Paper short abstract:

We aims to reflect on the craftsmanship and all the discussion that has been going on in Brazil in the last 20 years about "ancestry", "patrimony" and consequently "identity" in so-called quilombos, observing how they practice traditional and contemporary craft techniques from production to market.

Paper long abstract:

The narratives of craft and artisanship find their way into people's everyday understanding of global difference, as well as into national, local and individual constructions of identity.

Within this proposal this paper aims to reflect on the craftsmanship and all the discussion that has been going on in Brazil in the last 15 or 20 years, on "ancestry", "patrimony" and consequently "identity" and "creativity" in so-called quilombos, in Brazil

We are interested in observing how the quilombolas practice and evaluate traditional and contemporary craft techniques from production to market.

Other insights to critical questions in the social sciences and humanities could emerge, for example, what people mean when they mark something as a craft or identify themselves as artisans? or How can comparative work on craft across cultures and across classes both augment and complicate our understandings of local relationships to creativity and identity?

The ethnographic data is based on extensive field research, of over 14 years, with the quilombos that are part of a project currently ongoing, called "Solidarity" and intends to sell to the European market, the production of bags, shirts and material whose "inspiration" is the knowledge of Bumba Bois (art of embroidery with beads).

Social science theories of embodiment, apprenticeship learning, skill, labor, expertise, and tacit knowledge will be called to explore distinctions and connections among art, craft, and heritage, discussing the commoditization of craft into market goods and tourism industries.