Cultural heritage and indigenous people in Argentina: The promotion of handcraft production in the Chané community of Campo Durán

Abstract

The patrimonial practises have been fundamental in the construction of the handcraft fi eld in Argentina, falling into the production and circulation process of these objects, and reproducing specific defi nitions about them. The aim of this work is to refl ect about this matter considering a research that we are developing in the chané community of Campo Durán, in General San Martín Department, in the province of Salta, Argentina. First, we characterize the transformations of patrimonial processes in the present. After describing briefl y the handcraft production in Campo Durán, we present the institutions that are intervening in this indigenous community and their performance. At last, we consider the implications of these actions in the confi guration of handcraft production and circulation processes, and in the representations that the artisans have of their work and its results.

Key words: Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts, Chané People, Iinstitutions