that states the design should influence in that the
products gain in performance and value of use by connecting
different materials implies to banish the monogamy in materials
and technologies that generally surrounds the artisan.
“For many people, handicrafts are the manual processing form of
ornamental objects and utilitarian pieces, which always express
an artistic intention.... By eliminating or limiting the artisan work
to the objects containing such features, the mechanisms of a
production process are circumvented, a process which is historically
conditioned, defined from its very genesis as manual production
that preceded the emergence of the industrial revolution”.
Definitions such as this one are limited to the productive side,
which apparently could emerge as a conflict between artisans and
designers. The reality is that the exchange dynamics of the artisan
has taken him to appreciate and consider other variables, taking
into account that, for him, the act of creation is closely linked to the
act of production.
Designers present themselves as provoking agents of this
relationship, able to break the isolation of the artisan, his static and
permanent structure of forms and materials. The designers suggest
a new product concept, they become transforming agents, not
just of objects, they generate new production techniques and new
combinations and, parallel to it, promote changes in the personal
relationships and in the improvement of the quality of life of the
artisan.
On the other hand, the definition of artisan products adopted
by UNESCO / ITC International Symposium on Crafts and
International Markets (Manila, Philippines, October, 1997), also
permeates its productive borders when stating:
The design, if it pursues to be legitimized as something valuable
that the society will appreciate for the ability to hit on its needs,
for not building a tyrannical and dependent relationship with the
consumer, for encouraging the enjoyment and welfare for a better
quality of life, should know how to live together with diversity and
be consistent with its existence. Likewise, it has the mission to be
aware that each individual is a social being, with value judgments
that are not always supported by his economy. The ability the
designer should display to know how to coexist with the opposite
poles that the artisan production can generate, the diversity of tastes
and preferences, the massiveness and exclusivity, are confirmed in
this walk through the integration and in the face of the necessity of
expanding markets.
“Artisan products are those made by artisans, either completely
by hand, or with the aid of tools or even mechanical means,
provided that the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains
as the most substantial component of the final product. They are
produced without restriction of quantity and using raw materials
from sustainable resources. The special nature of artisan products
derives from their distinctive features which can be utilitarian,
aesthetic, artistic, creative, culturally bound and socially symbolic
and significant”.
As has been stated, the design, by its own nature of assuming the full
product cycle, and with the contemporary positions that advocate
for harmony, must be prepared to take the lead in its exchange with
handicrafts, and to encourage the integration and flexibility that
different models and artisan organizations can demand.
Designer’s contribution:
- Feasibility studies.
- Minimization of
intermediary spaces.
- Studies of equivalent
products in the market.
- Contributions on the
productive and
technological model.
On the one hand, if only the principles of originality and exclusivity
are taken into account, an artisan object will never reach the
environment of an average citizen; can it be that design is the one
thing that contribute to balance or at least to consider strategies to
diversify and expand the productive capacity of artisans without
turning it into industrial serialization?
Artisan’s contribution:
- Market behavior.
- Costs, marketing
experiences.
- Trades and skills with
the materials.
- History and tradition of
the products.
The artisan does not live out of exclusivity. Precisely this is one
of the problems that has made the artisan sector to be faced with
a crisis; the UNESCO definition states that “the products can
be made entirely by hand or with the aid of tools or mechanical
means”. In the hands of design is the conception and incorporation
of flexible manufacturing systems that enable the combination
of operations and materials that will solve, to some extent, the
conflicts between exclusivity and variety, and that will benefit the
economy of the artisan as well as the expectations of many who
enjoy the expression of handiwork.
PRODUCT
Figure 3: The alliance between designers and artisans.
In principle, the artisan is an entity which, alone or grouped together
in a collective, becomes familiar with a limited environment of
technologies and materials and, consequently, develops products for
various purposes that are, generally speaking, fragile and sometimes
The artisan, and handicrafts in general, can be nourished by the point
of view of planning that the design can provide, by the possibility of
conceiving long-cycle products to alternate with short-cycle ones
and, thus, they can anticipate and predict the purchasing flow of the
10
raw materials, the investments, the budgeting and, to some extent,
the recovery on the investment taking into account the levels of
sales and the demands in the market.
TO PROJECT
•
To interpret the reality, identify needs and define them in
terms of design problems.
•
To analyze all design factors that determine the solution to
a problem.
•
To conceptualize, to develop proposals of the solution in
advance.
•
To develop alternatives, variants of solution, to evaluate,
to develop details of the proposals and solutions.
•
To communicate the solutions, the results of each stage of
the project, defining the content and form of the information.
Handicrafts, due to their cultural values, are bound to enter the
export market as a means of recognition and promotion, and
nothing more immediate, so as not to be surprised by any orders,
that the sense of planning which can be provided by the designer’s
vision.
Modes of action of the designers
It seems that to promote the development of the artisan sector,
with only the point of view of the designers we would meet that
need; the designer is trained in the functional-aesthetic -productive
aspect of the objects, while integrating the artisan sector requires of
him other tools to enable his power of persuasion, and arguments to
make their points of view valid.
TO EVALUATE
•
To evaluate the effectiveness and quality of products and
messages.
•
To assess the potential of enterprises to generate and
develop design solutions.
•
To diagnose the design standards of an enterprise.
•
To conduct design audits.
•
To evaluate the integral quality of design and its processes
in all its manifestations in an organization.
But only with the mastery of formal resources to communicate the
design, there is no design. If we are able to project and define the
variables to consider, we should be able to evaluate what we do
and convey to others the degree of adequacy of a solution, on the
basis of established indicators. As it is confirmed in the graphic of
the fields of performance of design, any systematicity and issuing
of judgments must recognize the need to investigate and be aware
of the reasons for each decision- making.
TO INVESTIGATE
•
To conduct market researches, analysis and validation of
design projects and their impact in different contexts.
•
To develop research projects on design and related areas.
•
To investigate the internal and external situation of the
organizations.
To manage
To
investigate
To
evaluate
To project
Within the profession of designer, his modes of action are not
recognized or perceived distinctly in the daily context; in general,
the perception is limited to the aesthetic improvement and formal
revitalization of the objects; on the other hand, the very exercise of
the professionals and their interest to contribute more and more to
the human environment in terms of concrete visual results, make
that the “apparently intangible” activity that stands in the last step,
the Design Management, enjoys no preference in the habitual
practice of the profession.
TO MANAGE
•
To manage and coordinate human and material resources
of the design activity.
•
To lead the design activity of an organization.
•
To determine how the design should be integrated to an
organization.
•
To develop and implement design strategies and policies.
In its essence, the word design derives from the Latin word
DISEGNARE (de-signare), meaning the representation of beings
or things through signs. The heritage from generation to generation
has been of an evident representative interpretation and not with
the strategic vision induced by management.
This aspect of the design profession, less favoured in the academy,
has the noble mission to develop strategies, policies and programs
of action which, in their application to the artisan field, will not
be limited to the narrow context of the creation of the product.
The Design Management, in a successful integration with the
other sectors that should work towards the implementation, is “the
designer’s mode of action that plans, organizes and controls the
design at all levels through principles, techniques and practices,
whose application to human and material resources allows to
achieve organizational goals and objectives”.
The need for a greater understanding between designers and
businessmen in the search of more competitive and effective
products in the market, and a more entrepreneurial and committed
attitude of the latter, have led to the emergence of a space where the
designer can communicate and understand about finances, human
resources, marketing and economics, as one of the possible ways to
assert his perspective and contribution within the enterprise and the
possibility of demonstrating the feasibility of his strategies.
Each of these steps promotes the range of skills that in one or
another area of action the designer develops. To clarify them
results pertinent for a better understanding of the different levels
of exchange that can be established with the artisan sector, and
significantly, the potential role of management.
The insertion of new and innovative designs goes through the sieve
of the participation of different actors in society, whether in the
11
Culture
and
field of handicrafts, biotechnology or agriculture. To be able to
materialize and put into practice an innovation for the social and
collective well being, carries with it an inevitable interrelation
ranging from universities and research centres, political
organizations and even the media. To develop skills and agility
to handle situations, to maintain a high sensitivity and a proactive
self-consciousness along with technical training and professional
mastery, is the only way the manager can overcome the challenges
he faces.
The holistic view that from the design is proposed to handicrafts,
more than putting it at a disadvantage, favours the artisan sector
and makes clear the different edges that can ultimately serve as a
platform for integration and alliances.
The Holistic View of Design in the Artisan Sector
To keep the IMAGE of a community/
region
Universities and
Research Centers
Public Administration
Society
Demands
Human and
Financial Resources
Entrepreneurial Network
Technological INNOVATION
To respond to the SOCIETY, its needs and
wishes
Infrastructure and
Promoting Agents
To reaffirm our CULTURE
Figure 5: Interrelations to implement innovation
Figure 6: The holistic view of design in the artisan sector.
A good formal result does not produce magic, a good conceptual
idea does not reach our surroundings if, from the very detection of
the problem, the manager does not promote its solution integrated
in a team.
Contributions are mutual, the enrichment flows from the visionary
domain of the designer to the empiricism and experience of the
artisan, to help the arrival of products that will not be dominated
by technology, but favoured, that will offer calm and, eventually,
will engage us in that the creation and the formal and expression
developments are not confined only to the contemporary, they also
have their foundation in tradition.
The awareness and social responsibility of design can not be
enforced only by the goodwill and willingness of the manager. The
quality of life and human welfare are very broad concepts to which
the design contributes every day; it is about improving not only
the integration between artisans and designers, it is to promote and
sensitize the collective commitment, where everyone plays and
contributes their role.
Background in the field of textiles.
The relationship between handicrafts and design has important
backgrounds in the field of textile design, somewhat because the
principle of warp and weft is the same and also because, either
for interior decoration or clothing, the fabrics have always
accompanied man in meeting their basic needs for protection and
decoration. Moreover, textile surfaces and the expression of these
materials are the most noble and gentle resources to transform the
visual effects of any means, from the human body to space.
“The philosophy of design that gives information to the concept
of “Human Village” recognizes what people want in their daily
lives. What they want to see and feel in their neighbourhood, their
homes and their workplaces: a feeling of calm, permanence and
timeless beauty served, of course, but never dominated, by the
wonders of technology. Restoring to life the pleasures of privacy
and friendship in settings made for the human scale. Building with
providence and restoring carefully. Looking first at the needs and
wishes of the people”.
Ben Park
As a resource to recreate those surfaces, the techniques of natural
fibre dyeing are the oldest and were the most practiced, given that
its implementation did not require fire. The body makeup belongs to
these techniques and perhaps it served originally for men to realize
what substances to use and how they could stay longer attached
to his body, emerging from this experience the textile fibres with
which they made their first dresses.
The confirmation of the integration between handicrafts and
design
It is true that, regarding handicrafts, the product by itself captivates
and motivates the client; advertising becomes a secondary element,
because of all that is transmitted by the product itself. But the
consumer, as the word indicates, has established rules and standards
of consumption where the image of the products, their packaging,
the point of sale, the environment in which they are presented and
how they are presented and, among other things, the brand that has
been created to remain in the memory of the consumer, acquire
a meaning. That may not always be consistent with the quality
of the product itself, which has ultimately generated assessments
and behaviours that definitely influence in the act of purchase.
A brief collection of the influences that handicrafts have produced
as a source for experimentation and creation of textile design
proposals aimed at mass production, confirms the hypothesis that
these two sectors, handicrafts and design, will win and grow both
spiritually and materially if they intend to consolidate alliances
from ethical and respectful positions.
For its clarity and consistent approach, very compatible with what
we try to communicate with this article, we selected full fragments
from the text Design since 1945 by Peter Dormer, Chapter VII,
12
Latin American experiences from the perspective of
management.
For handicrafts it is not enough to master a technique and have
ancestral skills in its implementation, it is not enough to know how
to produce a good article, you need to know how to market it, you
have to learn to communicate its features, advantages and benefits,
it must be delivered where and when the consumer needs it, in the
convenient conditions and prices.
Textile Design, which already served as a reference in the
definitions of design offered above.
“The 80s saw the darkening, in some areas of design, of the
distinction between art, design, handicrafts and technology. In
particular in the fabrics, it was quite difficult to establish who started
each innovation, as different groups of people were experiencing
and investigating in parallel.
These are the scenarios where the Design Management is
opportune, and the designer, as an ally of the artisan, shapes the
isolated and spontaneous actions into a coordinated process, an
organized and planned act. A process where, without losing the
artisan’s imprint and ingenuity, the necessary balance between the
consumer’s needs, the production plan, the market situation, the
transportation, the storage and even the financial situation of the
artisans themselves will be established.
From 1945 (and, in fact, even before) fabrics have been an important
area of exchange between handicrafts and design, and during the
period of modernism and internationalism that accompanied the
public architecture of the early years of the explosion that followed
World War II, fabrics provided variation in colour and texture.
Anni Albers (Germany 1899-1981) had been the director of the
weaving workshop at the Bauhaus in Dessau. Hand weaver and
industrial designer, she was the first weaver to have a solo exhibition
at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1949. She believed in
the industrial production sustained by the handicraft-based design,
and argues in her books On Design (1959) and On Weaving
(1965) that the design for fabrics should not be simply graphic; the
designers should to manipulate the material to understand its threedimensional nature as a structure.
Project “Needles”, Trinidad, Cuba
The project is one of the actions that UNESCO and the National
Handicrafts Centre of Cuba developed as part of the program
“Handicrafts as a Factor of Socio-Cultural Development in
Mesoamerica and Latin Caribbean”. In Cuba, the program is
aimed at enhancing the work of handicrafts, mainly those that have
experienced significant growth associated with the development of
tourism and that generate income for their producing communities.
Fashion designer Issey Miyake (Japan, b. 1935) developed the laser
textile printing in the late 1970s and, in the early 1980s, he and his
master weaver, Makiko Minagawa, started visiting Japanese artisan
weavers and then simulated the appearance of hand-woven fabrics
using computer-driven looms. The computer was programmed
to perform random “defects”. Rei Kawakubo (Japan, b. 1942)
designed knitwear with an indication that the screws of the knitting
machine were loose to allow for defects in the work. The “defects”
have long been part of Japanese aesthetics, to remind the viewer/
user that a human mind conceived and built that thing. A defect
in an otherwise perfect work enhances perfection by providing
contrast.
The project is located in the town of Trinidad which, along with the
Valle de los Ingenios (Sugar Mills Valley), was declared in 1988
“World Heritage” by UNESCO. Trinidad was a town founded by
Diego Velazquez in the year 1514, and is located in the central
region of the country, where traditions, inherited from the slaves,
peasants and artisans, heirs of the knowledge brought from Africa
and Spain, endure.
• A continuation of the knowledge inherited by grandmothers, the
embroidery and weaving techniques of Trinidad are recognized as
part of the traditional wealth of this town. The researcher Dennis
Moreno describes thus this wealth of traditional knowledge: “In the
old Trinitarian wardrobes, worked with precious woods, there still
remain fine and valuable pieces of lace applied in works of lingerie,
knitted crochet bedspreads, tablecloths, blouses, scarves and
runners made with the method of tatting, and many other items”.
Junichi Arai (Japan, b. 1932) emerged in the 1980s as an artisan
and textile designer formidably impressive. Using natural yarns,
he worked closely with Issey Miyake. Colchester explains,
“Arai’s designs are based on the destabilization of the fabrics, and
loosening instead of controlling the tension. He knits loosely, with
very twisted yarns to create garments with a strong texture and
touch that seem to spring to life. Arai introduced the computer in
the artisan tradition. He founded a company called Anthologie that
used a network of small family businesses of spinners, weavers
and finishers in Kiryu, a small town north of Tokyo which is the
traditional weaving centre in Japan”.
The experience that is presented in what follows responds to the
management of design from all possible corners, to encourage the
flourishing of the community of artisans from the region engaged
in needlework, especially because of the urgent need to diversify
products and promote the transmission of experiences to new
generations.
In general, for industrial design, the field of manufacture has
proved a valuable source in the search, as already mentioned, of the
necessary contrasts that human perception demands; the contrast
as a valuable tool in the composition to enhance the expression
and meaning, as a visual result to avoid ambiguity; as a resource to
distinguish between natural and artificial, between sophistication
and authenticity.
The actions taken were focused on:
• To develop a diagnostic tool for assessing productive capacities
and market behaviour of products, composition and characteristics
of the artisan collective, type and design of current products.
• A training workshop was conducted, where knowledge of basic
variables for the assessment of their products was introduced, to
promote the self-assessment of feasibility.
• A brand was designed to represent the organization of work as a
13
Culture
and
context of each project, are an educational framework of reference
for the decision making of the artisan.
collective project.
• New types of products were designed, that reduce costs in
response to the productive simplification and optimization of the
area occupied by handiwork.
• A strategy for developing products was planned, so that there
would be a balance between the real productive possibilities of
labour and the cost and price of products.
• The presentation of the project at the International Handicrafts
Fair, held annually in Havana, was designed and conceived in a
way that it became the closing towards feedback and verification
of the effectiveness of actions.
Currently, new processes of self-improvement are underway,
today many artisans receive information from all media and surf
the Internet, promoting the establishing of contacts, networks of
information and knowledge about events and trends; let’s promote
then this self-preparation and make them accomplices of where we
should get, let them know what to evaluate, although the way it is
done is not within their jurisdiction.
Evaluation Methodology for Textile Products
Possible lines and types of products:
• Knitting and embroidery
• Design of surfaces with visual texture and colour
• Industrial products retouched with artisan techniques
• Combination of fabrics and techniques
The project concept was defined as a cultural program that
promotes the intangible heritage of the town of Trinidad, bearer
of a family and historical tradition and heritage of the origins and
development of the region, which has its current commercial and
tourist expression in an offer of products that are testimony of that
heritage.
Generic attributes of clothing products:
• The imprint of the artisan’s hand
• Quality in the handicraft finishes
• Quality in the manufactures in accordance with the context and
the market.
• High level of creativity according to the artisan techniques.
• High aesthetic value expressed in the ingeniousness of the artisan.
• Finishes and technology and formal solutions, unattainable in the
industry, are possible
• They are bearers of expressive values
The distinctive element is in the approach; the concept, besides
enhancing the improvement of product quality and the standard of
living of the artisans, aims integrally at promoting an offer within
Cultural Tourism, eager for history and traditions. It is planned with
a new approach of Tourist Service, by the way so necessary in the
current situation of that industry, which will show from anywhere
on the island everything that can be identified within the textile
tradition in Cuba.
Technological and manufacturing complexity
The strategy for product development is organized taking into
account one of the major quality problems faced by the clothing
industry, the modelling and the supply limitations on clothing
sizes. The proposal has a pyramidal structure, depending on the
productive complexity and the volumes of pieces according to
the skills of the workforce. Consequently, to establish a balance
between incomes and production costs, the diversity in sale prices
are addressed, as well as the attributes of the garments according to
different levels of taste and preferences.
Lines of Products
PRICE
EXCLUSIVENESS
Sophisticated
Elegant
Impressive
Conclusions for an experience in Design Management in the
Project Needles, Trinidad
Made to order products as
a tailored clothes service
• The marketing of artisan products, interpreted not as the mere act
of exchanging but as the transmission of an entire cultural heritage,
where all the testimony of the trace of the intangible heritage
reflected by the products will also be shared.
• As the specialist Maria Esther Echeverria Zuno, president of the
panel of judges of the Seal of Excellence awarded by UNESCO in
Havana in 2006, says, in this type of product, LESS IS BETTER;
better for the perception of detail, better for costs and better for
maintenance and fragility that large developed areas generate.
• If we want handicrafts to be inserted into the everyday environment
and be truly affordable to the average user, the projection of the
design should aim at diversifying the products, based on presetting,
through market research, their price tag, and forming a variety of
price offers and visual resources taking into account the complexity
Products developed from pieces of
cloth tailored over the mannequin
Clothing products developed by a flexible
production system
Non- clothing products with a
minimum of modeling
Discrete
Easy to wear
Attainable
VOLUME OF PRODUCTION
The experience in training artisans on the knowledge of an
assessment methodology in the field of textiles for clothing, can
illustrate the importance of taking into account a approval of
indicators and definitions that, while possibly subject to the specific
14
Acid Skin, another Colombian example
and processing time of each selected technique.
• The development of the visual image of the project should be
approached with a global view, where the artisan product reveals
its own nonverbal language, from where it comes, those who make
it, the techniques and the time taken to do it.
• Textile surfaces, by recreating visual effects, can become
innovative replicas and reproductions of the environment as bearers
and accomplices in the tourist act.
ACID SKIN was founded in 1997 in Bogota, Colombia.
The basic inspiration for the creators of the products that Acid Skin
sells is the natural raw materials that land provides, and within
them the prominence is for the orange peel.
Each space in its factory is aromatized by the smell of oranges,
from which they are born, when they are peeled, decorative dolls,
Christmas ornaments and jewellery.
Women Entrepreneurs Project, Colombia
The enterprise Artesanías de Colombia (Colombian Handicrafts)
has experimented with the introduction of design through its
laboratories in the most prominent regions in artisan tradition. The
enterprise Digare Design has also assumed development strategies
from the integrated vision of management. The promotion towards
the recognition of gender is emphasized, which seeks to encourage
women’s working environment as a means of raising their selfesteem, economic independence and social recognition through the
program Women Entrepreneurs.
Lack of
Knowledge of
Market Trends
Little Innovation
Lot of Copying
Non- existence of
a Culture of
Design
The process, which initially arose spontaneously by peeling, drying
the skin and assembling, in the first three years managed to position
itself within the domestic market and by 2000 the efforts began
to export by participating in two international fairs in Europe and
America.
The production plan has been refined and, with the advice from
specialists, they developed dry kilns and the processing of raw
materials for preservation.
Acid Skin currently promotes the incorporation of other materials
such as ivory palm nut and arrow- cane, both distinguished within
the Colombian artisan heritage, so that, while diversifying its
products, it promotes the improvement on the quality of life of
other artisans and their social recognition.
Preference for
Foreign Products
FAMILY SMES*
From the standpoint of its business strategy, Acid Skin has 10
workers in the factory, 7 of them are female artisans and 3 are in
charge of the development of products based on customer needs; it
has another group of artisans who work at home. It contributes and
helps its workers to pay their housing and it supports studies and
development of the young staff.
DESIGN
STRATEGY
Promotion
Image
Trade Mark
Research
Design and
Development of
Products
The vision of this enterprise is relevant, when considering into its
budgets both the diversification and quality of the products as well
as the care for their workers and the improvement of their quality
of life.
Diploma Work of the Higher Institute of Design (Instituto Superior
de Diseño, ISDI) of Havana. Design of Accessories with Sisal
Fibre.
To Sensitize
To Counsel
Figure 8: Problems vs. Solutions. Design Strategy of DESIGN
DIGARE
The specialty of Costume Design at the Higher Institute of Design in
Havana, Cuba, has been characterized by the promotion of bringing
the designers closer to the artisan sector in the country. The project
“Design of accessories with sisal fibre” was a diploma work in 1995
which was awarded by UNESCO in 1995 in the contest sponsored by
the Group Felissimo, for its innovative character and transcendence.
Its results are indicative of how, from design schools, product
development can be stimulated by giving the student all the details
and information necessary for its quality implementation.
As a result of this project, Women Entrepreneur:
• Consultancy in the design and development of new products for
18 production units or workshops was carried out.
• 176 new products were designed and developed (in six months)
considering the characteristics of each production unit (trade, raw
materials, production process, etc.).
• Packaging was developed to add value to the offer.
• A common image or brand was structured to represent all
workshops at the commercial level.
• A digital catalogue for each production unit was designed and
developed as a business tool.
• Direct benefits: Impact on the labour market of about 300 women
heads of households.
• Indirect benefits: Reactivation of enterprises and generation of
jobs and decent incomes.
• The basic raw material is the fabric of sisal fibre (or fique for
others), that was processed and woven in handlooms putting cotton
thread as warp. The resulting products were limited to rigid mats that
often were not accepted because of the white colour taken by the
fibre during the process, which contradicted with the proposed use
as floor carpets. The fibre has the possibility of acquiring shine and
being very clear in its original base.
15
Culture
and
Given these limitations, the work was aimed at:
• Proposing to dye the fibres previously with natural dyes that
come from insects and plants in the area (the city of Cienfuegos),
for which the author established a link with the Botanical Garden
of the province and inquired of the real possibilities of obtaining
natural pigments.
• In that same search, from a bionic perspective, she inquired about
insects and crustaceans (Cienfuegos has one of the most beautiful
bays in Cuba), to learn the natural solution for coordination
and flexibility that they have, which allows them to resolve the
contradiction between the stiffness of their shells for protection and
the flexibility for movement.
• Since this material is not suitable for clothing garments, the
solution was to generate a system of accessories that until now
the author has continued developing and evolving with good
acceptance in the tourist market in the region.
To be able to develop production schemes with flexibility and
adaptation levels, both to the ways of working of the artisan as
well as to the need for diversification, could become a distinctive
referent and a production model in the current economic crisis,
where unemployment and marginalization mutilate and limit, on
the one hand, the desired recovery and survival of tradition, and on
the other, the artisan himself as a social being entitled to “growth”
and evolution.
The integration between design and handicrafts goes beyond the
aesthetic and spiritual enrichment of the product for the sake of
markets and their offer. Using the strategic approach of Design
Management and its capacity to formulate policies and programs of
action, the mobilization of a group of areas in society and “decision
maker” agents is proposed, who could internalize the need to seek
alternatives to the mutant economies of scale, for the sake of an
economic, social and cultural stability of the region.
Conclusions
The new circumstances of the global crisis also propose new
missions to design and handicrafts, as areas of possible convergence
between the identity and the global. The exchange between the
artisan and the designer can become an invaluable source to
promote the presence and coexistence of tangible and intangible
heritage values in the current culturally globalized spaces.
Quotes.
1. Socio-cultural processes in which the structures or discrete
practices that exist separately combine to generate new structures,
objects and practices. See Néstor García Clancini, Notas recientes
sobre hibridación (Recent notes on hybridity) (text presented as
invited speaker in the VI SibE Congress, held in Faro in June 2000),
in TRAS; http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans7/canclini.htm
2. Vitier, Cintio. “Martí en la hora actual de Cuba.” (“Martí at
Cuba’s current hour”) Juventud Rebelde, Sept. 18th, 1994. p. 3
3. Martí, José. “Maestros ambulantes” (“Itinerant teachers”), La
América, New York, May 1884. Complete Works, Volume 8, p.
289
4. The Convention of Geneva on Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions, in the General Conference of
UNESCO, in its 33rd meeting held in Paris, 2005, refers that: “the
cultural diversity creates a rich an varied world which enlarges the
scope of possibilities and nurtures the human values and capacities
and is, therefore, one of the main engines of the sustainable
development of communities, peoples and nations”.
5. Hugh Aldersey, Williams. Diseño Nacional en un Mundo Global
(National Design in a Global World). Situación 96. Banco Bilbao
Vizcaya.1996. p 97.
6. Lauer Mirko. La producción artesanal en América Latina (“The
artisan production in Latin America”). p 33. Mosca Azul Editores.
Lima, 1982
7. Lisle S. Mitchell. Tourism research trends in Latin America and
the Caribbean. Paper, Conference Cultura y Turismo, Havana,
1999. p8
8. Carlos
Mordo. La artesanía, un patrimonio olvidado
(Handicrafts, a forgotten heritage). In Memorias del 7mo. Seminario
Iberoamericano de Cooperación en Artesanía. Comunidad
Iberoamericana de la Artesanía. p. 174
9. Wolf Brigitte. Interview. It refers to a study in 10 German
enterprises. University of Halle. January 2003.
10. Guía Práctica (Practical Guide). Published by the Craft Revival
Trust. Artesanías de Colombia S.A and UNESCO. 2005.p 7
11. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http//es.wikipedia.org/wiki/
IKEA
12. El precio bajo es parte del diseño (Low price is part of the
design). IKEA Catalogue, in www.IKEA.es p.170
13. No 25. Diseño e Innovación. La Gestión del Diseño en la
When walking down the paths of design and handicrafts, it can
be seen that there are mutual interests and that the mere act of
implementation and realization of the product should not limit or
create barriers for the meeting.
The design in its interaction with handicrafts, while encouraging
the preservation of traditional skills, should foster the innovation
of products in order to ensure they remain relevant, valuable and
marketable in modern life.
It is about fostering a synergy where the ones who win are the user
and the culture; the culture seen as the transmission of wisdom
and knowledge to give value to everything that the design can
communicate through handicrafts and where can handicrafts reach
through the design.
If the artisan learns by doing and discovers by doing, and that
imprint is implicit as a defining value in the artisan pieces, the
design, from the perspective of planning and preview of the results,
can minimize the consecutive trial and error explorations and
encourage the decision making, going ahead and anticipating the
possible manifestations and behaviours.
On the principle of partnership, complementarity and respect,
everyone wins by rooting out and adding value to the preconceived
contradictions between tradition and innovation, globalization and
identity.
To overcome the current development contexts of both actors
towards the formation of new scenarios where the common interest
of creativeness and supply diversification encourages innovation;
the coexistence of the centralized and decentralized; of the industrial
and the manufactured; of the individual and the collective; of the
global and the local at the same time.
16
Empresa. (Design and Innovation. Design Management in the
Enterprise.). Gráficas Arias Montano. S.A. January 2008
14. Ibid. p. 40
15. Quarante, Danielle. Elementos Introductorios. Diseño Industrial
I. (Introductory Elements. Industrial Design I.). Edit. CEAC. p 78
16. Dormer Peter, El Diseño desde 1945 (Design since 1945).
Ediciones Destino Thames and Hudson, p8. First Edition, 1993.
17. Definition of Design. International Council of Societies of
Industrial Design (ICSID).
18. Rivero, Santiago- Zaldunbide, Mikel, La mejora de la
capacidad de diseño: Clave para la competitividad en la empresa.
(The improvement of the design capabilities: a key for the
competitiveness of an enterprise.).Situación 96. Banco Bilbao
Vizcaya.1996.p 271
19. Engels, Federico. Chapter V, Teoría de Valor (Theory of Value).
Antidihüring, p. 229. Editorial Pueblo y Educación.
20. Rivero, Santiago- Zaldunbide, Mikel, La mejora de la
capacidad de diseño: Clave para la competitividad en la empresa.
(The improvement of the design capabilities: a key for the
competitiveness of an enterprise.).Situación 96. Banco Bilbao
Vizcaya.1996.p 277
21. Declaration of Industrial Designers, Seoul 2001, in www.
icsid2001.org.
22. Moreno Dennis, Forma y Tradición de la Artesanía Popular
Cubana (Shape and Tradition of Cuban Popular Handicrafts.).
Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Cultura Cubana Juan
Marinello, Editorial José Martí, 1998. pp 28-29.
23. Peña Martínez, Sergio Luís, Programa Curso de Postgrado
Gestión de Diseño (Postgraduate course on Design Management).
Instituto Superior de Diseño (ISDI), Cuba 2008. p.11
24. Definiendo el Diseño (Defining Design). Revista La Aldea
Humana, Serie Mercosur No 1. SENAI/LBDI (Brasil), Artesanías
de Colombia, 1995.p. 63
25. Dormer, Peter. El Diseño desde 1945 (Design since 1945),
Chapter VII, Diseño Textil (Textile Design), p. 179
26. Moreno, Dennis, “Forma y tradición en la artesanía popular
cubana (Shape and Tradition in Cuban Popular Handicrafts.)”.
Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Cultura Cubana “Juan
Marinello”. Editorial José Martí, Instituto Cubano del Libro, 1998,
p. 41
27. García Reyes, Diego. Cultura del diseño como herramienta de
generación de trabajo, empresas e identidad para el sector artesanal.
(The culture of design as a tool to generate work, enterprises and
identity for the artisan sector). Main lecture, Conference Diseño al
Límite, Mérida, Venezuela, Nov. 2008.
17
6
Crafts as human development
potential in Latin America and
the caribbean region
Lic. Surnai Benítez Aranda
Surnai Benítez Aranda, BA in History of Arts, is currently serving as
Advisor to the Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets. She has participated in
various meetings, congresses and forums as an expert on handicrafts
and representative of her country. She has been part of the organizing
committee of national and international exhibitions from 1998 on, and
has been a member of panels of judges and advisory boards.
She worked as a Cuban counterpart in the research and editing of
the Catalog of Cuban Handicrafts, Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets /
UNESCO in 1997. In 2003 she acted as National Consultant for the
International Center of Commerce (ICC) in the research project Cuba:
Export Potential of the Handicraft and Applied Art Offer. She has
collaborated with UNESCO on several projects for the development of
handicrafts. She has delivered courses on Aesthetics and Visual Arts in
Cuba and Venezuela.
Surnai@fcbc.cult.cu
CRAFTS AS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN REGION
Crafts as human development potential in Latin America and the caribbean region
blems that have even been reported in various reflection forums
and spaces find now a more coherent condemnation when, not only
the economic model that generated them, but the whole philosophy
and value systems that supported them, have been in crisis. The
need to develop an alternative thought that acts as a barrier against
the problems caused or aggravated by the global crisis is a modern
life imperative before the challenges posed by the changing times.
The construction of this thought requires from both, the critical
approach and a sufficiently open point of view to integrate the new
visions of progress and development that from the plurality, solidarity and inclusiveness, are growing in the region.
The articles, written by renowned specialists, each from their specific subjects and cultural environment, help to supplement an interdisciplinary view that reaffirms the belief that crafts should not
be seen as ornaments or curiosities of the past, but as a type of
activities that establishes sui generis connections with various economic, social and cultural areas and that can be a favorable factor
for the implementation of projects devoted to enhance human and
local development.
When facing the analysis of the crafts from the perspective of the needs
and requirements of today’s world, this has been approached as fairly as
possible without overestimating the facts. The defense of the craft sector
is not supported by the naivety of believing that going back to the craft
and manufacturing production is the solution to today’s world problems
where there is too much inequity. Today’s world is urged of solutions
involving the industrial production with sustainability criteria and the
application of the scientific advances and technological development.
But looking back at the past and at the analysis of the impacts that the
change of the manufacturing into the industrial production has caused
to the crafts sector, is an exercise that allows us to recognize important
splitting moments of certain social equilibrium, such as the harmony
rupture between beauty and function of the objects resulting from the
craftwork and the disruption of the balance between production, habitat
and nature, causing the environmental crisis we suffer today.
The Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean UNESCO (ORCALC) develops a series of actions designed to encourage and promote crafts as one of the most important
cultural events of greater richness and popular roots, real live heritage through which are identity, diversity and creativity of the
great multicultural melting pot that the people of the region, are
expressed.
On this occasion, and from the Digital Culture and Development
Journal an analysis of the various issues relating to crafts has been
called, assuming that they represent an activity of great interest for
the national development projects and for the new strategies aimed
at reducing poverty and to the care of those considered the most
vulnerable sectors.
Under the title “Dynamics of the Latin American crafts as a factor
of economic, social and cultural development”, issue No. 6 of the
Journal publishes a collection of articles that, rather than describe
the characteristics of the regional crafts, they intend to motivate
the reflection and analysis on the problems and potentials of their
development through the new stage of the current global crisis, in
order to promote awareness about them and help to design policies
that link the cultural values associated with identity and the preservation of cultural traditions, with the actual capacity of production
and reproduction of crafts, as highly prized assets in the various
spaces and symbolic markets.
From a wide and diverse perspective, the authors have combined
the theoretical precision and the informative purpose in order to
encourage the socialization of information to share with readers,
researchers, promoters and particularly the craftwork cultivators,
the challenges that the handicrafts of the region, under the current
conditions, face as well as their weaknesses and strengths.
Obviously not all the reported problems are the result of the global crisis, some come from a long time ago such as the problems
derived from the impact that the industrial production caused in
the handicraft sector since the XIX century. However, those pro3
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If the analysis of the global crisis impact on the crafts has been given special emphasis, it is because there is full awareness that this
cultural expression has historically been undervalued and marginalized by the concept, structure and the productive and social relations of the developmental model that is already in crisis. It is also
because it contains itself and is an expression of another approach,
of a different alternative that is part of the human heritage and that
can be rescued by a renewed vision to update it with new concepts
of science, technology and of the central role of the culture in the
design and construction of the more harmonious and equitable society we need today.
y
D e s a rr o l l o
minor arts, applied arts or crafts, which are usually considered part
of other trades because of their utilitarian function. The author points out how this division is the cause of multiple problems that are
expressed in the crafts sector practice, ranging from the omission
and contempt of the activity in the political projection, the absence
of means of protection of the product and sector to the undervaluation of the craftwork and crafts, usually seen as an supplementary
production without social impact.
Other issues such as the crafts classification, the relationship
among crafts, folklore and popular culture, between crafts and environment and their link to the different markets, are the tackled
topics, not to exhaust all possible edges of analysis, but to show the
need for revaluation of all concepts and notions so far considered,
from the new created visions, which are broader, democratic and
inclusive that emphasize on the processes and their cultural projections, leaving aside the sterile discussion of concepts for the sake
of concepts themselves.
To conceive the craft as a development factor requires the identification of the sector achievements and also the weaknesses in
the region, country or community. This article refers to the results
of different diagnoses and the elements that can be considered as
immediate strengths and challenges to be taken into account on a
local or regional basis.
Among the most important challenges to face is that relating to
the promotion and protection of traditional Latin American crafts
heritage. Multiple problems that have to do with this sensitive topic
and the need to update the approaches on the crafts preservation
methods are identified in the diagnoses. This topic should not be
deal with unilaterally with the view that the protection is only performed from the institution or museum, though logically it may
be a valid option, but it should be approached as a living process
of communication of values and knowledge that interacts with the
reality and that this interaction preserves and transmits the cultural
heritage values.
Related to this topic is the problem of the lack of professionals and
trained specialists who can work in the crafts promotion, preservation and integration in development programs from a comprehensive viewpoint. However, we can say that both in this respect
as in others, the region is not in zero. Outstanding personalities,
institutions and development projects have laid foundations that
must be spread, known and taken into account. To be back on the
history and to recognize the efforts of previous generations or of
those which are still active and making contributions, is an imperative for a perspective view of the sector.
The article Rescue and preservation of Latin American Craft Heritage: The Legacy of Daniel Rubin de la Borbolla, written by Sol
Rubin de la Borbolla, daughter of the eminent Mexican anthropologist and director of the documentation and information center that
bears his name, has the spirit of showing the ideas, concepts and
practical experience of men that, like Don Daniel, devoted their
lives and efforts to set up institutions and promote projects that
would help to preserve the traditional Latin American heritage.
Through a rigorous investigation of bibliographic sources and
other original documents of this illustrious scholar, protected by
the Center, the author describes part of a History whose knowledge is of obligatory reference to the current projections in the promotion and preservation field of Latin American crafts heritage.
Reflections and development alternatives before the global crisis
The first article, entitled The Latin American Crafts as a Factor of
Economic, Social and Cultural Development: Crafts in the Light of
the New Concepts of Culture and Development, by the art historian Surnai Benítez Aranda, points out how the cultural dimension
of development allows to visualize the Latin American crafts as
regional wealth and the artisans as a valuable human potential -intangible heritage of the area- that can be integrated to the human
developmental policies for their ability to convey, through a particular type of work, settled cultural values through tradition.
The new idea of human development involves a more comprehensive concept of development, which suggests that it can not only be
measured by the possessed material wealth or by economic indicators. It should be seen as “a process designed to increase people’s
options, depending on a broad range of capacities, from the political, economic and social freedom to individual opportunities to
become a healthy, educated, productive and creative person and to
see both his/her personal dignity and human rights respected.” 1
To think about these changes of view is a necessary starting point to introduce new ideas and concepts that can generate, at the
same time, fairer evaluations on the role that crafts and craftsmen
play in the present Latin American society and to recognize the
valuable potential that this sector represents as an expression of its
tradition, cultural identity and capacity for renewal and adaptation
which have made possible its survival amid the social situations of
marginality and underestimation.
This is an article of methodological value that stresses the need to
introduce a broader approach to the multifaceted and multifunctional crafts character, meaning by crafts, not only the object in isolation, but a type of activity on which economic, technical, productive, marketing, social, aesthetic and cultural complex factors
are involved. Handicrafts are usually developed in areas bordering
other art and culture expressions and with the industrial production
itself. That feature constitutes a substantial assumption to be considered in the crafts sector development programs and projects or
that use crafts as a way to human and local development.
As an introductory work, the article addresses a number of topics
that help to provide a wider view of the complexity and particularity of the crafts world as a cultural product critically exploring
concepts that have historically generated a lot of controversy as
the relationship between art and crafts. The article notes how the
hegemonic nature of Western culture in the Latin America and the
Caribbean region determined the existing notions about the division and differentiation between “fine arts” to name literature, music, painting and architecture, leaving to the other arts the name of
4
This article demonstrates the validity of the many considerations
and reflections that were made about Latin American crafts in previous decades, such as the recommendations derived from the First
Indigenous Congress of 1940; the annotated contents of the articles
published between 1961 and 1965; the diagnoses of the state of the
crafts phenomenon in the ‘60s, among many other documents quoted by the author. Of particular validity are the ideas that Don Daniel sent to the Organization of American States (OAS) to design a
comprehensive plan related to the popular art and handicrafts, by
saying that they “are part of a socio-economic and cultural complex
with their own regional, national and inter-American characteristics that should be taken into account when designing policies and
continental programs” or when he declares that “the lack of vital
information that statistically shape them in space and time, prevents us from carrying on specific economic, technical and artistic
studies, in order to recommend specific measures and favorable
laws for the preservation and promotion.”2
The efforts undertaken from the Center of Popular Arts and Crafts (CIDAP) of Cuenca city, Ecuador, and later from the IberoAmerican Crafts Program promoted as part of the Ibero-American
Cooperation through courses and seminars, have been an important
contribution to the promotion of Latin American crafts and to the
retraining of professionals in various topics of the crafts sector.
At present, there are public and private institutions devoted to the
study, preservation and development of Latin American handicrafts
in the region. In the majority of the countries there are trade union
organizations, associations and government and private agencies
responsible for promoting the crafts development programs. All of
them are platforms from which communication, coordination and
integration efforts can be strengthened in favor of the sector.
Don Daniel was awarded with the First Class Cultural Merit prize
in Ecuador in 1982 and a few days before his death in 1990 he was
also awarded with the Tenerife Prize for the Crafts Research Promotion of Spain and America.
who were advanced for their time. They formed institutions, acquired a commitment to the craftsmen and in spite of everything that
has been done in the field of folk arts and crafts, the commitment
remains in force as many of the solutions and approaches that were
proposed more than 50 years ago.”4
From that perspective the history gives and that allows to make out
new paths and with the awareness of what was done and remains to
be done, the author also highlights the new possibilities by noting:
“The globalized world we all Latin Americans belong to offers
benefits and perspectives that must be exploited and incorporated
into a new support stage for the craft sector. Among them are,
the new information and communication technologies, especially
the geographic information systems that allow to locate artisans,
their products, their environment and infrastructure in maps in an
integrated learning; the technological advances offer the option of
distance training, to bring the materials and bibliographies closer to
large segments of the population and to spread the heritage, which
does not only belong to the Americans. With the new international instruments such as the Convention for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage, signed by over 120 countries within
UNESCO framework, we share the co-responsibility to preserve
and protect the heritage with all the craftsmen and peoples of the
world.”5
The awareness of what still remains to be done and the worsening
of the problems in the new global crisis conditions is expressed
in a strong incentive to,” take advantage of the strengths and the
training mechanisms historically proven in the sector” “ “ to rediscover the opportunities the artisans should have access to, to
emphasize the value of their “symbolic capital”, gaining thus certain markets, which could be excellent for the sector, promoting
in this way its development and improving their quality of life”. 6
This is the message that Héctor Lombera, an Argentine expert in
handicrafts and folk art brings us in his article: The Global Crisis
and the Craft Sector: Importance of the training of artisans as a strategy to confront the threats of global economic and financial crisis.
Taking as a starting point Einstein’s ideas on the crisis, Morin &
Salazar’s ideas on complexity and chaos and Tokman’s notes on labor informality, among others, the author expresses the craft sector
identity elements which constitute strengths and can be considered
“current assets “, so that training be as a defensive structure, acting
as a “harmonizing tool in times of crisis.” 7
To the experts “training is a specific teaching practice, dynamic,
open to exchange, adapted to the territory in which it develops,
to its codes, respecting the characteristics of the artisan group and
the current demands of insertion of its products into the market.”8
“Through training, artisans can develop a personality integrated
with their culture, their community and their time; also, their harmonious relationship with that outside world that the user (market)
demarcates, which allows them to develop as individuals with independence and solidarity.”9
The author raises the need to professionalize the sector considering
specific modalities to offer knowledge aimed at the training of:
- Handicraft producers (basis of the handicraft productive pyramid), with their local and regional referents and group leaders, forming associations and cooperatives of artisans.
- Technicians, experts, designers and professionals from organizations linked to the sector.
Speaking of prospects, the author notes:
The recognition process has not ended, the great majority of Latin
American artisans have not improved their living conditions, or the
laws that give them legal personality and admit that their cultural,
social and economic dimensions have not yet benefited them significantly.
The revaluation of folk art and handicrafts as heritage is not yet
completed, the artisans’ census have been performed only in very
few Latin American countries; the study of techniques and raw materials has been slowly documented, especially those that are in
danger of extinction. The setting of shared criteria for basic studies
in the craft sector has not been done yet.
“The pressure that mass tourism makes on the cultural heritage
impels us to propose actions to avoid the distortion of cultural manifestations, such as handicrafts, through all this “junk culture” that
pervades airports, craft shops and tourist sites…”3
When one reads this article it becomes apparent that many of the
problems posed by these professionals devoted to the Latin American crafts development in the past century, are still valid and that
their suggestions and recommendations can also be assumed as
contemporary because, as the conclusions noted: “it is important
for the new generations to know the thought and work of these men
5
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The article proposes a sector training plan that begins with research
that allows the identification of the needs to program actions and
to evaluate the results applying a cycle that includes the detection,
development, programming and evaluation, and a permanent feedback.
Likewise, the author notes the various forms that, from the methodological point of view, can be applied to the sector through technical assistance training, training, internships, trainers’ training,
distance learning and brush-up courses designed to update technicians and craftsmen.
On the other hand the associations are considered as a forum for
experience exchanges, dissemination, promotion and protection
of the producers’ rights and “a possible, effective and essential alternative for the harmonious development of the sector, since the
creation and consolidation of associations of traditional, native and
urban artisans favor the construction of joint strategies in the realization of things, and they are favorable and overcoming contributions in times of crisis.”9
The different types of training and training contents are shown as
part of “the needed engineering of a structure as a socio-cognitive
network, which multiplies and makes it possible to redirect efforts
in the face of unfavorable situations”. 10 As the author points out
in his conclusions “The orderly transfer of knowledge is an important asset at the time of solving situations of crisis. It enables the
craft sector to reconstitute itself in its values, not in the timeless
time of the dead traditions, but in the stable recreation of its active
culture, to raise its value and facilitate its insertion into the modern
world.11
We confer particular importance to the chapter entitled “Labor
Informality and Exclusion” in which Lombera describes how
the craftsmen’s inclusion within the so-called informal economy,
affects the complicated situation of the crafts sector. “The term informality is referred to as a category of social sciences that attempt
to explain the situation of population sectors which are unable to
join the spaces of social, economic and territorial integration.”12
Craftsmen’s inclusion in the informal economy masks a new form
of discrimination and exploitation. They are classified as marginal
activities that do not receive attention or support, they are not included in investment programs, in a financial or legal framework, and
they do not receive the recognition of a productive organization,
and so on. This situation must be reversed as Lombera points out
when quoting Castell and Portes:
The construction of a socially conscious economy, inclusive of
everyone, is not just a mere relief to eternal poverty; it is a key to
revitalizing the society from its foundations. We need, however,
to develop its theory, its understanding of the peripheral world; to
learn from experiences, both one’s own and the others’, and to raise
and test, with pluralism and creativity, different projects; to provide
the work of promoters, direct actors and movements, with a flexible
consistency, for them to share a new common sense, discuss a strategy in which they can converge, create progressive alliances, win
and restructure the state. It is about participating in a global movement that is already in the making, particularly in Latin America,
but in different situations and with different stories.13
To analyze the regional craftsmen’s social scene, we must accept
that, with rare exceptions, this is the one of the accumulated problems generated by poverty and underdevelopment in which illi-
y
D e s a rr o l l o
teracy, poor nutrition, cultural and territorial uprooting, unsanitary
conditions, over-exploitation of women and other vulnerable sectors proliferate. This is the ground of taking possession of the native peoples’ rights, the lack of legal and financial support of small
enterprises and craftwork. So that in the programs to fight poverty,
crafts should have a special mention for the historical condition it
was relegated by the developing and industrial production model.
According to this perspective a thorough examination of the problems of the Indigenous and Afro descendant peoples that rank within the most marginalized and exploited regional sectors should be
made. A study published by ECLAC says “Today the Indigenous
population represents approximately 8 to 15% of the total regional
population, while African descendant peoples (including blacks
and mulattos) reach a 30%. In any case and beyond the figures, the
problem for these peoples is that, after centuries of exclusion and
denial, they are still treated as minorities, although in many other
cases they are not. “14
As an example of the Indigenous peoples’ struggles for the defense
of their traditional heritage, the article the Intellectual Property and
the Crafts and Traditional Knowledge Registration: The Legal Protection of the Mola and of other Indigenous knowledge of Panama
by Aresio Valiente Lopez, Kuna ethnic group’ s attorney, sets out
the route covered to find a legal instrument to protect the Indigenous handicraft production and their traditional knowledge from
the increasing piracy and crimes related to the illegal trade of the
craftworks and knowledge that belong to the cultural heritage of
the peoples that make up this ethnic group.
According to data submitted by the author, the natives of Panama
make up the 10% of a population of 3,063,524 inhabitants living in
extreme poverty despite the fact that the Indigenous territories have
great wealth in natural resources but they lack of essential services
and as a result, there has been an Indigenous migration to the urban
and semi-urban areas of Panamanian major cities in recent years,
seeking to improve their socioeconomic situation.
Both the mola and other crafts made by the Indigenous people of
Panama are experiencing a growth in demand, particularly associated with the tourist market. It is becoming a major economic source for the improvement of Indigenous peoples’ living conditions.
However, it also becomes evident that there is an increase in the
mola illegal copying and sale as well as the emergence of unscrupulous dealers who want to patent it as a knowledge of their own
trying to take possession of the Indigenous peoples’ rights.
The mola is a handicraft that consists of “a combination of attractive and varied layers of fabrics of different colors that overlap and
intersect to form shapes, showing the colors of the fabrics below,
the technique used is the (applied) embroidery, and its manufacture is entirely manual. The inspiration of mola designs is based
on nature, life, traditional songs and the collective memory of the
Kuna people.”15This craft, which has a spiritual value for the Kuna
people, was originally used as the women’s dresses but today the
scope of its application to various objects has spread. The mola is
made by the Kuna women individually or in cooperatives and they
are manufactured and colored with ancient techniques based on the
use of fibers and natural dyes.
The difficulties to register a common heritage art that has no identified individual author, and which is considered as a collective creation of the entire community, were demonstrated by the lack of a
6
conceptual sustenance or a proper registration procedure. Panama’s
state institutions could not include the mola within the intellectual
property system and that affected the Kuna people, unable to receive the legal and economic benefits that would result from such
protection.
The Industrial Property Law –with its requirements of individual’s
identification as a creator or inventor - or the Copyright Law -with
its originality and uniqueness limitations- do not cover the characteristics of an art that emerged in a society that is based on the
collective right and that considers it as a people’s patrimony.
Concerned about the continuing applications for mola and mola designs registration by non-Kuna people, the General Congress made
up a special committee to stop mola register requests to ensure that
the mola was considered a Kuna people’s intellectual property.
Through their General Congress and after studying different systems of intellectual property, the Kuna people of Panama managed
to create a novel law to protect the mola Kuna art and other Indigenous knowledge. Law No. 20 of 2000 “of the Special Intellectual
Property Regime on the Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples
for the Protection and Defense of their Cultural Identity and their
Traditional Knowledge” defines, from its first article, that this Law
is intended to protect the collective rights of Indigenous peoples’
intellectual property and traditional knowledge over their creations.
Another important achievement of the Panamanian natives was to
include, a special section named “Crimes against the Indigenous
Peoples’ Collective Rights and their Traditional Knowledge” in the
New Penal Code Law No. 14 of May 18, 2007, for those acts that
violate the Indigenous intellectual property.
This article shows the ethnic group’s efforts to defend their handicrafts and other Indigenous knowledge from the illicit trade and
the usurpation of their cultural heritage. It also evidences that the
ideological principles, institutions and structures that come from
the hegemonic Western culture, are not applicable to societies and
communities that retain their own ‘cultural capital’ and their lifestyles and forms of organization with some degree of autonomy.
This is also expressed in the way by which craftwork is made and
the material and spiritual meaning it has for those communities.
The Management of Design between the innovation and the crafts
tradition, article written by designer Carmen Gómez Pozo, Director
of the Design Development Unit of the Cuban Office of Design,
tackles a major problem associated with the risk of crafts replacement by other objects and products of the global culture and the
need for handicrafts protection from their renewal capacity with a
view to the new social demands and markets.
Amid an increasing impact of the inter-cultural phenomena, the conservative point of view that saw crafts as a static product -a kind of
tradition and identity reservoir- and design as its opposite pole, bearer of innovation and modernity, has been overcome. More and more
the crafts products try to find in the design the element that allows
them an appropriate insertion into the potential markets At the same
time design approaches crafts to feed itself on a cultural foundation
that supports more affective and closely related proposals to men. So
rather than opposites, design and craftsmanship are presented as the
harmonization areas of the traditional and identity and of modern and
global. Craftsmen and designers should, along with other professionals, promote alliances to jump start projects that become opportunities for community human and social development.
The partnership between designers and craftsmen can be an important barrier to face the risks that crafts may be supplanted by
the global and massive cultural industry. In this regard this paper
states: “The expression of identity will survive to the extent that it
can be identified among the creative production of global and homogeneous character, as long as designers and artisans will not be
dazzled by a mimetic extrapolation, both from successful products
or from work and technology patterns; that which has worked for
some will not necessarily be effective for all.” 16
The author highlights how the current scenarios created by the
crisis have forced to reconsider the designers’ mission and scope.
They must now assume a harmonizing role between various factors: between objects and people, between cultures, between man
and nature.
The design and designers -as professionals- are called to introduce
that systemic harmonization among need, demand, production, innovation, consumption, waste and recycling. This should be done
not only with a sustainability criterion of the environment, but also
from the point of view of the identities and cultural heritage protection and preservation.
The designer’s prospective vision that emerges after having explored steps such as those of interpreting reality, identifying needs,
defining them in terms of design problems and analyzing the facets
that affect their solution, allows to broaden the designer’s sphere of
action, which will no longer be the product aesthetic improvement
but the design projection into the management areas and organizational goals.
The design is responsible of providing an integral vision of the
“new crafts enterprise” by introducing actions for planning, organizing and controlling the various circulation cycles of the product.
This is possible when the horizon of the contributions that the design can provide is spread and is not only confined to the craftwork
formal innovation, but to a comprehensive view of the management to suggest alternatives, develop strategies, set policies, design
training actions and technical improvements and to structure action
programs that favor the crafts company and the community. As the
author clearly quotes it is “the designer’s mode of action that plans
organizes and controls the design at all levels through principles,
techniques and practices whose application to human and material
resources, achieve organizational goals and objectives.17
Another important contribution that from the design can be done to
the crafts sector has to do with the need to look after the increase
of the craftwork differential value with the quality standards. We
know that the crafts certification is not always necessary. It is not
needed in the cases of self-consumption or for ritual purposes or
local markets that have clearly identified the product origin and
purpose. The implementation of the crafts certification and brand
policy is applied to differentiate a product in the market and with
that purpose the marketing enterprises must undertake a certification and brand process according to the strategies that rule for the
different markets.
Methodologically, the design should clarify variables and indicators that while establishing the basis for the product evaluation and
certification, make up the projecting platform that support the conception of quality designs from their origin.
These ideas are particularly important as they link the crafts and
design for the development of strategies related to craftwork mar7
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kets. This should specifically happen in relation to tourism where
it is of vital importance that crafts integrates the programs that promote cultural tourism from a complementary perspective.
The trend reflected in tourists’ surveys indicates a preference for a
cultural tourism that provides historical knowledge and information on the values and idiosyncrasies of the individuals and visited
communities. This result provides a strong argument so that the traditions and culture contribute to typify the environments in which
tourism develops. In the same way that a criterion of ecological
sustainability is required in the natural environment presentation,
it is necessary to adopt programs that encourage the rooted creativity in the crafts tradition and identity that is offered in the tourist
markets to change the vision, very depressing at times, of products
that are marketed as typical handicrafts but that actually are crude
“successful” copies in any undifferentiated market.
The modalities and experiences bring closer together the craft
routes and can be part of programs that link the product tradition,
training and design, thus adding identity and cultural value to the
offered tourist options.
To understand the crafts economic potential an analysis is also required of adverse events associated with the intermediary’s role
and the increase in productivity at the expense of the quality, as a
way to meet the markets growing demands, and in particular, the
tourist market. One of the most important challenges to be considered when developing the projects is improving the crafts offers
through differentiated and par excellence products that generate
greater demands in more qualified markets with fair prices for craftwork producers.
Cultural identity is just a differential value that far from losing validity is reshaped in the new stages of globalization, particularly in
the tourism market. Handicrafts, as products, have the quality of
expressing the identity without contradicting with their own updating, so they are a special space for the coexistence of both factors.
The defense of cultural identity remains a valid principle against
media messages homogenization and the global consumption.
y
D e s a rr o l l o
concept of the role of culture in human development, to the need
for a social reorganization of the confluence area between the processes that reinforce the modernity and tradition, both in the micro
and macro social aspect, or in the horizontal and vertical relationships in families and communities and in the design of policies that
are emerging at state level.
In most regional countries there is recognition of the importance of
crafts as an economic, social and cultural development factor and
of their need for protection and development by improving their
quality, thus enhancing their competitiveness in the national and
international markets.
There is also a consensus when recognizing their capacity to generate new jobs with low investment volumes and a reduced dependence on technology by exploiting the local potential in terms of
inputs and financial resources.
The diagnoses developed in various countries have identified as
a challenge the need to form an assistance system for the crafts
preservation and development in the Latin American and the Latin
Caribbean region ; to establish agreement areas in order to harmonize approaches and criteria to unite efforts; to find likely routes
for joint solutions, designed to start developing handicrafts as an
industry and a major source of employment for large social sectors
of the region and as a means of fighting poverty by supporting the
women and marginalized sectors, while preserving peoples’ identity and cultural heritage.
Through the articles published in issue No. 6 of the Culture and
Development magazine, we have been able to get in touch with
and reflect on various topics that constitute regional crafts challenges and strengths; to discover the possibility of assessing human
capital in terms of job mastery and crafts techniques that can be
reorganized around human and local development projects; to workout the productive potential and of new jobs generation linked to
community services or for the development of export and tourist
markets, which are craftsmen’ sources of economic resources and
improvement of living conditions ; to appraise the benefits that craftwork can represent in the educational, cultural and social order
based on the rescue of traditions and its application to the designing
of new products, all these are the new challenges that peoples and
institutions in the area are facing in the common effort to explore
new ways from the inclusive, plural, supportive and eco-friendly
culture that we need.
The Latin American and Caribbean countries are living new times
of integration and recognition of their potential to fight poverty and
its consequences, amid the difficult situations generated by the global crisis. Crafts as an expression of peoples’ cultural and intangible heritage, of values and experiences founded in the tradition and
the generational heritage may join the purposes of building a fairer
and fuller life because, as José Martí forewarned, “The real man is
being born to America in these real times.”18
Crafts and the development projections in the region
The acknowledgment of the leading place that t culture is achieving in the Latin American and Caribbean societies is accompanied
by a deeper understanding of the important role it plays in shaping
the human behavior and in the creation of a conscience of the new
way in which the dissimilar solutions to problems that are expressed in everyday life should be approached. This is the result of a
broader understanding on the structural and socio-organizational
function of culture that is expressed in the habits, customs, in the
way of acting and feeling that is inherited and cascaded through the
changing of generations.
As an interconnected phenomenon with various spheres of material and spiritual life, the crafts multiple approaches are, in the first
place, a cultural approach, able to recognize the various meanings
that these objects can display when interacting with the community, markets or other circulation spaces of products and establishing
the connections associated with the identity and the processes of
synthesis and hybridization so characteristic of the cultures of multiracial and multiethnic societies.
The crafts revaluation as a development factor, is linked to the new
8
Quotes:
1
Nuestra Diversidad Creativa, Informe de la Comisión Mundial de
Cultura y Desarrollo, Ediciones UNESCO/ Correo de la UNESCO,
1997. México. p. 12.
2
Rubín de la Borbolla, Daniel “La artesanía y la pequeña industria en Costa Rica”, informe final. Archivo CDRB. Num 22/584
Citadas por Sol Rubín de la Borbolla Arguedas. Rescate y Conservación del Patrimonio Artesanal. El legado de Daniel Rubín de la
Borbolla. p. 10
3
Rubín de la Borbolla Arguedas, Sol. Rescate y Conservación del
Patrimonio Artesanal. El legado de Daniel Rubín de la Borbolla.
p. 10
4
Ibíd. p. 18
5
Ibíd. p. 19
6
Lombera Cuadrado, Héctor .La crisis global y el sector artesano: Importancia de la capacitación de los artesanos como estrategia para enfrentar las amenazas de la crisis económico-financiera
global, p.1
7
Ibíd. p. 10
8
Ibíd. p. 10
9
Ibíd. p.11
10
Ibíd. p. 16
11
Ibíd. p. 18
12
Ibíd. p. 19
13
Ibíd. p. 6
14
Ibíd. p. 9, Citando a Castells, M y Portes, A. World Underneath: The Origins, Dynamics and Effects of Informal Economy, in
The Informal Economy: Studies in Advanced and Less Developed
Countries. The J. Hopkins University Press. Baltimore.
15
Bello, Alvaro y Rangel, Marta. La equidad y la exclusión de los
Pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes en América Latina y el Caribe, Revista de la CEPAL no 76, Abril 2002 .p 40
16
Valiente López, Aresio. La Protección Jurídica de la Mola y de
otros conocimientos indígenas de Panamá. P.7
17
Gómez Pozo, Carmen. La Gestión de Diseño entre la innovación
y la tradición artesanal. P 5
18
Gómez Pozo, Carmen. Citando a Sergio Luís Peña Martínez.
Programa Curso de Postgrado Gestión de Diseño. Instituto Superior de Diseño (ISDi), Cuba 2008. p,11.
19
Martí, José. Nuestra América, Obras Completas, Editora de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1975, Tomo 6, P. 20
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9

1 Latin American Handicrafts as a Factor for Economic, Social and

Transcription

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