Rhythms in the production and commercialization of crafts in Chaco

Abstract

From within a network of movements, the dialogue established between craftswomen and material takes the form of craft practice. As a set of beats, what are the rhythms expressed through the crafting process? This question is approached by following closely the way artisans, from the Qom people of Resistencia (capital of the province of Chaco, Argentina), work with cattail, a native plant that grows in flooded environments such as lagoons and estuaries. The craft generated is mainly sold at the local market. The research expands upon the production and commercialization process. The article is part of an ongoing investigation started in 2012. The ethnographic method was used with information obtained through participant observation, ethnographic interview, informal and formal documentation. Among the multiple rhythms concerning the work, are those linked to: frost, sun, moon, rain, urbanization, sale opportunities and housework. Paradoxically, although a product arises, it is not based on the accounting of a homogeneous ‘working hour’. The selling agreements integrate heterogeneous rhythms that are managed with various strategies including rationing and/or storage of materials, order distribution among several people, batch delivery and drying with heat-emitting devices. Rhythms are inevitably expressed, if not in the sales agreement, through bodies, plants and forms.