Paper short abstract:

Purchase a souvenir, even more for handicrafts, is an act that refers to the lived experience of travel. This idea is based on relationship between subjective experience of the place and object destined to evoke it, as if it were a condensate of natural and cultural attractions of the place.

Paper long abstract:

Introduced in the sixteenth century, by the Wunderkammern, the practice of owning and setting up objects witnesses of travel, becomes common in the nineteenth century, thanks to massification of tourist mobility. In the following century, tourist attention spreads to the manifestations of folklore, and traditional crafts attracts travelers curiosity.

Purchase a souvenir, even more for handicrafts, is an act that refers to the lived experience of travel. This idea is based on relationship between subjective experience of the place and object destined to evoke it, which expresses the soul and the characteristics of its original context. It has a witness value of an idealized elsewhere and, at the same time, is inevitably charged with authenticity.

From point of view of those who produce a handicraft object to offer it to travellers, it is an expression of culture which contributes to the definition of historical and cultural profile of the community to which it belongs. From point of view of those who buy it, there is a desire to familiarize themselves with an immediately available local reality.

It is a complex process of building authenticity and locality production, involving multiple decision-making levels, and it is interesting how, in contemporary era of mass production, there is a such interest in handicrafts. It is a complex process of building authenticity and locality production involving multiple decision-making levels.

I report case study of Matera, European Capital of Culture 2019, and region of Catalonia with creation of a brand to promote authenticity of Catalan handicraft.