Methodology to address a research about “Transmission of Cultural Identity and its impact on the valorization of Craftsmanship”

Abstract

From the research project “Clothing, Heritage and Community, inventory of traditional clothing products in Antioquia” the undergraduate thesis of Muñoz B. & Velásquez G. (2021) “Transmission of cultural identity and its impact on the valorization of Craftsmanship” is developed. It is carried out in order to demonstrate a field of action within the exercise of costume design, which seeks to establish the importance that exists in the work of this profession and how it is related to current social problems. Design comes into contact with social realities constantly because that is the context in which it lives, and design becomes a medium that actively contributes to a cultural change. “Design itself becomes a project in transition and joins other theoretical-political projects that seek to enrich our understanding of life and the human” (Escobar 2016).

The validity and cultural sustainability, as basic themes, are related to the processes of devaluation that craftsmanship faces, referring to the symbolic value and ancestral knowledge contained in each artisanal object. The problem encountered corresponds to the ignorance of the reality and depth of what craftsmanship means and implies in the past and present, in such a way that not only does a devaluation of the symbolic value occur, but also of the monetary value of each product. Faced with the question of whether there is a relation between the appreciation of the value of craftsmanship with the processes of sharing tradition, and with the aim of describing the incidence of the transmission of cultural identity in the valorization of craftsmanship, the methodological path that led to the results of the undergraduate thesis is exposed. In this journey, divided into three phases, the concepts of cultural heritage, cultural identity, forms of transmission, cultural memory, artisanal valorization, artisan and consumer are addressed. From phase 1, the identification of the forms of transmission of cultural identity is sought by using a categorial matrix that contains the divisions of concept, quotation of the author and comments of the research group. The exhibition of the forms of transmission of cultural identity and its link with heritage and culture is achieved. Phase 2 sets out the types of valorization of craftsmanship based on the use of semi-structured interviews and a categorical matrix. Phase 3, and last, illustrates the impact of the transmission of cultural identity in the valorization of craftsmanship by using an open design thinking process that starts from the use of manual and analogous resources that explain from the macro to the micro level the incidence. Finally, it ends with the conclusions that account for how the costume design intended to take a position as facilitators and mediators rather than as experts “above all, returning to the normative question, there is an attempt to build alternative cultural visions as engines of social transformation through design” (Escobar, 2016).