Research Project "Weaving Voices. Hand-Crafted Textile Production and Social Transformations in Argentine's Northwest"
For centuries artisanal production of textiles has been a fundamental activity in the life of many inhabitants of the northwest of Argentina. The fabrics are not meant only to fulfill practical ends, such as protecting people from the cold climate of the region's altitudes. They are pieces that express cultural meaning within the framework of a specific world view, so that they constitute part of the immaterial cultural heritage of the Andean peoples.
The purpose of this project is to contribute to the circulation of the work the male and female weavers of northwestern Argentine make. As part of this objective, our work attempts:
a. to reflect the social and economic transformations that this region of Argentina has gone through over the last decades.
b. to investigate the role that textile production plays in the daily life of the people engaged in it.
c. to understand, from the perspective of the weavers, what are the main problems facing hand-crafted textile production today.