Paper short abstract:

This study reveals how the authenticity of handicraft is affected by globalization. Examining the market of Turkmen bags, it shows that the trajectories through which handicraft used to be circulated has been developed into multiple ways and that it has been led to a concept of multiple-authenticities.

Paper long abstract:

The concept of authenticity as a key value for the trade of handicraft sheds light on the developing formation of the trajectories through which it has been circulated. While the Turkmen handicraft was evaluated by the value the West placed on untouched authenticity since 19th-century industrialisation, now at the age of globalisation, the market for Turkmen handicraft is generated by the constant demand for new commodities. The concept of authentic handicraft in the global market has been challenged within the process of development. Therefore, it is vital to question the impact of globalisation on the authenticity of handicraft. Historical records illuminate that the handicraft of the Turkmen ethnic groups inhabiting the north-east of Iran, used to be famous for the stability of their style and design over centuries. However, this ethnographical study discloses various styles of Turkmen bags being distributed along multiple trajectories, including carpet, tourism and fashion marketplaces in Iran. Following the journey of Turkmen bags from production to distribution and consumption, this research uses applied multisided ethnography. In fact, in the shadows of evaluating the authenticity of handicraft, the Turkmen tribe art is circulated through multiple-trajectories. Each trajectory imposes a new system of value with which to evaluate the authenticity of handicraft. Hence, rather than considering a handicraft as either an authentic or inauthentic commodity in the handicraft market, a concept of multiple authenticates could reveal the dynamic change that the handicraft has undergone in the age of globalisation.