Toquilla straw weaving, Intangible Cultural Heritage
On January 29, the virtual conversation “Rethinking heritage through toquilla straw weaving” was held, organized by the University of Azuay, the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Ecuador (INPC) and the House of Ecuadorian Culture Benjamin Carrión Nucleo del Azuay (CCE).
The event convened different actors from the cultural sector to dialogue and reflect on the processes that make up this intangible cultural heritage of Ecuador and Humanity.
Martín Sánchez, Provincial Director of the CCE Nucleo del Azuay, opened the event with a few words of welcome in which he expressed the importance of this space for dialogue and the entire project behind the launch of the book about this cultural heritage.
“This is a tribute to our toquilleras and toquilleros since they maintain our identity through this heritage, so this is an important material that must reach the public. Despite the crisis, we are promoting this project that gives meaning to the institutions and is now a real contribution ”, he said.
Later, Blas Garzón, teacher and researcher at the Salesian Polytechnic University, shared photographs of artisans that portray the cultural value of this practice and stated that “rethinking heritage implies the temporal and structural, studying the social, cultural and economic dynamics around this activity in the south of Ecuador ”.
Later, Fausto Ordoñez, executive director of CIDAP (Inter-American Center for Handicrafts and Popular Art) highlighted this activity as an identifying aspect of communities and a tradition that continues to exist thanks to the craft of artisans.
“The artisan is the one who handles the technique and shapes this patrimonial element that summons us today; toquilleras and toquilleros are fundamental for the good health of the value chain ”, he explained.
Genoveva Malo, Dean of the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Art of the University of Azuay, took the floor and indicated that it is necessary to strengthen the relationship of artisans and designers:
"Today the meaning of talking about this living heritage goes through new imaginaries, a globalized world, the celebration of diversity, the market today recognizes the human footprint in the elaboration of objects, design with history and sustainability".
For his part, Juan Fernando Regalado, anthropologist and researcher, pointed out that local societies require recognition among close ones more than global recognition, which is sometimes partial recognition:
“Although we cannot abstract ourselves from the global reality, local societies have great capacities to be considered as passive and exclusively receptive to what is prescribed internationally; the raison d'être of cultural practices corresponds to an educational work axis, it is important to transmit the value of goods to the generations that follow us.
The discussion lasted approximately two hours and was attended by more than 50 people who joined the event through the different digital platforms.
Mauricio Velasco, INPC analyst, participated as moderator of the discussion and ended with the invitation to launch the book that brings together all the work done by the speakers on this intangible heritage.
UDA Correspondent
