The utilitarian and artistic crafts of Ráquira Boyacá: an analysis between the commercial and the symbolic based on tourism

Alvelayis  Nieto Mejía; Jorge Alexander Mora Forero

doi:10.25145/j.pasos.2025.23.014

Authors

Alvelayis Nieto Mejía Universidad Agustiniana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4532-0732
Jorge Alexander Mora Forero Universitaria Agustiniana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7764-0370

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2025.23.014

Keywords:

Handicraft, herigate, tourism, commodification, culture

Abstract

This study conducts an analysis of the utilitarian and artistic handicraft work made from clay in the municipality of Ráquira Boyacá, in order to understand the role of tourism in the changes in handicraft practices and their relationship with market dynamics. The methodological horizon was oriented from the qualitative approach and the ethnography of places was used as a method. The information was systematized and analyzed using the qualitative analysis software ATLAS.ti. The findings indicate that artisans have been forced to generate changes and transformations in their traditional crafts, in the urgency of being at the forefront of contemporary trends, which are determined by tourism practices. It is concluded that tourist consumers are determining actors in the production, commercialization and consumption of Ráquira's artisan work, inasmuch as, from their valuation system, symbols, images and representations, they reconfigure the artisan practices, forcing the artisan to resignify his occupation and, above all, the final artisan piece so that it is articulated to the economic dynamics of the region.

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Academic society: PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural
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